I recently attended a senior services expo in Londonderry. When attendees weren’t arguing with me over the title of my services booklet (“Downsizing Doesn’t Have to be Hard” failed hard in consumer testing), they were lamenting either the amount of stuff they needed to get rid of, or wishing they had heard of our services sooner. If you find yourself in the position of feeling like you must declutter, or if you’re facing a looming move, I ask only that you stop and pause to ask “What are we trying to accomplish here?”
The idea of downsizing rightsizing, decluttering – whatever you want to call it – is firmly entrenched in our culture. I think it marks a transition point from many decades of rising manufacturing and the ease of acquiring stuff. We’re in an awkward moment where it’s still incredibly easy to order something and have it show up in two days, storage facilities are popping up seemingly everywhere, yet we’re being told that minimalism is the future. But open any closet or wander into someone’s basement, and a different story unfolds. You’re looking at years of youth sports equipment, the hobbies that were enjoyed and let go, items inherited from family members, decorations and odds and ends from the last purge. It piles up, and it is overwhelming to think about how on earth you are going to find new homes for so many things.
Here’s where we need to pause. Do you need to figure it out? Is this something you can hand off to a professional and wash your hands of the whole thing? What I’m proposing to you is this: Make all that stuff part of your future downsizing plans. You don’t need to figure out new homes for everything. You just need to decide what is valuable to you and what you want to keep. The rest? Call an estate sale professional and let us handle it.
It sounds too good to be true, I know, but we really are in the business of finding new homes for all of that stuff that you don’t want or need anymore. There are people that would love to have that dish set that has been in the back of the china cabinet, or the closet full of clothes or the lawn tractor you won’t need at your next place. We have more information on our process elsewhere on this site so I won’t go too much into it here, but suffice to say, we can sell the vast majority of the stuff for you. In fact, we often counsel our clients to stop donating and throwing things away, because their things have more value than they might think.
Perhaps it’s the “too good to be true” component, but our biggest barrier to attracting new clients is often just the awareness that this service exists. Estate sales are not just for the super wealthy. Most people who are downsizing or managing an estate for a family member can benefit.
I know what you’re thinking. “You can’t possibly sell everything!” And you’re right. We can sell most things. Things that are low value to begin with or things with very low consumer demand fall into the donate it or junk it category. So if you have the itch to declutter, there are some pretty safe areas to start with, even if you plan to utilize estate sale services later. Click below for a handy printable:
If hiring a professional sounds like relief to you, then I’ve done my job! In terms of when to call someone in, usually before you are ready to sell the house is a good time. Particularly if you know where you’re going, you’ll have a sense of what you need to take with you (most people don’t want to take a lot with them for their next chapter) and you can sell everything else. If you’re not sure if your items would make sense for an estate sale, you’re welcome to send us photos of your home. We’re happy to take a look! We can be reached anytime at help@birdsnestauctions.com, or you can text photos to 603-556-8295.