Should You Have a Yard Sale or Donate Unwanted Items?

I often wonder what makes more sense: having a yard sale, or donating unwanted items to charity for a tax deduction. I think it varies in different seasons of life and for each family, but here are a few factors to consider:

1. Will Your Items Sell Well?
-I've found that all baby items, children's clothes and shoes, toys, small furniture (such as chairs, nightstands, etc), and kitchen items (especially pots and pans and small appliances), are all big yard sale sellers. Other items, such as big ticket items, holiday decorations, adult clothing, and electronics (unless you allow your buyers to test them out to prove they work), don't sell as well, or you won't get much back for your investment. For example, you can usually claim a bag of gently used women's or men's clothing for a much higher tax deduction than you could get from a yard sale, especially if you're selling things for $0.25 or $0.50 each. Since I have small children, I make quite a bit of money selling their gently used clothes, shoes, toys, and gear at our yard sales. But, once I'm out of that stage, it may not make as much sense to put the effort into a yard sale, especially if I don't have a lot of "hot sellers".

2. How Much Time Do You Have?
-Your time is worth something too. If you put 10 hours into yard sale prep (pricing, sorting, hosting, etc), and expect to make $100, you'll have made $10 an hour. Is that worth your time, or is there something else you could do with your time that could save you more per hour? It depends on your perspective. Do you have more money than time, or more time than money?

3. If You Donate, Will a Tax Deduction Help You?
-Depending on your income and other deductions, donating could help you when tax season comes around by lowering your taxable income. (Remember to get a receipt for your donations, and check the maximum value you're allowed to deduct!) But, if extra donations won't matter one way or another for your situation, and you could use the extra cash, go for the yard sale. 

4. Do You Need Cash?
-If you're saving up for something (such as a new couch, new appliances, a vacation, etc), and cash will help you out, or if you want to add a little something to your monthly budget or to pay a unexpected bill, then having instant cash from a yard sale might be worth the time and effort. If you don't really need any extra cash and a deduction would help you at the end of the year, go with the donation.

What Do You Think? Have You Had More Success With Yard Sales or Donations?

Join our Facebook Community for more Money Saving Tips!

Follow Me on Pinterest

"Is Ebates For Real??"

 

I get questions about cash back and points sites often. People want to know the whats, hows, and fine print before signing up. One site I receive frequent questions about is Ebates. Here's the scoop:

1. How does Ebates work?
-The stores that Ebates offers cash back on give Ebates a referral commission for each purchase you make through them. For example, Home Depot might offer a 7% commission to Ebates for each purchase that is made going through the Ebates referral link. Of that 7%, you receive 3% cash back. Essentially, Ebates makes their money through your purchases, then shares the commission with you in the form of cash back. 

2. So, is Ebates legititmate?
-In short, yes. The site is a legitimate way to receive cash back on online purchases.

3. Okay, it sounds too good to be true. What is the fine print?
-There are some stipulations in order to receive your money. There must be at least $5 in your account in order to receive your check, which are sent out 4 times a year. Now, this isn't usually an issue during Christmas time when I do quite a bit of online shopping, but there are times when I only receive one or two checks a year.

4. Are there any drawbacks to using Ebates?
-For me, there is the temptation to spend more, knowing that I will receive cash back on a purchase, so it's been a testing of my self-control to only purchase what I was planning, and not making impulse buys :)

I have been using Ebates for about 3 years now, and have nothing but good things to say. And, since most of my shopping is done online anyway, it's nice to get a little something back.

Browse more Money Saving Articles here

Join Our Facebook Community

*Links may be a referral link, but all opinions and ideas are my own, and have not been skewed in any way. 

5 Best Yard Sale Tips

Now that Christmas is over and the reality of "Where am I going to put that?!" sets in, you may be tempted to start thinking Yard Sale! It's probably too cold in some parts of the country to actually have a yard sale in January, but it's never too early to start prepping for a yard sale. (I'm not naive, I'm just from Southern California where you can go surfing in January, so yard sales are not that uncommon this time of year.)


We had our most successful yard sale yet several months ago, and I have several tips to help make your sale easy, productive, and fun!

1. Start Early
-As soon as I see something that we're going to include in our next sale, I put it in a bin in the garage. That way I know exactly how much stuff I have to sell. This keeps me from scrambling around the day before to find more stuff.
-This also applies to the weeks before your scheduled yard sale. I like to price and sort 2-3 weeks before the sale so I don't get burned out the day before.

2. Get Organized
-Price everything. If something isn't priced or says "best offer," people will be less likely to inquire about an item. This also allows you to confirm the price for those not-so-honest shoppers. It's more time consuming, but it will save you confusion and grief the day of the sale.

3. Grab Some Neighbors
-If you can, try to corral some neighbors into having their own yard sale. A multi-home or neighborhood sale really drives in the traffic! If you market a neighborhood sale on Craigslist or in the paper, you will get many more customers than if you only have a one home sale.

4. Be Realistic
-Just because you had a special bond with your old Teddy Ruxpin or sentimental value because your husband's late grandmother gave you that bowl, your customers aren't going to share that sentimental value. Price something realistically, not what it's worth to you. If you aren't willing to part with something at a reasonable price, you'll probably regret getting rid of it anyway.

5. Sell Something Delicious
-Many states have restrictions for selling homemade goodies, so we sold Costco muffins, Costco cookies, and water at our last yard sale. My daughter stood in front of our house and sold these items (some people came just to buy from the cute little girl) and made a profit of $40 once we took out the cost of supplies!
*A tip on this one...have an adult handle the money and teach your child to pick things up using tongs and not their hands. No one wants food that's been manhandled, then touched with the same hands that have been touching money!

What are your favorite Yard Sale tips?? Please share!

Join us for more money saving tips and recipes in the Save Money, Live Joyfully Facebook Community.