It’s natural to keep mementos and keepsakes that you accumulate as you continue through your life. Some people collect action figures from the favourite TV shows and films, some people fill their homes with books, and some accumulate records and musical paraphernalia.
Sometimes, though, this habit can tip over from a way to furnish your home and make it feel comfortably like your territory, to outright hoarding. If you’re finding yourself being crowded out of your home by your own collections, then things have gone too far. With modern living spaces increasingly constricted, you need to be able to exercise judgement, only keeping the things you really love, and parting with the rest without regret.
One way you can do this is to sell some of your older clutter and collectibles online. This helps ensure some turnover, meaning you can keep collecting without filling up your house, and also provides a small stream of income to help subsidise your hobby.
The way to start is by setting aside an area to store things you intend to sell. Whether that’s a spare bedroom, a cupboard or just a shelf or corner, dedicate space to this new project. This gives you an opportunity and motivation to sort through what you already have and decide what you value and what you can get rid of without impacting your life. If you need to, consider looking into storage facilities to provide somewhere secure to keep these things before you sell them on. If you’re in London storage options are plentiful and even if you’re not most towns have at least facility to investigate.
Once you’ve decided what you are comfortable parting with, you need to look into how you’re going to sell them. There are more choices than ever, from eBay, Amazon marketplace and the new app Shpock. It’s also worth looking into specialist sites. For example, if you have a lot of books to sell, the Waterstones Marketplace is a good option.
Make you sure you honestly describe the state of what you’re selling when you write descriptions for websites: it’s far better to honestly describe something as ‘used’, ‘worn’ or ‘loved’ and sell it a little more cheaply than have disappointed customers driving your rating down.