Best way to do this? How would YOU do this?

MLM · by **MLM** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:27 pm

We need to sell (and donate/give away) everything we own. Everything. Yes, I mean it.

Furniture, toys, kitchen stuff, electronics etc. Anything that won't fit in our two 50 lb suitcases cannot go.

So far, I have kept looking around my house saying "Oh that'll just lay flat in the bottom of my suitcase" "Oh that'll go in our hand luggage" and so on. But obviously that isn't very realistic. There are SOME things that we'll be able to do that with....the few family pics we have on the walls will come out of the frames and go in the bottom of a flat bottomed back. Our CDs have all been uploaded to our iPods and will be taken out of their cases and put into a folder.

The kids know that they can't take all their toys...we've been talking and preparing for it for months now. They'll each be taking a stuffy on the plane with them, DS will be taking his Hot Wheels cars in a ziploc bag in his suitcase, we'll take a FEW of the chapter book that DD is so fond of. They'll have colouring book and crayons and their Leapsters in their carry-on luggage.

But the rest? It has to go.

So how do I DO that?? How do I effectively and easily sell everything we own, without stressing myself and the family out too much but at the same time getting the maximum $$ from it so that we have some start up money when we get there??

Seriously, there are days when the thought of selling everything we own makes me go like this

and other days when I'm just :eek:

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!

tiptoetulip · by **tiptoetulip** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:31 pm

Indoor garage sale? Weekend sale?

I can no longer sell on here or KIV - the emails make me go all insane :lol:

and the requests people have? :roll:

I also find it very hard to keep everything straight as to who's coming for what and when.

I would think a garage sale or weekend long "open house" sale may work the best for you?

Keeper · by **Keeper** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:44 pm

My Mom and Dad sold off everything in an indoor garage sale. They left all the furniture where it was and organized the smaller stuff on tables and the floor. They had me, my sister and my boyfriend to help and it still seemed like another person or 2 would have been best. Soooooo many people came through and you really need someone stationed in every room and someone at the door.
I like to consider myself a garage sale expert.

Please feel free to email me if you have any questions.

flavourlessVanilla · by **flavourlessVanilla** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 4:46 pm

I agree with mar- that seems to be the best less stress way for you to get rid of the bulk, and then deal with what doesn't sell...donate or have someone here store and sell it for you? :-k

Classifieds can take sooo long to actually move things.

happygirlmichelle · by **happygirlmichelle** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:08 pm

Wow MLM, Where are you going?

Maybe I'm slow or haven't read enough posts. :lol:

Anyway, I agree, an indoor garage sale would be the fastest and easiest.

oceanforest · by **oceanforest** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:12 pm

I don't know...I think garage sales tend to bring in ALOT less money than things are worth because usually garage sales are full of stuff that people expect to pay very little for. What about the possibility of some of the stuff going to an auction house? Don't know what their take is though so it might be better to do a garage sale if they take too much of what it sells for?
Ebay?

Nightcrawler · by **Nightcrawler** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:20 pm

Maybe just calling it a Moving Sale instead of a garage sale will help with what people are expecting to pay..... That sounds like the best idea to me.... make sure what you want to keep is not around and then advertise a moving sale and let people into your house.

MLM · by **MLM** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 5:44 pm

happygirlmichelle wrote:Wow MLM, Where are you going?

Maybe I'm slow or haven't read enough posts.

Anyway, I agree, an indoor garage sale would be the fastest and easiest.

LOL....I think I only briefly mentioned it in one or two posts. We're moving to NZ. All our paperwork is in, we're just waiting on the Permanent Residency Visas for DH and the kids. Theoretically we'll be there by Mid May...though I'm hoping to be there in time for my mom's wedding mid April.

Sounds like an indoor moving sale is my best bet. Now I just have to clean out my hot water cupboard so that I can store everything we're KEEPING in it, and have people come in and take the rest

Keep suggestions coming though peeps......you never know who else has ideas

Ooohhh another question....would I get more by taking my car to a dealer and selling it to them, or by selling privately do you think? It's a 2003 Kia Rio RX-V Station Wagon with 110,000 kms on it. Brand new tires, and regularly serviced.

wonderwoman · by **wonderwoman** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 6:02 pm

I have dibs on any modular mates.

MLM · by **MLM** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 6:19 pm

wonderwoman wrote:I have dibs on any modular mates.

LMAO! Of course m'dear. They're yours.

Diane123 · by **Diane123** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 7:00 pm

You could take your household goods to Superchance. They are in the James Bay Plaza and are a consignment store for household goods. Worth a try if you are not interested in selling it yourself. When I moved back from the UK I sent a few boxes, although it was expensive it was still cheaper than rebuying everything.

Good Luck

Brianne · by **Brianne** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 7:02 pm

Definitely sell your car privately!!!!!

crazycat · by **crazycat** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 7:10 pm

Cant you just pay for a part container and ship it over there ? A lot easier for such a big move. Or pay for excess baggage. As for the car go private, dealers wont offer you much. Trade in value for your car and mileage, assuming it is an automatic is between $1480 and $2630. You should get more than that private.
Unfortunately KIA is terrible at holding its value.

MLM · by **MLM** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 7:48 pm

crazycat wrote:Cant you just pay for a part container and ship it over there ? A lot easier for such a big move. Or pay for excess baggage. As for the car go private, dealers wont offer you much. Trade in value for your car and mileage, assuming it is an automatic is between $1480 and $2630. You should get more than that private.
Unfortunately KIA is terrible at holding its value.

A part container really isn't an option for us...for a couple of reasons, the biggest of which is cost. We WILL likely end up paying for a bit of excess baggage anyway...DH is taking his guitar, so we'll likely have an extra bag for him.

The other reason though is that because my mother is getting married, when she and her fiance moved in together they were left with a whole house worth of furniture, so we'll take on the majority of that. 90% of OUR furniture isn't nearly worth shipping anyway.

CdnMum · by **CdnMum** on Mon Feb 02, 2009 8:40 pm

I would advertise it as an estate sale. Put an ad everywhere (TC, Craigs list etc). More people will come as it won't be the usual junk in garage sales. Call the second hand furniture shops to come first as they will show up with trucks all ready to go. What doesn't sell can go to the DDA. They will take anything that's not broken.

What a terrific adventure! NZ was one of my favorite places to visit. The people are so friendly.