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Ca$hing in on
Clutter by Tiffany Capuano Five Places to Cash in on Clutter Consignment Sales. “It’s a great thing about living in Atlanta. Other major cities don’t have them,” says Allison Carter, owner of The Professional Organizer in Atlanta. Clothing is only accepted if it carries a name brand and is in good condition, and it often sells for a higher price than other places. There’s a registration fee to participate, but sellers usually get a 70 percent commission on their sold items. Yard Sales. Neighborhood and church yard sales are popular in Atlanta, and although sellers may not earn top dollar, it’s a great way to clear out the playroom or closets, says Carter. Craigslist.org. It’s like an online yard sale, with sellers offering descriptions of items and a photo, as well as the geographic location for pick up. It’s a free service to post or purchase. Go to www.craigslist.org and click on Atlanta to get the local postings. eBay.com. This online auction aims to attract the top bidder for an item. You’ll need to be computer savvy and know the market value of the item you are selling, but the marketplace is worldwide. Items must be shipped immediately after the auction ends, adding another step in the sale process, but an easy one if you are organized, says Carter. www.ebay.com Charity Donation. Carter says the biggest moneymaker for clutter is to donate the items. Unwanted stuff is out of the house almost immediately, and there’s no storing the items while waiting for the next sale or auction. The tax break offers the bigger reward for your pocket. Three Tips for Clearing Clutter Save schoolwork selectively. If it doesn’t have handprints, footprints or fingerprints on an art project, toss it. “My sister saves every single art project, but with five kids, I can’t do that,” says Hill, who saves stories that her fourth-grade daughter writes, if they’re written from the heart. Empty out closets seasonally. Carter says children’s closets need to be cleaned out every six months, since kids grow so quickly. Outgrown clothes just end up on the floor, she adds. Although closets may be large enough to hold both winter and summer clothing, cleaning out determines what won’t fit in the near future. And it reduces laundry, adds Korey. Teach your kids responsibility. Teaching kids to clear away the clutter and part with toys or clothes long outgrown helps make life easier for parents, says Carter. By modeling, organizing with them and helping them, parents teach kids to manage their possessions and take care of them on their own. Three Excuses That Just
Don’t Work “I want my child to have lots of options.” When it comes to toys, parents want to give their child all the opportunities and options available. That price tag adds up to too much clutter, says Carter. If it’s too much for the parents to maintain, it’s definitely too much for the kids, she adds. “But my child loves it.” Typically, kids are done with an item long before a parent is, says Carter. “We have too much attachment to objects.” Parents may often feel like they don’t want to take away something, but Carter warns that it is a parent’s job to set limits and teach boundaries. “I don’t have enough time.” Parents are easily distracted when it comes to getting organized, says Carter. Simply empty one tub a day, she says. No need to clear out an entire room in one day, which can be exhausting and overwhelming. Ask Jane Hill of Marietta how she keeps clutter under control, and she’ll tell you sarcastically that she has about 800,000 containers in her home. She doesn’t claim to be in control of her clutter, but that’s to be expected with five kids – a 9-year-old daughter and 6-year-old quadruplets. “I’m unorganized, and I’m organized,” she says in the same breath. She knows where everything is, but often it’s in a pile or stack around the house somewhere. Even though Hill may not be the most organized person – a self-proclaimed pack rat, in fact – she does manage to get rid of her clutter by participating in yard and consignment sales. Many Atlanta families have cashed in on their throwaways, benefiting neighbors, friends and strangers alike. Clearing the clutter that accumulates in our homes may be the best way to keep our homes organized, while reaping the monetary reward. When Alice Korey needed to fix a plumbing problem at her Powder Springs home last January, she had to clear out a room for the repair and renovation. It started a yearlong process of eliminating clutter. She and her husband, Robert, began moving from room to room, clearing the clutter and selling items they no longer needed. They cleared out their 4-year-old daughter’s bedroom to make way for new furniture, selling her old furniture on Craigslist.org, a national online “yard sale” of sorts. “We’ve conquered one room at a time,” says Korey, “and it’s slowly getting done.” She’s always been steadfast about clearing closets of outgrown clothes for her three kids, ages 6, 4 and 3. Their neighborhood’s fall and spring consignment sales give the Koreys the chance to sell outgrown clothes and purchase entirely new wardrobes for each of their kids. “I average about $500 [in sales] per consignment season,” says Korey. “I have to work [for it]. It doesn’t come free.” Korey understands that not everything will sell. In between consignment sales, she takes outgrown clothing to HandMeUps, a Powder Springs consignment store. “Earning $1 or $2 per item doesn’t always add up to the amount of time put in to organize them,” says Allison Carter, owner of The Professional Organizer in Atlanta. She claims there can be drawbacks for an unorganized person who can’t commit to a consignment or yard sale. “It takes an organized person to handle the demands of selling,” Carter says. Consignment sales mean the tedious task of writing or typing all of the information for tags, cutting tags and putting them onto the items. It also means having a place to store the items until the next sale, she says. Carter warns that a disorganized person may not be able to withstand storing the item for later. “For eBay, it may be a few weeks before the item sells,” says Carter. “By that time a disorganized person may have already misplaced it in their home.” Carter also says that bargain hunters are looking for deals on sites like Craigslist. Korey found that Craigslist worked well when selling her daughter’s furniture, negotiating a deal just $25 less than her original asking price. Korey and Carter agree that it’s the big-ticket items, like bikes, car seats and furniture, which draw buyers easily. Carter believes the best way to get rid
of the clutter and earn some hard cash is to
donate it. “If you don’t need the cash
immediately, you can make more money with
taxes,” says Carter. Charitable donations
are tax deductible. Hill likes to hand down clothes to friends or give them to charity. She says she can make several hundred dollars at consignment sales, but she would rather donate. Parents everywhere are eager to gain new books, clothing and toys, and many are discovering that swapping with friends or family is a great way to offer kids something new to them without spending a bundle. “My husband and his mother are always throwing things out, just like my mom did,” says Hill. “I think that’s why I’m a pack rat. My mom believed that if it didn’t have value, then it should get tossed.” Donated, sold or thrown out, moms Hill and Korey know that eliminating clutter makes their lives easier. So whatever jump-starts your desire to clear the clutter, there will be more money in your pocket, or at least a happy family vying for your clutter castoffs. |
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