Want to resell your items? At Me In Order, we understand how hard it is to get rid of the items that mean the most to you.

Let’s be completely honest… we all have too much stuff.  Most of this stuff accumulates into clutter and is the reason why we feel stress, tension and frustration within our homes. It is one of many things that is truly robbing us of living a carefree, peaceful, organized lifestyle.

According to the LA Times, there are over 300,000 items in the average American home.  The New York Times points out that even though research shows that the average size of the American home is increasing, 1 out of every 10 Americans rents offsite storage.  So, what we can gather from this research is that the more stuff we have, the more money we spend on bigger homes and additional storage for our stuff.

The Daily Mail also reports that we will spend a total of 3,680 hours or 153 days searching for misplaced items within our homes.  More stuff = more money we spend on storage for the stuff = more time spent looking for the stuff we already spent money on purchasing and on storing. That is insanity, if you ask me.

At Me In Order, we understand how hard it is to get rid of the items that mean the most to you. But that’s just it…you should only keep the items that spark joy in you and are attached to good memories. Trust me when I say that 300,000+ items cannot all bring you joy and have meanings tied to them.

We have experienced many clients that understand the benefit of purging unused items. We also have many clients who get extremely excited about getting rid of their items because they think it will lead to additional money. Sometimes…this is not the case.

I remember the good ole’ days of living pay check to pay check in college. When times were tough, I would go through my closet and try to sell my unused, brand name items. It was difficult to part ways with items, but I knew that desperate times called for desperate measures. It was so hard to get rid of my Lilly Pulitzer dress (which by the way, no longer fit me) and my teeny tiny Michael Kors purse (which, after the invention of the gigantic iPhone Plus, no longer fits my cell phone…so the purse always went unused.) I would get a spark of excitement about cleaning out my closet because I knew I would be able to make some extra cash.

I would fold my clothing meticulously into multiple bags and lug everything to my local clothing boutique and try to sell my items…only to receive an extra $20. My reaction was the same every time: “Really? That’s all I get? I spent ten times that on that item!”

What we’ve found as expert organizers is that some people might have some pretty cool items, but sometimes they just don’t seem to sell. When it comes to resell items, the price drops. This is due to the amount of stuff we buy in general as Americans.

We’ve noticed also that some items rarely ever sell; simply because people aren’t interested, not enough people were reached with the item or the item is outdated. Even electronics aren’t selling; unless it’s the latest and greatest item.

There really is a strategy to selling especially on websites like eBay, Postmark, Plato’s Closet, Facebook, etc. Sometimes it’s the angle you take the picture, or the pricing of the item, or even the way the item is described. The benefit is that sometimes you can reach more people with the Internet; the downside is that you aren’t the only one who knows that, and it creates competition within the selling marketplace. The likeliness of someone seeing your item, that has a need, and has the cash to purchase the item, is sometimes very low.

If you reach enough people who have a need, you will be able to sell. Keeping the Purchase Funnel in mind is important when considering selling your items; people need to be aware of the item, interested in the item, they need time to consider the item, intent to purchase the item, and then they move forward with purchasing the item. However, in our marketplace now, with the amount of people purchasing new items, it could be costly to try to resell your used items.

My stance on this…yes, selling items and making some extra cash is great. I enjoy helping my parents put on garage sales and I also sold most of my old furniture on the Letgo app. However, I get much more enjoyment out of donating my items to Goodwill or local churches. Sometimes, other people need my items more than I need an additional $20.

Me In Order is here to guide you in any way you need to start your organizing project and help you resell items. If you are interested in learning more about how to hire an expert organizer, check out our Ultimate Guide To Hiring An Expert Organizer , or contact us today!