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Old 08-17-2022, 11:47 AM   #1
Mathgod
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Default Home Decluttering - Advice Needed

I'm helping folks who have lived in their home for nearly 40 years, and the home is in dire need of major decluttering. There is all kinds of stuff that is old but still in working order and is useable, and the hope is to get this stuff into the hands of people who will still make use of it, rather than just throwing it in the garbage.

- A shack full of tools, wrenches, screws, nails, brushes, shovels, brooms, etc.

- Engineering, math, and science textbooks from the mid 2000s. Are they any good to anyone at this point, or would it be best to just throw them in the recycling bin?

- Board games from the 90s. Would like to sell them online and ship them out if possible, but I'm a complete stranger to the world of online selling; any advice would be appreciated.

- A vintage TV from the mid 80s. Similar TVs are listed on ebay here but I don't know how to ship it since it's both heavy and fragile, and I don't have a printer to print out the shipping label anyway. Again, any help/advice on this would be appreciated.

- A vintage typewriter, similar to the ones seen here.

- An old dishwasher that still works.
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Old 08-17-2022, 11:51 AM   #2
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Maybe list your inventory on the CP buy and sell?: https://forum.calgarypuck.com/forumd...aysprune=&f=21

I could potentially be interested in some tools for my garage.
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Old 08-17-2022, 12:00 PM   #3
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I had to do this for my mom a few months back and we used these guys: https://yycjunkremoval.ca/

The thing is, a bunch of stuff was just pure junk and needed to be tossed. But we also wanted a pile to be donated (they take it to WINs I think) because it was completely usable. They'll sort that out, donate what can be donated, recycle what can be recycled and take the remainder to the landfill. For us, that was a great solution and the guys were prompt and efficient as well. I think that they charge a bit less if they can donate it as well, because there are no landfill fees for that stuff.
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Old 08-17-2022, 12:03 PM   #4
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Old 08-17-2022, 12:05 PM   #5
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Anything heavy, put on Kijiji or a local forum, forget shipping it.
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Old 08-17-2022, 12:43 PM   #6
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I just went through a huge declutter. 5 years ago I moved in with my then girlfriend and now wife into her smallish house with a single garage. I hauled all my stuff in from my place, and in no time the garage and basement was full of all my stuff. We ended up with duplicates of so many things. I am also a huge do-it-yourselfer, amateur mechanic, and just generally always have some stupid project on the go so my tools were a non negotiable.

Anyway, we knew we needed a bigger place, and to de-clutter. Last summer we bought a bigger house with a oversize double garage tons on basement storage etc, but still both of us needed to get rid of a lot of old but useable things.

I'm in the car business and sell a lot of my old beaters and non-running cars at Regal auction. They also run a monthly industrial/general goods online sale. So I figured if I can get something for this stuff... anything, why the hell not, regardless, I want it out of my life. Any amount of cash is a bonus.

So for the first month we were in the new house, we set aside one half of the garage and just started piling up all the usable to someone, but not to usable to us stuff, and every Saturday for a month, I made a dump run of the useless stuff. It was frikking therapeutic heaving all the worthless crap out of the back of my cargo trailer into the junk pile at the dump. Also I audited my entire tool collection and got rid of any duplicates or outdated tools I no longer used and threw them in the auction pile.

I filled my 12 foot cargo trailer twice, and made 2 runs to Regal with all our stuff..... It is bonkers what some people will pay for 20 year old corded drills, cheap Princess Auto welders, old paddle boards, toaster ovens, tie down straps etc. I ended up hauling in a little over 4 grand on a bunch of stuff I was perfectly OK with paying 1-800-GOTJUNK to haul away. Added bonus, I didn't have to deal with a bunch of mouth breathers on Kijiji asking me to deliver a $20 box of nails to Grande Prairie.

Anyway, when it was all said and done, it felt so good to not have to walk through a maze in the garage and basement, and I pocketed I nice chunk of change by putting in a little effort one day a week over a month.

So long story short, borrow a friends cargo trailer, rent a Uhaul.... whatever, collect it all up and let an auction deal with it. If you go that route, I would call them first and let them know what you have, and they will tell you what they will and will not take.

PM me if you need a contact there.
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Old 08-17-2022, 12:44 PM   #7
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some random thoughts....

i'm not sure about organizations in calgary, but here in kelowna there is a group "mamas for mamas" that supports single moms - maybe they would be interested in some stuff. another option would be contacting a local ukrainian organization to see about helping new immigrants?

the old tv - i know those can be highly sought after by guys that are into building arcade machines. not sure if there is a facebook group or something like that - but that could be a group that would be interested in that.

the old type writer - maybe contact a local drama group (or a high school) to see if they'd want it for a prop for a production

cleaning out stuff sucks - my dad died 5 years ago and my mom is in the process of selling the house. we moved there in 1986 - so we've gone thru TONS of stuff.
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Old 08-17-2022, 12:48 PM   #8
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For older textbooks I had some too and never could find someone to take them for donation, they explicitly excluded textbooks.

I did try Kijiji/Facebook Marketplace but ended up recycling them.
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Old 08-17-2022, 04:03 PM   #9
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Thrift store donations?
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Old 08-17-2022, 05:33 PM   #10
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Unfortunately a lot of the stuff you're mentioning doesn't sound like it has any value. With stuff like old type writers and tvs, it has to be pretty specific models for people to want it now. You'll also have to sit on it, for potentially years, before moving it for $50-100. I'm sure there are specific models that are very sought after by retro gamers, but you'll have to do a bit of research.

The textbooks might find takers on Kijiji, craigslist or Facebook for free. If the boardgames have collectors value, rare or out of print, they will sell, otherwise I'd donate those to a thrift store.

Old appliances are difficult to get rid of. Rarely would anyone want an old dishwasher. If it's a portable one, you might be able to get something for it locally on Facebook, craigslist, etc.

If the tools are of good quality those will definitely have value. Facebook marketplace is a great place to move tools. Clean them up and list them.
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Old 08-17-2022, 07:54 PM   #11
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If you post the TV model I may be interested. Many people are into old CRTs for retro video gaming.

Goodwill is a good place to take things. Avoid Value Village as they are profit oriented and fake being a charitable cause.

Buy & Sell Store on MacLeod will buy electronics, jewelry, pawn shop type things.
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Old 08-17-2022, 08:56 PM   #12
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Could try these company out. Looks like they don’t have a website but could google and give them a call. It’s called Everything's Gotta Go.
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Old 08-17-2022, 09:01 PM   #13
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Start with the zero value garbage and throw it all away. Most peoples clutter has no value. Things like tools that could have value can wait and be Kijiji’d slowly.
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