Selling stuff

Leaving for half a year is not such a huge thing, but leaving for half a year without knowing where to come back to, is something else! It means: getting rid of pretty much everything, so we’re not bound to a certain place when we come back.

Booking the tickets just one month before our flight didn’t give me much time to get rid of stuff, but I found out selling stuff online (with Marktplaats, the Dutch eBay) is easier than I thought. You can get rid of your stuff, and get paid for it too!
I’ll share some of the lessons I learned:

1. People want stuff immediately. If you only react one day later, they will have moved on.

2. Chances are (very) high people don’t show up after making an appointment to get your stuff, so always plan these visits when you were gonna be home anyway. They won’t give you any heads up or apologize. Just move on and let it gooo

3. Selling your high school water pipe doesn’t attract the most like-minded people. Just throw it away

4. Don’t sell stuff that you’re not ready to let go yet (yes, sounds pretty obvious). I admit having quickly deleted a dress I was selling when I saw someone was genuinely interested. I don’t want regrets giving it away.

5. Think again, when are you ever really gonna wear this dress? Right….

6. Selling can be quite fun, honestly. When you have time. When time is running out and you really have to start emptying your house, you’ll find yourself begging people to please, please take your stuff.

7. Giving stuff away to friends and family is actually more fulfilling and fun than selling. What I did recently is opening my own ‘store’ where friends could just pick up what they wanted. Also, we’ll have the local charity/second hand shop picking up some stuff.

8. I totally recommend doing a big clean up of your stuff and getting rid of things you don’t really need. Although it’s easier to do when moving, how liberating would it feel to thin out your belongings and create some room inside and out?

Published

Categories

Personal

Comments