What is best way to sell household items in U.S. before moving to Panama?

[Phoebe Quinn]

Without giving things away, what have others found to be the best way to sell household items; especially expensive, heavy items? For example, professional elliptical machine like new, costly bedroom furniture lightly used. From research, it looks like e-bay may be good to sell lighter objects like collectibles or small pieces of furniture that the owner will pay for shipping. Is Craigslist any good? For heavy items, to show them, you would have to let people come to your house, anyone encounterd any problems. Any tips welcomed, want to get rid of this stuff so we can sell house and get over there, already.

[COUNTRY EXPERT- JESSICA RAMESCH]

Hi Phoebe,

I’m sure others will chime in about their experiences. I don’t have much experience selling personal items, as I had very little to my name until after I moved here, but I know that others have had success with Craig’s list, local flea markets, local consignment furniture stores, local bulletin boards (online and “real world” in cafes, on college campuses, etc), and even by word of mouth. Naturally, exercise precaution when showing items in your home, for example: 1- talk to the interested party on the phone before giving him or her your address (if they make you uneasy on the phone, you can make an excuse and avoid giving out your address); 2-try to have people with you (a friend, spouse, sibling) at the time of viewing; 3- if you live in a building or compound don’t just buzz someone in, go meet them at the main door or gate and make sure you feel comfortable with whoever has come to view your item(s), and so on.

Best of luck.

IL Panama Editor Jessica Ramesch

[Cheryl Moser]

Hi Phoebe,

As an option to Jessica’s suggestion above, you may want to try using an estate sale company. Though people think of these companies when the estate of a deceased relative needs to be liquidated, we were surprised to find out estate sales are conducted for people that are downsizing, leaving the country or just moving and wanting to start over.

My wife and I recently sold our home as we are going to do some extensive travel and eventually re-settle somewhere overseas, likely in Panama. Many of the household items were sold separately though an estate sale. We hired a company to handle the sale. The company emptied our attic and all our closets, drawers, etc. and set up our property on tables, where appropriate, or tagged larger items, i.e., washer/dryer, fridge, etc. for sale. For more valuable items such as jewelry, paintings, etc., they had a database to refer to that would price the items as high as possible for sale. It was a massive amount of work and we did not have to screen phone calls/buyers. The company marketed our sale through their web site and newspaper ads. It was a financial success for us even though the company took a 35% cut of the total sales.

Good luck.

Bernie Miller

[COUNTRY EXPERT- JESSICA RAMESCH]

What a wonderful suggestion, Bernie! Thanks for sharing…

Best,

Jessica
IL Panama Editor Jessica Ramesch

[ARMAND BRODEUR]

My wife and I had long term plans so we enjoyed the luxury of time. Before selling anything we checked with my children and gave them what they wanted. First, you must be prepared to accept much less than your estimation of the value and certainly the “new” cost of your items. We had fourteen garage sales one spring and summer. It was a pain at first, but we got it down and started having fun with it. We developed a following of regulars. We met a woman with an eBay store who sold our more expensive and unique items. She did very well for us and made a fair profit for herself. We had a neighbor buy some of our big things and were happy to see him get a good deal. I found that I knew people who were interested in certain things like firearms and WWII memorabilia. Certain things were donated to museums and Goodwill got what was left. Note: once the item is sold, it is gone so you must be prepared to do without it (beds, chairs, etc.) Things like the appliances and entertainment systems were sold with the house.

I think that an estate sale is a good idea. We had bad luck with our estate sale lady, although she came well recommended. Fortunately she was too stupid to be an effective crook. She brought items belonging to others to our home for sale, putting our things in the back. Also, she had “friends” show up early to cherry pick the good stuff. You want to be sure to prevent this. We did, but it was a hassle for several days. We attended the sale, although she didn’t want us to. This is why things weren’t worse. The only benefit is that she had trucks and people to deliver big items immediately; but any good agent should be able to do this. Estate sale specialists can be an excellent way to dispose of a lot of big and small things quickly. Our problem was a bad agent not the concept. Start looking early and don’t totally rely on a recommendation. Plan ahead and attend a sale or two before engaging someone. If you cannot easily find their sales, without asking, hire their competitor. Look for professional signs, effective advertising and getting the word out about how to find YOUR sale, and a quality following. Pickers is a fun TV program, but these are not the buyers that you want at your big sale. (They are for your garage sales) In the end her accounting was primitive, but accurate. Had she been as professional as represented we would have done better.

[Phoebe Quinn]

Thank you all for the excellent ideas. I had one auction company turn us down, but now we have the house listed with a real estate broker that also specializes in auctions , so we may do that. I have had two yard sales but we live too far out in the country and not on a main road to get many customers, but the ones that came to the first did come back to the second one. Happy Holidays to all of you.

[COUNTRY EXPERT- JESSICA RAMESCH]

Thanks for the update Phoebe and good luck!
Happy Holidays!

~IL Panama Editor Jessica Ramesch

[JASON S.]

We have done it three ways. Keep it, take it, sell it.

With our first move to Asia we rented a couple large storage units and packed them floor to ceiling.

The next move was with a container shipment.

The next move was sell it all and travel with a suitcase.

Just one more opinion. Sell it all. We were much happier when we sold everything.

Hire a professional estate sales person. That sounds much bigger than it is. We were a regular middle class household, modest three bedroom home, nice but not fancy furniture, two quite used cars, etc. so the term “estate” was a stretch. I was already overseas and my wife didn’t want to tackle the job by herself so she hired a seller on a commission basis. They sold everything, cars, furniture, and household goods all the way down to partially used spices in the kitchen. We walked away with some cash and zero hassle.

She found the woman who, with her husband did the business, on Craigslist. Get references and talk to several people.

Fast forward ten years. We have lived as expats for ten years in Asia and are now 98% sure of relocating to Panama. When we leave Asia we will have two suitcases. Yes, in ten years we have accumulated stuff, two cars, a motorbike, TV, tons of musical equipment, closets of clothes and racks of spices. Everything that won’t fit in our regular suitcases will be sold or given away.

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