Emptying the house

[Estherpologist]

I'm emptying my late parents' house. Theres some things auctioneers should sell and some that will go to charity. It's the stuff in between that I don't know what to do with. There's a lot of stuff and selling a few things at a time could probably raise a couple of thousand pounds, but knowing what ebay is like, it wouldn't be a small job.
How have other people dealt with this situation?

Sorry for your loss
I still have undecided things in a lock up. Furniture we got rid of to charity, hugely sentimental stuff (am about to open the Christmas decoration box for the first time today) I have. Other stuff is in the lock up. Every so often I do a bit.
eBay is pretty useless these days tbh. Taken over by companies and 80% on there is buy it now Chinese tat.
You'd be better with local selling sites.

Local selling or just give everything to auctioneers - our local one sells all sorts. If they don't want it then I'd give it to charity. Paying to store it means you probably won't come out ahead financially.

Sorry for your loss.
I had to do this a few years ago and know it's hard , but you will be amazed at how well you coped when it's done. For me it was the actual house that caused the emotions as it was the only childhood home I had , and my remaining parent had lived there 52 years.
My method was : Go through paperwork. Buy one of those big expanding folders and label up sections such as Bank , Investments , Insurance , Utility bills , House , etc. Sort paperwork . Shread any really old statements . Be aware you need to keep a few years worth of stuff at the beginning. Find will if you haven't already .
Clear clothes . Charity shop or bin. ( Being sentimental I kept a few things )
Next bed linen , towels etc. If you have time animal sanctuaries will accept them.
Have items for auctions sorted.I
If you have household items / keepsakes to give away do that .
Then be brutal about what non antique items are sellable via yourself such as white goods / tv/ ornaments / non antique furniture . Is it good condition / have you the time / inclination to sell ? If not hire a van / man with a van and take to the top .
Again take stuff you want to keep. I'll be honest I have a couple of boxes of stuff in the attic I kept and they went up there and have not seen the light of day since !
I missed out photos. There were lots of those. Again I was quite brutal . Photos of views , and people I did not know were binned . Photos of family members , passed to them . The rest I've kept but again not really looked at . Odds and ends. I found several years of diaries - I still have them , and have read a few days here and there but can throw away and can't fully read as feels intrusive , and emotional even though it's mostly every day stuff.
Good luck , it's emotional but you will be glad you got it done .

Sorry that was rather a long post !

“ There's a lot of stuff and selling a few things at a time could probably raise a couple of thousand pounds, but knowing what ebay is like, it wouldn't be a small job. ”

It depends on your time, space, needs etc

I was surprised by the value of certain things too, an ancient word processor got £50. Some stuff went to a local theatre as props via the charity shop, and frankly if I’d thought of that I’d have tried to flog it.

If I had space I’d have tried harder but while mum wanted to keep his clothes in the wardrobe, she seemed almost anxious about giving some stuff to charity so it was her choice.

But if there’s potentially a fair bit of money sitting there, and you have physical storage, I’d hang onto stuff and sell it in bits and bobs when you’re ready.

We have a local WhatsAp group where we can sell things. I just sold a dolls house - it went instantly.
For things you want to give away try Freecycle. It saves you having to take things to the charity shop.

Facebook marketplace probably works better than Gumtree or Ebay for selling stuff. I gave up on these as too many people just wanted to cut the price and also for you to deliver.
If you are not too fussed about getting money but don't want to just put decent stuff in the tip, I have got a lot of response from offering for free on FB marketplace or Freecycle.
For clothes, bedding, books, small electricals, Icollectclothes will take, though I am not sure if they are nationwide.

Im clearing my late mothers belongings and decluttering (dad still at home). I'm being quite ruthless but do have the luxury of time (thank goodness). It's a long job as she was a hoarder. All the moth eaten or tatty clothes are straight in the bin, anything from M&S sells quite well on ebay, I put it on at charity shop prices. There's a load of quality fabric I'm going to give to a dressmaker friend of mine with her agreement. Facebay marketplace is quite good for getting rid of stuff even with the timewasters and something for nothing brigade. I'm trying to be ruthless with what goes to the charity shops I don't want them having to pay to dispose of her worn out tat. Auction room prices are not great at the moment. It's really sad that most of her "treasure" is actually only fit for the bin. I do feel better knowing in our area rubbish goes to an incinerator and makes electricity and not to landfill.

I gave a lot of mums clothes and furniture to family and friends as I thought that is what mum would have wanted me to do. Then I gave some to various charity shops around us.

Db and I kept what we wanted and I did keep a lot of sentimental furniture as I wasn’t ready to part with it. Some of that went in my loft and some cluttered our house. As time has gone on I have sorted that all out and have found places to put it in our house, mainly by getting rid of my cheaper furniture.

All of her paperwork and business folders are still in my loft though as I don’t really know what to do with them....

When my MIL died, my now late DH went to out it all out. He was an only child, the house the one he had lived in all his life. Lots of stuff (good clothes) to charity shops; some binned, other containered and sent to us in Australia.

When the container arrived and the stuff was laid out in our hall/diner for a few days I waited for him to say what next. It was very sudden: in tears he said we have to sort it out now. I had a crapload of marking to do and instantly put it aside. This doesn't help you, OP, but made me feel the emotional weight of stuff.

My (hoarder) mother died very suddenly and I had to clear her council house entirely without help. The council were actually quite generous in giving me two months to do it.

My mum had beautiful stuff, and kept it in good condition. Nothing antique, she liked modern furniture. I suppose I could have auctioned or Ebayed her stuff but I felt emotionally flattened by what what had happened and unable to deal with the administration, haggling and crappy buyers.

So a lot of it went to the British Heart Foundation and the rest I freecycled.

the pieces in-between we did a selection of eBay, gumtree for free but slow, two car loads to charity shops (had to phone first as during 1st lockdown opening) and a very large car boot in September this year x 2 which we made a lot from. We still have crates in the garage and will return in the spring to sell more.

Where has op gone ? Lots of good suggestions here . Sorry for all your losses.

I would expect op is busy house sorting and all the other long list of tasks to do after a death and grieving