My wife and I are in the process of decluttering over a decade worth of Stuff. We realized we have boxes of things we have moved several times that we have never unpacked. And this clutter is oppressive. Sometimes things are easy to get rid of, while others, not so much. For example, I have hundreds of old CDs I no longer use and several dozen movies I no longer watch.The advent of streaming radio and video have changed the way most of us consume music and video content. To be clear, there is still a market for most of the CDs and DVDs we all own. The issue is finding the person in an economical manner.

Sure, you can sell these things at a yard sale. Or via Craigslist. And if you really want to do some work, you can sell them individually on Ebay or Amazon. The problem is these methods can be unreliable, time intensive, or even expensive once you account for shipping, processing fees, etc. The only time it’s really worth it is if you sell a higher dollar item, such as a relatively new video game or movie.

I was about to list a couple boxes of CDs and DVDs on Craigslist for a flat rate – buyer takes all or none (or at least a substantial number of them). I don’t have the time or desire to parse them out individually. I’d rather sell them all at one go, even if that means I take less Money up front. After all, time is money, right?

Decluttr Does the Work for You

Just this week I just heard about Decluttr. And it came around at the perfect time. With Declutter you can open a new account and sell your electronics, cell phones, tablets, CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays, and video games. They become the middle man.

Here’s how it works:

The above graphic says it all. Just scan, send, and get paid. It’s easy enough to set up and complete with your phone or tablet. I’m not big on using my phone for many tasks if it requires a lot of typing or other complicated work. But the Decluttr app is incredibly simple to use and doesn’t require much work other than pointing the scanner at the bar code.

Decluttr Apps:

• Decluttr website
• Iphone App
• Android App
• Get $10 for completing your first order with Referral Code – DTRFGC2GW3

*Note: this is a referral that will give both of us $10 when you complete your first order. Enter the Referral Code when you register with Decluttr.

How Does Decluttr Work in Practice?

Pretty well, actually. I had a stack of CDs and I downloaded the app and started scanning the bar codes. The process was remarkably fast and easy. My first three CDs cam back at $0.50 each, which I was quite happy about, since that particular box had about 75 CDs in it. Then reality set in, and I started scanning some CDs that were in less demand.

Payouts are nothing to write home about. The least expensive CD came in at $0.01. The most expensive CD came in at $0.76 (it included a bonus DVD). Most CDs can in around the $0.20-$0.30 range. In all, I scanned 64 CDs and earned a grand total of $16.83 ($0.26 each).

That’s not a lot of money. In fact, a quarter a CD is terrible. But… I don’t have to do much work at all. Just point my phone at the barcode, put them in a box, print the shipping label, and the rest is taken care of. I don’t have to spend any money on shipping (which is very expensive). I don’t have to deal with unsold inventory at a yard sale, or deal with individual shipping and packing if I were to try and sell these on Ebay or Amazon (not to mention the fact that selling them one by one could take months).

I want my space and my sanity back. So this is about the best solution I’ve found.

What about movies? Movies are pretty much the same as the CDs. The pricing was a little different, but it was more of the same.

How about electronics? I didn’t try to sell any electronics, but you can sell things like cell phones, Kindles, iPads and iPods, Tablets, and Video Game Consoles. I’m not a gamer, and I don’t cycle through electronics, so I can’t reliably comment on the prices offered.

Tell me about video games. Well… they’re fun if you’re into that kind of thing.

I mean, tell me about the prices for video games! Oh. Well, I don’t have much insight to that. I haven’t had a gaming console since the original PlayStation, so I’m probably not the right person to ask. But my guess it’s more of the same. If you have a game that is in high demand, it will fetch a higher price than a game that is three generations old and on a console that is also two or three generations old. But if you’re not playing those games anymore, why not bundle them up and ship them off to someone who will, and earn a few bucks in the process? Or maybe gift them to a family member with young children?

I can tell you they buy games for the PlayStation, Xbox and certain Nintendo systems.

Don’t the buy Legos too? Yep. They recently added that. Very cool if you’re not into building stuff any more. Or you want to fund buying new Lego sets.

What about school books? I didn’t sell any textbooks to Decluttr. I did sell several boxes of books to other vendors, and I’ve sold books to Half Price Books before. It seems like Decluttr only buys textbooks at the time of this writing, so you may try elsewhere if you have other types of books.

Was there anything you couldn’t sell? Yep. Some of the items I had didn’t match up with the barcode (this was rare). I also had some CDs that were from when I was a BMG Music Club member back in the mid to late 90s (remember that?). Well, those CDs  have special bar codes that don’t work on Decluttr. So I’ll do something else with those.

Anything else I should know about? Yes, you can’t sell duplicates in the same transaction. My wife and I had a couple CDs and DVDs in common from before we were married. If you want to sell more than one, you need to break it into more than one transaction. Transaction minimums are 10 items and a minimum $5 sale price. So it’ easy to break this into multiple sales if necessary.

Why don’t you just donate the items? I donate some things. My wife and I give a lot to church and we donate books to our local library and sometimes drop things off with Goodwill. I wanted to try this to see how easy it would be (incredibly easy) and how much money it would generate (not a lot). But since I’m not paying shipping, there is no downside to trying it out. I’ll probably use it again at some point, but since we just cleared out a couple hundred CDs and a couple dozen movies, I don’t have a lot left to give.

How Do You Get Paid?

Decluttr sends your payment the day after they receive and verify your shipment (quality control to double check everything is included and in working order). You have the choice of receiving a physical check or a direct deposit. I prefer not giving my direct deposit information to outside companies, but that is a personal decision. So I expect to receive my payment about 2-3 weeks after sending the items. The Decluttr page says it can take 7-10 days for them to receive the box (slow boat via UPS), and another 7-10 days to receive the check after it is processed and mailed.

Verdict: Decluttr is Efficient, But it Won’t Maximize Your Return

As I described above, small dollar items are tough to sell and still maximize your revenue. In my case, I just wanted to get rid of the physical items. The music has been imported to iTunes for several years, and the physical disks have been sitting in boxes for years. So I’m not concerned with maximizing revenue.

If this sounds like your situation, then give Decluttr a go. You probably won’t make a lot of money. But you’ll get your space back, let someone else gain joy from Stuff you no longer use, and maybe you’ll earn enough money to have a date night with your favorite person. Or maybe just enough for a nice cup of coffee or a cold beer. All of these sound good in my book.

Get $10 for Trying Decluttr

Decluttr has a referral offer that gives new customers $10 upon completing their first order. Simply sign up online or with one of their apps and enter the following Referral Code when you register – DTRFGC2GW3

• Decluttr website
• Iphone App
• Android App
• Get $10 for completing your first order with Referral Code – DTRFGC2GW3

*Note: this is a referral that will give both of us $10 when you complete your first order.

~$~

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