Search

Guides 8

• Selling used clothing and shoes

  Clothes sell by size, brand and condition, in that order. A good photo of the label saves ten messages.

• Clearing an estate: the first few days

  What to do before anything is sold, donated or thrown out, and why the order matters more than the speed.

• Dividing a parent's belongings with your siblings

  The argument is usually about a chair, not money. Agree on what's already promised, photograph the house before anything moves, and keep the sentimental list separate from the valuable one.

• Photographing stuff for sale

  Good photos are not about a good camera. They are about light, framing and photographing the flaws nobody wants to photograph.

• Sorting a bookshelf quickly

  Books are heavy and mostly worthless. A twenty-minute pass per shelf finds the few that are not.

• Sorting a record collection: the fast pass

  Most of a collection is worth very little and a few records are worth a lot. The skill is separating them without listening to all of them.

• Sorting tools in a garage or workshop

  Rusty hand tools, dead cordless drills, a bench vise and a half-full can of old paint each leave the garage a different way. Clear the floor first and sort by type before you decide what any of it is worth.

• What to do with a mattress nobody will take

  Most charities won't take a used mattress and most haulers won't pick one up without a call first. Work through the store, the hauler and the donation desk before it ends up in the alley.