How To Liquidate My Household Goods ??

[JAMES B.]

Now that I have decided to retire overseas, how do I go about liquidating all of my furniture, artwork, collections, figurines, etc. I expect I will get 10 cents on the dollar for most things, but I have no idea other than eBay on how to sell everything. How did all of you “downsize” to something reasonable to move to Belize?

Thank you in advance for the help,
Jim

[COUNTRY EXPERT ANN KUFFNER]

Jim,

You are absolutely right in your conclusions. E-Bay and Craig’s List have really changed the world when it comes to selling furniture and personal items as you downsize or make a move.

We moved to Belize over six years ago. At that time we held a series of garage sales on our lawn, where we had lived in a large home for nearly 20 years. My husband did ok selling his tools, although he did not get anything close to their true value, since they were in very good shape. We kept about 25% of our furniture and “things” and put them into storage for five years. This was a security blanket, in case we decided to have a second place in the USA, in a smaller condo. But after 5 years we decided we would not do that so last year cleared out the storage unit, to downsize further… The cost of storage just kept going up, so we knew it was time to downsize again.

Last year we held an Estate Sale, which was a challenging process, to move our things from storage to a warehouse. So we did it in stages. We moved some of the furniture to a warehouse and then held several estate sales. But first I pulled out those smaller, specialty items that I assumed would do well on E-Bay. A friend who is an E-Bay sales specialist has been selling my hand picked jewelry, specialty plates and vases during the last year, as well as my better suits and jackets, all on E-Bay. I did ok on some of those things. But many sold at a pittance. Some just did not sell, so I either kept them or gave them away. She had to put them up several times, since certain items are more in demand at certain times of year. And I paid her a 33% commission on them. But it was worth it to not have to deal with the hassle myself, since we already live overseas.

After the estate sale we rented a U-Haul and moved our best dining room table and chairs, bedroom furniture and favorite art to Colorado, and gave it to our daughter, to use in the new addition she and her husband built on their home. We gave them the furniture and now we enjoy sleeping in our old bed when visiting her family. And we can still enjoy the art we had collected which would not make sense to move to Belize. And I gave many of my favorite personal items, like handmade art vases and plates, to my good friends. And we gave some away to Goodwill, as well, especially clothes that we no longer need in a warm environment.

Giving up a life’s belongings is not an easy process. But it is very freeing, as the “stuff” definitely complicates one’s life. So you will need to decide what is most comfortable for you, in terms of how much you get rid of up front. But on our recent downsizing, I really enjoyed giving my favorite things to my friends and family. I no longer need so much stuff now… And in the long run, I felt much better giving things to friends, rather than having strangers get my most valued items at a pittance. That way I was able to share the story of where each item came from in our travels and why it was so special to us.

IN reality, once you put things into storage, after a year you usually forget what is in that storage unit! That does make it easier to let go to emotional attachments.

On he positive side, we know that if we decide to move back to the USA in the future, it will be pretty inexpensive to buy nice furniture and basics on E-Bay and Craig’s List.

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