Things You Should Sell Before Moving And Buy Again Later

We’re all about sustainable (and budget conscious) living, but there are some things that it just doesn’t make sense to bring with you when you’re moving to a new home. Identifying the things that you should sell before moving and purchase again once you’re settled in is a good way to limit your load on moving day, and can actually make you some good money if you do it right.

Think of moving to a new home as an opportunity to take inventory of all that you own and edit your stuff down to just the things that make sense to keep. In terms of the items that you should sell before moving and buy later on, the idea is that you’re letting go of things that weigh you down without bringing much to your life in return. And you may find that a lot of these items you don’t even need to buy again once you’re settled in—you simply learn to live without them.

Keep in mind that this pre-move purge is not an all or nothing endeavor. The goal is to hone in on the things that aren’t bringing you value in their current state so that you can (in some cases) replace them with things that will. Below, we’ll go over the items that you should put on your potential “sell before moving” list, plus tips for choosing which items stay and which items go.

Items you may want to sell before moving

Old appliances. Depending on your situation, you may have the option to take your appliances with you when you move and use them in your next home. If that’s the case, consider that it may be more cost effective to sell old appliances for a bit of cash and put that money toward buying replacement appliances after you’ve moved. Think about it: appliances are heavy, unruly, and difficult to safely move. They’re also expensive to pack and transport. And with older appliances, the cost to simply buy them new later on is usually a better alternative to the cost to move and install an older model.

Old furniture. Here’s another category of items that usually fall under the umbrella of being cheaper to sell before moving than to pack and move. If a piece of furniture is old, outdated, and without any sentimental value, you’re probably better off trying to sell it and recoup a little bit of money that you can put toward a replacement piece.

Clothes you don’t wear. Most of us have plenty of clothes that we never wear, so clean out your closet and see what you can get rid of. If you haven’t worn it in a year, if it doesn’t fit, and/or if it’s simply just not your style, sell it through a resale or consignment shop and get it off your hands. This applies not just to shirts and pants but shoes, purses, jackets, jewelry, and bridal wear—all of which can usually be sold, provided they are in good condition.

Surplus linens and towels. Unless you have some big upcoming blanket fort plans you probably do not need to be bringing along 3+ sets of sheets per bed or two dozen bath towels. While it’s always good to have extra linens just in case, over time a lot of people end up with way more than they need. Save yourself the time, trouble, and expense of packing your surplus linens by getting rid of them before your move. There’s a good market for selling vintage and antique linens that are in good condition, and the rest of the linens can be donated (animal shelters in particular are always looking for linen and towel donations).

Anything you simply don’t use anymore. Go through your gadgets, toys, books, and electronics and we’re sure you will find plenty of items that you haven’t touched—or even looked at—in quite a while. There may be a market for some of these items online, otherwise you can attempt to sell as much as you can through a pre-move garage sale.

How do you know if you should sell it or keep it?

As you’re taking inventory of your belongings before a move, you may face some difficulty discerning between what you should sell before moving and possibly purchase again and what you should hold on to. For any items you’re not sure about, ask yourself the following questions to help guide your decision.

• Does it function well? If yes, move on to the next question. If no, consider whether you still could sell it. For example, a laptop with a busted battery still has a market for purchase online, even if doesn’t have much utility in your day-to-day life.
• Is it cost-efficient to move? If it’s going to cost you more to pack and transport it than to just replace it, sell it.
• Do you useit? There’s no use keeping an item simply out of habit. If you don’t use it and don’t have any immediate plans to use it, sell it.
• Does it have sentimental value? Of course, some things don’t work, are expensive to move, and you don’t use, but you still want to hold on to them because of their sentimental pull. Try to limit the amount of items that you keep for purely sentimental reasons, but don’t sell something just to sell it if it pains you to do so.

Where to sell your items

Chances are that you won’t be able to sell all of the items that you’d like to sell, but you can certainly get a return on some of them. Check out online marketplaces like eBay, which allow you to list items for sale and connect with potential buyers. You can also visit brick-and-mortar secondhand and consignment shops in your area and see what they’re interested in taking. For everything else, host a pre-move garage sale and try to offload them that way.

What about the items you can’t sell?

If you don’t want to keep it and you’re not having any luck selling it, your next best bet is to donate it. Some charities will pick up your stuff for you, otherwise there are a myriad of other options for donating unwanted belongings to those who could put them to better use.

As for buying items again once you’re settled in, wait to see what really needs to be replaced before splurging. As the minimalist mantra goes: less is more.