Over the years, my family of six has accumulated a lot of stuff — a lot. Clothing, toys, sports equipment, you name it, I probably had it somewhere in my house.
The pandemic only made things worse for us. After all, we were spending months upon months isolated at home. We needed to keep our four kids occupied while we worked. So we bought stuff, and more stuff, and more stuff.
Between that difficult time, plus many birthdays and other gift-receiving holidays, the clutter just just kept accumulating and I was drowning — until I came up with a decluttering solution my kids were actually into.
It’s been hard for the kids to let go
Like many kids, mine do not like to part with their items, even when they are no longer used or don’t fit. Then it dawned on me one day, why not sell the items with a goal in mind?
I motivated my kids to clean out their rooms and our garage by stating that any money we made from selling items would go into a group fund to buy them, and others, future gifts. Christmas is our favorite holiday, followed by our kids’ birthdays. Finding the perfect gift for others is important to us and it’s something we put a lot of effort into. Our goal wasn’t just about ourselves, which was important to me.
Suddenly, my kids were highly motivated to part with too-snug sweatshirts, toys they never played with anymore, and even bigger items like outgrown bicycles. I was making progress.
The sales started adding up
I listed the items in Facebook groups designated for locals to sell to one another.
Within a few weeks, I had sold my own gently-used bicycle for $75. Not bad for something that had been sitting unused in our basement storage for over five years. It was silly to hang on to such big and profitable gear.
My kids quickly got in on the action. One sold a skateboard that had been gathering dust in the garage for over a year. My daughter sold her too-small soccer cleats, only used indoors and for eight weeks. And we all sold lots of youth clothing.
The challenge was fun
Our newer goal of cleaning up and making money for our gift fund felt like a fun challenge for the kids, which helped get them excited. Along the way, they have brought me items to sell that I’ve vetoed. With four kids, we pass down a lot of times, like winter coats. We aren’t going to buy items, sell them, and turn around and buy another new winter coat, for example. I established the rule that I get the final say on if something is sold or not.
One key to making this gift fund successful is making sure our seller profile gets great reviews. Therefore, we make sure to accurately list the condition of items, price them fairly, and respond to messages quickly. Right now, we have 5 stars.
Some items we give away for free
Any items we no longer use and are in fair condition are listed on our local “buy nothing” social media page. For example, all four kids had outgrown a pair of snow boots that were still usable but appeared very worn. I listed these the day before we were supposed to get a foot of snow, and they were picked up within a few hours. Even when we can’t make a buck off an item, my kids are now in cleaning-out mode, and someone else gets to enjoy the item.
We started our gift fund in January, and we currently have about $200 in it. This may not seem like a big chunk of change, but once the kids are home on summer break, I expect we will do a lot more organizing and listing.
Since so many people are always looking for a good deal, our plan was a win-win-win. Our home is less cluttered, we’re padding our gift fund, and others get to enjoy the items we no longer use.
Read the full article here
