A Good Declutter! Spring Ahead: Solutions For Clutter Management.

Spring has rushed in faster than you can say Punxsutawney! On the 10th, our 18 weeks of darkness finally came to an end; and on the 19th, the vernal equinox marked the official beginning of spring. The days grow ever longer, the sun shiner, and our schedules are soon to be fully booked so in preparation for a busy season of sports, exams, and festivals, we may wish to participate in an annual “spring cleaning” aka declutter (a clean space is a clear mind, after all). And with hours —or perhaps days— of cleaning and decluttering under our belts, we’ll be left with a ton of items we no longer need, want, or have space for. But don’t throw it out just yet! According to Environment America, the average American throws out 1,800 pounds of material per year. That’s a lot of waste!

How do you declutter/free up your space? We’ll help you find a way, or 2 or 3!

To combat this and lower our negative impact on the environment, let’s think of the phrase “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Our homes are filled to the brim with tons of antiques, collectables, and items waiting to be refurbished by someone else. So let’s get into ways we can declutter while being sustainable and making a quick buck!

Turning Your Home Into a Shop – In-Person

Get Rid of Goods with Garage Sales

Picture this: folding tables lined up on your lawn with boxes of old toys and piles of jeans that don’t fit. Perhaps a family member is walking all around the neighborhood ringing doorbells, begging for a few folks to visit you before the seasonal storms set in and wash away the handwritten signs you’ve taped to telephone poles. That’s what a garage sale is all about. 

In one or two weekends between late April and early summer, you can set up your very own garage sale, just like Andy’s family in Toy Story. If the more traditional nagging —I mean, word of mouth— doesn’t work, Craigslist and Facebook groups are great places to advertise, even better, you can sell there too! 

If you can get enough people, this is perhaps one of the easier (fee free!) ways you can get rid of your belongings or in other words DECLUTTER. The only catch? Prices must remain low. Most folks go to a garage sale with the intention of buying items under $10. If you’re looking to sell more pricer items, like vintage bags and shoes, the estate sale may be for you.

The Internet Is Your Friend – Go Online to Declutter

eBay, established in 1995, was one of the first e-commerce sites that allowed people to list items they no longer wanted and sell them to people all over the world. We’ve come a long way since then, dozens of apps with niche purposes and gimmicks to help you sell all kinds of things. Today we’ll be discussing the perks of just three: the aforementioned eBay, Depop, and Mercari.

Get your Clean Up and Clean Out with eBay

As aforementioned, eBay was one of the first resale sites out there and continues to be beloved some 30 years later. Of all the options on this list, eBay will prove time and time again to be the most diverse, from toys and collectables (see: partnerships with multimillion dollar companies like Funko), to jets and cars and accessible with a user base found in 200 countries all over the world. 

One of the most unique features of eBay is the ability to host auctions for your items. Users can place bids and go back and forth with others until the time you’ve set is up. Though, there is also an insta-buy and offer option, which is a simpler process and offered on both Depop and Mercari, which we will get into next.

Additional Notes:

• eBay takes care of shipping prices/labels for you. They even go as far as to “manage overseas shipping, customs, returns or refunds [and t]here’s also no international selling fee when you use eBay International Shipping.” (Source). 
• Payout options may be either daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly. For the weekly and longer options, payouts occur on Tuesdays and can be requested “on demand” at any time. Funds will typically be processed a few days after a buyer’s order is confirmed.
• Ratings are not required but always suggested and welcomed. Sellers also have star rating badges based on how many reviews they’ve received.
• eBay is a worldwide company, meaning you can buy and ship from hundreds of countries. Buyers and sellers may be from all over the world and you’ll come across many different currencies.
• Desktop and mobile versions are available, desktop is more easily navigated.
• Fees on eBay vary greatly depending on the category, ads, list boosting, and more. To find out how much eBay takes from you, consult the hyperlink.

Disencumber with Depop

Depop is home to millions of users looking to buy and sell used clothing and accessories in hopes of being more sustainable and declutter at the same time. It is to be noted that while you can sell items that aren’t clothing and accessories, that is not its purpose and said items may not sell as well. 

Hot items on Depop include obsolete brands, vintage, and designer. Depending on the brand and rarity, items can be snapped up in hours. This doesn’t mean you can’t sell fast fashion or handmade items, but these are likely to remain on the market for weeks or even months at a time. The quickest way to sell said items would be to price them quite low. From personal experience, the hot spot for fast fashion (such as items from Zara, H&M, and Forever 21) is $5-$15. It varies plenty for handmade items, but the hot spot for those is often $15-$40. 

Additional Notes:

• Depop takes care of shipping prices/labels for you.
• Your earnings payout will be initiated to your linked bank account 2 days after the item is marked as delivered.
• Ratings are not required, but always suggested and welcomed.
• Depop is a worldwide company, meaning you can buy and ship from dozens of countries. The majority of sellers are in the US but you will also find a number of sellers from the UK, EU, and Australia.
• Desktop and mobile versions are available, mobile is more user friendly.
• Listing is free.
• The selling fee is a flat 10% with an additional service fee from either Depop Payments (2.9% + £/€0.30) or Paypal (3.49% + $0.49.)
• Boosted listings, listings pushed, or boosted, in the search results are available. The only downside to this is that you will be charged an additional 8% if you sell through one of these listings.

Make Alterations with Mercari

Mercari, like Depop, is home to millions of users. 350k+ items are listed every single day, in any niche you can think of. With a fine filtration system, Mercari makes it easy for you to categorize your items and find your target audience. If you want to declutter on your own time and as much as you’d like. This is a great option!

Some of the hottest items on Mercari are women’s wear, baby items, and electronics. From personal experience, rare collectables —specifically CDs, vinyl, and music-related merchandise— sell quite fast. Please note that highly saturated markets, such as the infamous Funko Pop! may take longer to sell unless you put up a competitive price. 

One thing that makes Mercari special is their option for local delivery. This allows you to safely “ship” large items to people in your area. For a low price of $15.99, you can ship any item under 50 pounds and smaller than a microwave and $199 for up to three items larger than the aforementioned (such as a table and 2 chairs).

Additional Notes:

• Mercari takes care of shipping prices/labels for you and offers an average 39% discount from retail. 
• To access your earnings you must be rated by, and personally rate, the buyer. Once done, your earnings will go into your “balance”. From there you can use it to spend on the app or transfer to your linked bank account. Please note that if a buyer doesn’t rate you in 3 days, Mercari will do so automatically and you’ll still receive your money.
•  Buyer and seller protection is great and issues are often dealt with quickly and efficiently.
• Mercari is based in the continental United States and while there is a Mercari Japan, you cannot access it without a third party.
• Desktop and mobile versions are available and both are quite user friendly.
• Listing is free
• As of March 27th, all new listings on Mercari have a 0% selling fee! 
• Mercari also has a boosting option, but it’s free. To boost, you simply drop the price of your item, offering those who see it a deal. You can either boost this offer in the search (to anyone) or to those who have liked your listing. Mercari makes no additional earnings if you make a sale from the boosted post.

Tips and Tricks for Online Selling

Read on for more useful tips and tricks:

• Users on Depop and Mercari will often create “ISO” (in search of) posts to let other users know of hot items they desire. Many users will spend hundreds of dollars on items on these ISO lists. Looking through the ISOs in your niche will help you decide if an item you’re looking to sell even has a market.
• Search the item you’re looking to sell (or similar) and see what it’s previously sold for. This is the quickest, and easiest, way to gauge the value of your item.
• Try to put up a competitive price. If you see items like yours listed for $100, list yours for $90 or offer perks such as free shipping. Remember, you’re trying to declutter here.
• Take good photos! Poorly lit and staged photos will not get likes or offers. Make sure you show every angle and flaw of the item, even if you think it’ll harm your sales. Honesty is better than a disappointed buyer and a poor rating (or refund request!).
• On a similar note, be open to offers and holds. Buyers will be more inclined to purchase your items if you offer them a good deal or work with their schedules. 
• The way you ship your items is super important! A well packaged item will lead to high reviews and thus, buyers will be more likely to trust you. In addition to this, adding thank you notes and freebies (such as stickers) adds a personal touch and can compensate for your faults (such as delayed shipping). You want to declutter, YES, but take the time to do it right.
• Different apps are for different things. While we may have only spoken on only three e-commerce apps/websites, there are plenty out there that may be better for your niche. For example, the new and trendy Whatnot has become popular with collectors who’ll showcase their items in live streams. Users can not only see the item at all angles, but ask questions and bid for items right then and there.

The Best of Both Worlds – Hybrid In-Person and Online

Rearrange with Estate Sales and Auctions

Estate sales and auctions are two solid ways one can get rid of high-value or bulk items. This is the ultimate declutter! Most of the time, these items once belonged to someone who’s passed, or folks looking to downsize when moving. For example, a foreign china collection. This is typically something one may not wish to sell at a garage sale, as the crowd expects a certain price range. They likely may not know its worth or how to care for the items as well.

Traditionally, estate sales and auctions are held within the home. And while it may be easier to sell pricier items, it can be an invasion of your privacy. You may consider hosting sales for select rooms only if not moving. For example, if you’re a bit of an art supplies or materials hoarder, you may do a sale within your studio.

If that still doesn’t sound like it would work for you, don’t worry. Websites such as AuctionNinja and Black Rock Galleries allow for you to advertise your estate sales and auctions, but host them virtually. You can still have a huge declutter AND host it online. Similar to websites such as eBay, you may list all of the items you intend to sell for buy-now prices. You can also allow people to engage in a competitive bidding process. Once a sale is made, you may set up a date and time for the buyer to pick up their winnings, or ship it to them. Of all the options here, estate sales and auctions through the aforementioned websites, may provide you with the most customizable selling and declutter experience.

A Quick and Charitable Solution – Donation

Selling takes a lot of time and energy, and sometimes we just want to get rid of things. All we keep thinking is declutter, declutter, declutter! Whether it be hosting a garage or estate sale, or listing and shipping items, it’s no easy feat. It’s hard to commit to making a profit when so much work is required. It can feel overwhelming, especially if those items aren’t worth anything of significant value. So we have a third preposition for you: donations.

With all of your excess, you can help people that are in need. It doesn’t quite matter what it is either. If it’s in good condition and clean, charities and resale parties will take them. Because we are a NYC/NJ based company, options will be limited to our area, but many of these options can be applied to your own areas with a little bit of research.

Transform with Thrift Stores

Chain thrifts are flooded with items they have no idea what to do with, and aren’t always helping the communities that need it the most. The best way for you to help, is to look into local thrifts that have high rotation or a dedicated purpose. For example, Vintage Thrift in Brooklyn, donates proceeds to the United Jewish Council of the East Side. They take just about everything including but not limited to: clothing, jewelry, houseware and collectables. See the full list here. Some additional thrift shops you may give a chance include L Train Vintage and Dream Finds Thrift Shop, which are also in Brooklyn. Every Thing Goes is in Staten Island.

Change for Charities

Thrifts aren’t the only place you can donate your items to. An organization we personally donate to is the Vietnam Veterans of America. If you gather up your clean clothing and household items, they will even come to your home and pick them up for you! How convenient!

Final Words

Decluttering is a long and painstaking process, but as you now see, there are many ways to declutter your home with no waste. We at Craft by Anika wish you the best of luck with your seasonal decluttering and refresh.