How We Choose What To Donate When Prepping For An Estate Sale

estate sale

Feb 6

One of my biggest pet peeves is shopping an estate sale that was never sorted, grouped, and separated.

By separated I mean:

Things to sell
Things to donate
Things to throw away

The visual clutter of leaving everything in a home right where it’s been for years and years is overwhelming to me as a customer, and I imagine others as well.

In prepping for an estate sale, the first thing we do is sort, group, and separate. This is one of the most time consuming steps but we feel it has such a massive payoff in the end.

One common question we receive, however, is “how do you determine what to sell and what to donate?”

Here are our top 3 criteria when deciding what to keep and what to donate.

Damaged Items

Items that are chipped, broken, stained, etc are almost always donated. We’ve tried selling mended items before only to be left with it at the end of the sale.

While there are exceptions, our general rule is “if it’s broken, then donate”

Glassware

This is one of the hardest things to sell secondhand. Yes there are exceptions, but for the most part glassware does not sell. Specifically drinking glasses, glass bowls/plates, glass baking dishes, etc.

Categories that aren’t large enough to make an impact

Let’s say we have less than 10 pieces of ladies clothes and they are all mediocre in style and quality. Given that they don’t add much to the sale, we would likely donate them.

The same rings true with things like movies, CDs, children’s toys, etc. If the quantity is small and the wow factor low, then we donate.

Items within a category that are cheaper in quality

Once we group all of the items together within a category, then we go through with a fine tooth comb. “Pick the best and donate the rest”

Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar items and the like are best suited for a thrift store rather than taking up space at an estate sale.

Our goal is to allow room for the best things to shine so we want to donate items that might take away from something else’s luster.

Items that have a low resell rate

We are CONSTANTLY reviewing items that sell well and that rarely sell at all. While it is hard to put these kinds of things in a box because there are always exceptions, here are some things that don’t sell well for us at estate sales.

Purses
Movies (DVDs, VHS)
CDs & Cassette Tapes
Computer equipment (monitors, keyboards, printers)
Sheets (unless new)
Stuffed animals

What are some questions that you have about our estate sale process? Leave it below in the comment section and we will be sure to answer (or possibly write a blog post about it!).