I\u2019ve accumulated a surprising amount of stuff in the three years I\u2019ve been in my apartment. A lot of it will be coming with me to my next place \u2014 my bed frame, desk, couch, some art that means a lot to me \u2014 but not everything will fit into the new space. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
I\u2019m taking this move as an opportunity to declutter, partly because I\u2019ll have a bit less closet space going forward and partly because I don\u2019t really need<\/em> the empty MacBook Air boxes or the dozen miscellaneous cables I\u2019ve been hanging onto for years \u201cjust in case.\u201d But there\u2019s also a lot of good quality stuff I no longer have a use for or that I never used at all: a camera I bought on a reporting trip and never touched again; some\u00a0curtains that didn\u2019t look good in my room; more books than you can imagine; clothes I no longer wear. This is, in other words, stuff I don\u2019t need but would feel bad throwing away. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n If you want to recoup some money for your move \u2014 given how expensive the whole ordeal is \u2014 and you\u2019re getting rid of furniture, then selling it online is your best bet. Some platforms, like Kaiyo<\/a>, Chairish<\/a>, and AptDeco<\/a>, handle the process for you in exchange for a cut of the sale. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Chairish is best for designer furniture \u2014 think Herman Miller chairs \u2014 and antiques. Kaiyo is good for brand-name pieces from brands like West Elm or CB2, and if they accept your items, they\u2019ll handle shipping and photography. AptDeco requires you to do a bit more work, but they\u2019ll accept a broader range of items. Each platform will take a percentage of your sale.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If you\u2019d rather handle sales yourself, you could go the Craigslist<\/a> route, but I\u2019ve had more success on Facebook Marketplace<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n There are some downsides, though. If you\u2019re like me, this may mean getting back on Facebook for the first time in years and being confronted by the fact that all the people you went to high school with are now homeowners (I, obviously, am renting). There\u2019s also some legwork you have to do before listing your items, especially the larger stuff. I had to dig up the West Elm listing for my dresser, which I bought secondhand years ago, and take measurements and photos so I could post it. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Once the listing is live, you also have to deal with back-and-forth from prospective buyers, mostly in the form of an endless stream of automated \u201cIs this available?\u201d messages. There\u2019s also the chance that the listing will fall through or that no one will buy whatever it is you\u2019re selling. In the end, I decided to give my dresser away to the person taking over my old lease.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Giving stuff away is the simplest option, especially if you\u2019re pressed for time or are too busy to handle the logistics of listing items and coordinating pickup. Big national charities, like Goodwill and The Salvation Army, usually accept furniture. You could also look up smaller organizations in your area that accept furniture donations.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n While browsing Facebook Marketplace, I noticed some people try selling little things \u2014 trinkets, decor, etc. I also noticed that, in most cases, those listings stay up much longer than ones for, say, a dining table. If you want to offload your clutter quickly without throwing it away, there\u2019s a much better, faster option: Buy Nothing<\/a> groups.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n These groups are easy to find, but there are a few rules. You have to be in the group for your specific community (which, in large cities like New York can get pretty specific, neighborhood-wise). Some groups will ask you a few questions before you can join in order to verify that you actually live there. But once you\u2019re in, it\u2019s pretty straightforward.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n My original plan was to slowly declutter my apartment in the months leading up to my move by listing things on Buy Nothing. Instead, I started the process less than a week before my movers were scheduled to pick up all my stuff, and it\u2019s been really<\/em> fast. The curtains I no longer want were claimed in minutes. Even a stack of old magazines found a home after being claimed by a collage artist.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As the name suggests, you won\u2019t get any money for the thing you list on Buy Nothing; everything has to be exchanged for free. But it\u2019s a good option for the small things you want to get rid of but would probably have a tough time selling.\u00a0(The Freecycle Network<\/a> is another option for giving stuff away.)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The same process, more or less, applied to all the good clothes I owned but no longer had room for. It\u2019s easiest to give things away or drop them off at a local thrift store, but if you want to earn some funds for your move, there are plenty of online options for doing so. If you\u2019re getting rid of high-end or designer clothing, try selling it on The RealReal<\/a>, Vestiaire Collective<\/a>, or Grailed<\/a>. Rebag<\/a> is a platform for buying and selling designer purses, though they don\u2019t always accept the items people try to sell. For gently used fast fashion, vintage clothes, and everything in between, Depop<\/a>, ThredUp<\/a>, and Poshmark<\/a> are good options. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Here, too, there are downsides: the platforms take a cut of what you make, though the percentage depends on where you\u2019re selling it and, in some cases, how long it\u2019s been listed. Your listing could be dormant for weeks before anyone bites. The buyer may be anywhere in the country and you\u2019ll have to ship the package, either to them or to the platform itself, which then handles shipping the item to the customer. I\u2019m not a fan of selling clothes online \u2014 the process itself is easy enough, but I find going to the post office a huge hassle \u2014 so I just took things to a local donation center. But again, selling things in advance of your move is how you recoup your money.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n If you\u2019re going the selling route, I\u2019d advise you to start as early as possible, especially for things that you expect will be harder to get rid of. The flip side is, if you\u2019re selling furniture, you don\u2019t want to sell it too<\/em> soon, especially if it\u2019s something you\u2019re actively using. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n I ended up having to sell a bunch of my stuff after<\/em> moving it to my new apartment \u2014 an inconvenient outcome of poor planning on my end. If I had to do it again (which I really, really<\/em> hope I don\u2019t anytime soon), I\u2019d start decluttering the second I know I\u2019m moving. Breaking the process up into small discrete tasks makes it less daunting and will make your eventual move go a lot smoother.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\nGetting rid of big stuff<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n
Getting rid of small stuff<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n
Getting rid of clothes<\/h4>\n<\/p>\n
Some final advice<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n