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Unload Your Clutter: Getting Top Dollar For Your Family's Old Stuff

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PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- If you've been spring cleaning and now have a pile of stuff to get rid of, a yard sale is not always your best bet. You'll get more money if you target what you sell to the customers who want it.

Mount Lebanon mom Kristen Palumbo has a garage full of stuff to sell, but is having a hard time getting started.

"Where do you take it? There are so many things people are trying to sell. Do you go online? Take it to a store?" she asks.

One of the items she wants to sell is a musical instrument.

"This is my daughter, Juliet's, violin, and she's in ninth grade and decided she's no longer going to play violin, so we were interested in selling it," Palumbo said.

Music supply stores often take instruments, either buying them or selling them on consignment.

Palumbo took her violin to Johnstonbaugh's Music Center, which has three locations in our area, hoping to recoup some of the $1,000 her family paid for the violin.

"I'm hoping for around $700," Palumbo said. "I don't know if that's going to happen, but I hope so."

After dropping off the violin, the next week, Johnstonbaugh's called to say they would put her violin on consignment, suggesting a price of $600-$900, and they take 20 percent, meaning Palumbo could get close to what she wanted if it sells.

consignment-sale
(Photo Credit: KDKA)

If it's clothing you want to get rid of, many people know local consignment stores are a great place to sell clothes. You usually get 50 percent of the sale price. But a lot of people don't realize you can also sell furniture by consignment. If you don't want to sell your furniture direct, through something like Craigslist or the classifieds, consignment stores are the way to go.

If you have books to sell, first, find out how much they're worth on the website Bookscouter.com. Type in the ISBN number and it lists the going price. Unfortunately, most paperback books are worth less than $1, so you're usually better off donating those. But you can sell recent college textbooks and popular hardcover books for a fair price on Amazon, either as a third party seller or through the Amazon Trade-in program.

If you have electronics you no longer use, there are several ways to sell them. Amazon and many retailers will buy back some devices, and you can sell them on Craigslist, eBay and Decluttr.com, but be sure you've wiped the hard drive of any personal information first.

If you have sports equipment you want to get rid of, check out Play It Again Sports stores. They have locations in Greensburg and Wheeling. The store will buy from you or sell on consignment. They accept many things, including kids sports equipment, exercise equipment, like treadmills, and adult golf clubs.

You can also sell kids' sports equipment, and just about anything for kids at the Just Between Friends consignment events that happen every spring and fall at locations all around our region.

If the idea of selling something on Craigslist makes you nervous, several local police departments, including the City of Pittsburgh, now have safe trade meeting places outside their departments.

Also, neighborhood Facebook groups and the website Nextdoor.com are connecting people who live near each other to sell all kinds of things, from furniture to clothes to services.

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