Where to sell your stuff before embarking on long term travel

The possibility of living on the road always intrigued you, but you could never imagine leaving all of your friends and prized possessions behind? In case you’re reading this article, it’s safe to assume this though has at least gone through your mind at a certain point.

You’d be surprised to find out that it’s often the little things that get in your way. For example, you might be perfectly fine with a complete change of scenery, you would like to make some new friends, but you’re still hesitant about making the final step. What if we told you that selling all of your stuff is the first thing you should do?

But what are the benefits?

First of all, we all need to start somewhere, so why not force yourself to commit to a decision you wanted to make for so long. Apart from the psychological advantages, there’s also some other reasons why selling all of your material goods is the best decision you’ll ever gonna make. Let’s name a few:

• You’ll save tons of money you’d otherwise spend on storage.
• Depending on how much stuff you possess, you can turn in a decent profit.
• You’ll quickly realize just how little material things mean in life.

Create an inventory

Before actually selling anything, you have to find out what you have to offer. Our advice would be to divide all of the items into two groups: the ones you barely use, and the ones that can come in handy from time to time. You should always attempt to sell as many items from the first list, before you continue to the other one.

Leave plenty of time for this

Selling in bulk in one option, but chances are you’ll be losing a lot of precious dollars if you take on this route. Instead, do your planning ahead of time, and leave a couple of weeks for sales.

Organize a garage sale

Sometimes, old school is the way to go. Since the development of Internet, garage sales have been pretty much forgotten in the history books, but they are still a viable option. What more, internet sales are oftentimes full of stiff competition, so you’ll be forced to drop the prices way down. With garage sales, you will be able to use your charm to make a few bucks extra, and your neighbors might be more willing to help you out than normal.

eBay is still one of the best options

Although eBay has been around forever, this popular selling platform is seemingly more successful than ever. Pro tip: in case you own some collectible items, such as comic books, rare baseball cards or vintage vinyl records, eBay is the way to go. When it comes to other objects, such as furniture of clothing, there are other more suitable options out there.

Craigslist

Anything goes on Craigslist. From cars to shoes or even old mobile phones, if you have something you want to sell, chances are there’s someone who’ll be more than happy to help you out.

Trading post or Gumtree

Similar to the above mentioned website, these two options can provide a great alternative.

Join a Facebook group

There are literally thousands of Facebook groups where users connect in order to buy or sell used items. Find one that covers your area, and give it a shot.

Also pay attention to:

• Your image quality - With online sales, having a decent looking image is half the battle.
• But don’t forget the descriptions - Try to be as honest as possible when describing the state of the items you’re trying to sell, but focus more on the positives.
• Know that there’s going to be some tough decisions ahead - Whether you’d like to admit it or not, we all create bonds with some material goods. Still, you have to be willing to let go and move on with your life.
• In case the time is up, and you didn’t manage to sell all of your belongings, instead of throwing those away, give them to charity. You’ll feel a lot better if you do, I can almost guarantee it.