How did you downsize??
 

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!!!!

Learn how to sell stuff on ebay.....as soon as you can.

Bring your sterling with you. If you entertain there, you will here.

Have garage sales, guilt trip your kids to take stuff, and in the end....

Goodwill pulled away with a huge truck full of our furniture.

I am the opposite of a hoarder, but that was TOUGH.

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....

How did you downsize?
 

I had a big tag sale - I think it was advertised as an estate sale - run by a professional who got a percent of the sales. Lots of furniture, some antiques and collectibles.Proceeds totaled about $11K.
Many donations to Salvation Army. Other stuff I sold to a junk dealer. I still have too much stuff!

The reality is that hardly anyone values your stuff as much as you do, so donating it to Goodwill and taking a tax deduction might be the easiest, fastest, and most economical thing to do. True you won't know who got your stuff, but in the long run it won't matter.

Call a reputable estate sale company.. we did and sold everything..down to the bare walls..

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my kid are going to de junk our house that way not one of them can say i wanted that...what i don't know won't hurt me

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Most furniture went to my kids, clothes etc. had a big yard sale. and did quite well. Sold out 90% the first day. As for deciding what to sell or bring we gave it the 60 second rule. What am I going to use it for and do I need it in Florida. Most of my power tools went at the yard sale, winter clothes except for a coat gone.I've seen people pay to ship way to much then when they get here have a yard sale to get rid of it. We moved here to start new and that's what we did. Big screen TV,computers,curio cabinet and TV stand were the extent of our furniture. It all fit in 1 pod with room to spare.

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We have a CYV in The Villages and a big Colonial in CT. We furnished the CYV will all new furniture and have older furniture in CT. The standard joke here is that when we sell the CT home, we will sell it for $380K furnished and $400K unfurnished :)