Do I sell, recycle or give to charity?

[BingoBonkers]

We need to have a sort out. DH likes to hoard. I do not.

I have hung on to lots of baby clothes and now these are outgrown and we are not having any more.

There are boxes on the landing and more in the loft that need sorting. I struggle with the "no mans land" of having boxes around whilst waiting for people to collect or me to send off. Half of me wants it all gone and thinks I should recycle it in the clothing banks at the supermarket or drop off to a charity shop BUT a lot of it is in really good condition and I am loathe to give it away when we could really do with the cash.

It's Catch 22!

Are there any tricks that I am missing? I've got stuff in the lounge, landing, bedrooms, loft and frankly it's depressing.

[Sallyhasleftthebuilding]

Ebay app - quick and easy. Works all the postage out for you. Beeps when bids received.
Package and post in one day - ie make sure bidding ends ob a day you can get to the post office. Pennies add up.

[Sallyhasleftthebuilding]

Oh and its free to post x items per month and cheaper with a 99p start.

[BingoBonkers]

It works out the postage for you?

[Everydayaschoolday]

If you have spring/summer items, there will be a National Childbirth Trust Nearly New Sale coming up in March/April time. I get rid of lots of children's clothes, nursery items and toys at these events (I haven't managed to part with books yet . Then the Autumn/Winter one will be in Sept/Oct. It's a bit of a faff washing and ironing it all and then pricing it up, but you have the advantage of no haggling (aka car boot sales). Sale lasts for 2-3 hours plus some admin time setting up/clearing away and it's all over by early afternoon. Anything I don't sell at the event, I take straight to the charity shop on the way home - it's had a chance to sell, but you could take it straight to one of those who pay for the weight of clothes. The NCT takes 30% of what you make for their charity, but I still think it's worth it. www.nct.org.uk/branches/events/nearly-new-sales

If you want to be more profitable (not lose the 30% and perhaps charge more than you would at the NCT sale), then you need to invest more time and sell on FB selling pages in bundles. But this requires taking lots of photo's, posting lots of bundles on the selling thread and waiting in for people coming to your door to collect. I'd perhaps do this for 1 or 2 items that were designer or quite expensive.

[Sallyhasleftthebuilding]

Yes - gives you a guide - you can change it. Most are £1.80ish. Bigger things £3.20. You get used to it. Try one. You get a bit hooked and its a thrill. Ebay is really easy and very organised.

[Everydayaschoolday]

Sorry, didn't mean to jump in in the middle of another discussion - I took s long to type

[TheBestChocolateIsFree]

I like NCT sales - you can get rid of a big batch of stuff in a single day with no hassles about returns or postage or non-payment. The problem is that if there isn't one in your area until March then it's a long time to wait. There's always car boots?

[DrewsWife]

If you are feeling overwhelmed get it out. Hand it to a charity shop. Feel good that it's a donation to charity. You are helping others out.

I have been having massive clear outs. It feels great to just get bags and boxes out of the house. Don't go back through the boxes.

If you leave them in the house you will go back through them.

I have found more peace the less I have.

I joined a group on fb called 40 days and 40 bags. Started off as an Easter thing. Instead of giving up chocolate we give up clutter. One bag per day.

A bag can be a carrier bag, Bin bag etc... I'm over 100 black bags down.

Still working on it.

[SuburbanRhonda]

Our council has just introduced kerbside recycling - I'm so excited! Not only do they now take clothes and shoes in any condition, they also take old electrical items such as irons, kettles, laptop batteries and so on.

This is going to be the year we get our house back

[ZenNudist]

Watching for inspiration

[Ratbagcatbag]

I have a rule of listing them on the FB sell it sites, bumping twice then if no interest straight to the nearest charity shop. I also state no saving and no deliveries. (Can you tell I've been stung on those before). For bigger items. FB sell it pages and then gumtree too.

Finally do you have baby markets in your area? Loads better than NCT. You pay £10 for a table and they have literally hundreds of people thorough the doors looking for baby items through to five years. I've done one with all small rattles and toys and made £40. I also shop frequently at them. They also start from the end of Jan onwards.

[YeOldeTrout]

Very hard to make money on baby clothes unless designer name items. Charity shop methinks.

[SuburbanRhonda]

Do you have a local branch of Homestart, OP?

They support new parents and may be able to re-home your baby items if you decide to donate.

[OurBlanche]

I usually do fb or freegle for a day or two, then charity shop or recycling bank.

Some stuff I will phone one of the local charities, furniture recycling etc.

I am about to start my spring clean. It should be easier than usual, we have only lived here for 18 months :)

I shall start at the top - bathroom, spare room then used bedroom crap sorted into the spare room and then put away or disposed of. Then the loft, again into the spare room, put away or disposed of. Then top of the house will get a deep clean.

When I have recovered from that I'll start on the front room and kitchen.

That should keep me busy until I can get into the garden and sort that out :D