I had a lot of cheap stuff, and items that might have gone into the trash, but I managed to get rid of over half the stuff by crafting an online ad, posting it to Craigslist and Facebook, and waiting. This article goes step-by-step through the process of decluttering or eliminating low-cost things.
Make it Worth Driving to Get Your Junk
This is incredibly important. The likely picker is living nearby, but just getting into the car costs around $3 in gas, so you need to put some good stuff in there. This is “salting” the hoard so it becomes more valuable.
I salted my hoard with a Bluetooth speaker ($3), a couple new headset cables (that were $1 or so each, and weren’t loud enough for me), and relatively nice bowls that I got at the thrift shop, and didn’t need anymore. I also hoarded some of this material for a while.
I also threw in “junk” that I didn’t need, but still had, like pouches of gel-ice for coolers, a hose mender (leftovers from a hose repair kit), jars. These are nice to have, but I have too many. Many of us have things like that: plastic buckets, chunks of concrete, tins of screws and nails, small tools, food, etc.
Photograph Everything
Here’s how to take the photos. Put all the junk in one box, and then photograph it.
Then remove a layer of stuff, and photograph the next layer below. Repeat, as needed.
Take big, clear photos of every single thing in there. You want to show off that it’s mostly clean. Note that I also put loose and stringy things into bags. That makes them look less “dirty”. (I learned this from the mean streets, where, during Valentines, ladies sell plush toys in fancy looking plastic bags.)
Here are the photos:
Next, you want to write the ad. You can copy this template. Then, go through your photos, and add a line for every item in your photos.
If you have things without photos, you can list those as well, but it won’t be as effective.
Located in front of house at ---full-address--.
Just come up and get whatever you want from the patio area.
Do not disturb occupants. I'll update this as things are taken.
Items include:
Sham wow (shamwow cleaning cloth)
Small bluetooth speaker
USB C cable
TRRS to TRS "Beats" headset cables with mic
Plastic vitamin bottles
Glass jars (clean)
Plastic jars (clean)
Metal containers
Metal mixing bowl
ABS CD/DVD cases, slightly damaged
"Gout tea" nettles, celery seed, some other herbs
Green Tea sampler tins with some tea
Gel ice packs
Several bowls, including 2 big ramen bowls
Little sauce dish
Hose mender parts
Keywords: dry food storage, craft storage, kitchen stuff, eating, ceramics, dishware, dishes, serving.
You want to add some keywords, so people searching for things will pull up your ad.
For example, some of my stuff was good for storing little things for crafts. “Craft storage” is a keyword that will match that search.
I posted that ad on Craigslist first, then on Facebook.
The next morning, I saw an email from someone who wanted stuff. I said come on over and that anything.
So he did. This was left:
Not too bad eh?