[Quixote]

Originally Posted by dotti105

As we look around our house we realize that most of what we have, we will not want to take with us when we move to the villages.

I don't mind cleaning out closets, the garage, giving away, donating and throwing away things no longer needed.

BUT, how do I get rid of valuables? Like sterling flatware, trays etc, china, crystal, a mink jacket I wore twice and will never wear again, valuable antique furniture etc.??

I don't want to just give them away, I'd like to sell them to individuals who would find them valuable. But how do you find buyers, and how do you find out the true value of these types of things?

I'm sure many of you had to face these situations too.

Please post and let us newbies know what you got rid of, how you did it, and what you wish you had gotten rid of, that perhaps you didn't?

Thanks in Advance!!!!

For valuables, you might want to try selling them on ebay. There you get a huge audience, so your potential buyers can be literally anywhere in the world. This is far better than a local auction house which, unless very high end, will not do well nowadays. I speak from personal experience.... If you've never sold on ebay and are disinclined to start now, there are places all over the country where you can bring your items on consignment, and they will do the ebay thing for you for a percentage of sale.

Specifically for sterling silver, like the flatware and other silver pieces you mention, there are buyers of sterling in every community; you might want to check with them who's offering the highest price and sell it to them. There are several right here in the area of TV; you can do a search on TOTV to get recommendations which are the most fair in terms of pricing and dealing.

And things like china, crystal, and fine decorative pieces can be taken to consignment shops here around TV; the one most commonly mentioned is Bargains & Treasures on CR 466 near the railroad tracks. They too take a percentage (45%, I think); they have a large local following, and you might do well there.

I was given the suggestion recently that for everything else in the house that there is no place to donate or that can be recycled, it would be necessary to hire a 40 yard dumpster and to be dispassionate about everything that will have to go into it. I understand.... Can I bring myself to do it? Hmmm....