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- Empty garage for new barrage of gifts
If you've ever moved to a new home, had a child, or just lived in this American culture for more than a moment, there has come a day when the stuff you own turned on you.You opened a closet to be assaulted by shirts and shoes. You stepped into your child's room and were sucked into a quagmire made entirely of bright, plastic objects. You looked into your living room and saw so much furniture there was no longer room for living.This day came for Stephanie Nixdorf. And she, along with a few others, can show you the way out -- just in time for the holiday gift haul.When Nixdorf and her husband, Jason, moved last summer from Huntersville to Cornelius, she knew her old furniture wouldn't work in the new house. That added up to a couch, an armoire, rugs and a TV that needed to go. At the same time, the new house came with an unwanted wine room -- Stephanie is turning it into a mudroom, more practical with two small kids, she said -- and a mountain of wine racks. Faced with a lot of stuff to unload fast, Nixdorf decided to try selling it all on online sales sites craiglist.org and eBay."The neighborhood garage sale had already passed," said Nixdorf. "Neither my husband or I are much of a packrat. We'd rather get it out of the house. Sell it or donate it."Within a week, someone snapped up the wine racks on eBay -- $600. Within another week, buyers grabbed the old living room stuff from craigslist -- $1,000. The Nixdorfs had money to put toward new furniture and less to pack or store.Here starting in a couple of days, many families across our material world likely will be looking to make room for all their new stuff by purging old possessions. Some will look to sell their cast-offs on online auctions, such as eBay, while others will haul their stuff to Goodwill or consignment shops.How you chose to declutter will depend on how much time you want to invest and how much money, if any, you care to collect. Donate your stuff and you're guaranteed to get rid of it all fast, but you get a tax write-off instead of cash. If you want to sell your stuff, eBay, which reaches prospective buyers across the globe, gets you top dollar, but you have to do some legwork and pay fees. Craigslist.org is free, but you reach a smaller, local audience.Kate Gentle, a mother of three in Waxhaw, has experience with eBay and craigslist. She used to sell a lot on eBay but now prefers craigslist, saying that while she doesn't make as much money, it's also not as much work.For starters, on eBay you have to take a photo of your item and make sure it looks good, she said. "On craigslist, people are not as picky. On eBay you really have to make it pretty."And on eBay you have to ship your goods to their new owners. "It was too much work, too much hassle," Gentle said. Of course, with craigslist -- like newspaper classifieds -- you have to make arrangements with potential buyers to come check out your stuff. Sometimes there are no-shows, Gentle said, and that can be a pain. (For more on how to get rid of your stuff and the pros and cons, see pull-out boxes at left and below.)Of course, another potential downside of selling your old stuff -- no matter the method -- you end up getting exposed to other people's for-sale stuff and get tempted to load up on more. You could get into a constant clutter cycle. Or, it can be good. Gentle recently upgraded her children's toy train table, buying one for $75 off craigslist. She sold their older train table for $50 and some clothes and came out ahead.Nixdorf, the Cornelius mom, also has become an occasional buyer. For her daughter's first birthday in November, she found a Fisher Price "Laugh & Learn" playhouse in new condition on craigslist. (If you want one, keep your eyes open. Nixdorf said when her daughter outgrows the toy, she'll probably sell it on the same site.)eBay.com How it works: You list your items for sale via online auction or for a flat "buy now" price. There are listing fees. When an item sells, you pay a sales fee to eBay, collect your money from the buyer and ship the item. Payments -- between you and eBay as well as buyers and sellers -- are typically handled by PayPal, a subsidiary of eBay that processes electronic money transfers -- letting buyers pay with credit cards and sellers collect via automatic deposits to their bank. What draws for sellers: You reach a world of potential buyers. That's why sellers say your used goods fetch top dollar. You get more than you would on local auction sites, garage sales and consignment shops. Drawbacks for sellers: Fees and hassle. You pay a listing fee -- from 20 cents to $4.80 -- based on your starting price. When an item sells, you also pay a fee, based on the sale price. You pay 5.25 percent on the first $25 and for items that fetch less. On the remaining balance, you pay 3.25 percent on $25.01-$1,000 and 1.5 percent on everything above $1,000. For more info on fees: http://pages.ebay.com/help/sell/fees.html.You also have to factor in shipping costs and underestimating them or low-balling them to attract buyers could cost you.craigslist.org How it works: You post items for sale on a local board. Members can also post messages about items they are looking to buy. Potential buyers contact sellers to make arrangements to check out items for sale. The two parties arrange payment, generally cash only. Draws for sellers: Posting is free. You don't have to ship your stuff, because buyers come pick it up themselves. Drawbacks for sellers: You don't get as much as you would by selling on eBay. Sellers say that sometimes prospective buyers make appointments to check out what's for sale and then don't show up.Consignment shops How they work: They take your stuff -- namely clothes, baby items, toys and furniture -- and put it on their store shelves and racks. When it sells, the store takes its cut and writes you a check for the rest. If your items don't sell after a certain period of time or by the end of a season, you either pick them up or let the store have them. Some stores will donate items that don't sell. Very Terry Consignments, which deals in women's clothing on East Boulevard, donates unsold clothes to charitable organizations, such as Dove's Nest. Draws for sellers: There's a venue to showcase your cast-offs and someone else to ring up the sale. You don't have to take phone calls from potential buyers or post photos of your stuff online. And you don't have to ship your stuff to buyers. Drawbacks for sellers: You sacrifice some of your time and your earnings. The shops get a cut -- 60 percent is standard for clothing, said Terry Kerr, owner of Very Terry -- of what you make. You typically have to make an appointment with the shop to bring in your stuff. And it probably won't take all you have to offer, leaving you to haul it someplace else (i.e. Goodwill. See "Donations -- i.e. to Goodwill or Salvation Army." You also have to get on the shop's inventory schedule. For example, lots of consignment stores are not taking any more winter clothing now. The Penny Pincher, a women's clothing consignment shop on South Boulevard, isn't taking any clothes now. It wants spring clothing next but not until February.Donations -- i.e. to Goodwill or Salvation Army How donations work: You donate items -- clothes, household goods, etc. -- to a qualified organization and get a federal tax deduction. According to the IRS, qualified organizations include, federal, state, and local governments and organizations organized and operated only for charitable, religious, educational, scientific, or literary purposes, or for the prevention of cruelty to children or animals. Organizations can tell you if they are qualified and if donations to them are tax-deductible. Or you can look that information up on www.irs.gov by clicking on Charities & Non-Profits and then Search For Charities.If your contribution entitles you to merchandise, goods, or services -- i.e. admission to a charity ball, banquet, theatrical performance, or sporting event -- you can deduct only the amount that exceeds the fair market value of that benefit.You claim your tax deduction by itemizing on Form 1040, Schedule A. Upside: You are guaranteed to quickly get rid of your stuff -- and to a worthwhile, do-good organization. You get a tax deduction. Downside: You don't get cash. If you don't itemize -- two out of three taxpayers don't -- you don't get a deduction. You have to keep good records for your taxes. You need receipts for all donations. Receipts must include descriptions of items along with where and when they were donated."It is all about getting the right receipts, paperwork and proof," said Dayana Yochim, consumer finance expert at The Motley Fool.How do you assign value to the goods you donated? The IRS says the value is determined by the resale value of the donated goods. It offers some guidance in Publication 561, Determining the Value of Donated Property. Go to www.irs.gov and type in Publication 561. But the IRS doesn't provide dollar figures.Goodwill Industrie
