Nobody Wants Your Stuff — The Brutal Truth About Downsizing for Retirement Travel

Key message

• Downsizing for retirement travel is harder than expected because people often don’t want “used” items, even if you bought them expensive or they seem valuable to you.

Their starting situation (why it felt overwhelming)

They began with:

• A 2-story, 2,500 sq ft house with:
  • 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
  • 2-car garage
  • Every closet stuffed
  • Extra stored items: boxes in the basement and totes under the stairs
• A 3-month timeline to declutter and sell the house, with flights booked for their next travel leg.

Decluttering strategy (how they sorted everything)

They worked item-by-item and created clear piles:

• Keep
• Donate
• Gift to family/friends
• Trash
• Sell (only items they believed had enough value)

Selling reality (what went wrong / what they learned)

They tried selling through:

• Skipping estate sales/garage sales due to time constraints
• Using Facebook Marketplace and Kijiji

Selling became like a full-time job, driven by:

• No-shows
• Haggling and lowball offers
• Scheduling headaches and unrealistic buyer expectations (e.g., people wanting pickup for tiny items far away, not reading dimensions)

What actually sells

They eventually found success with pricing realistically for:

• Older bedroom furniture
• Some electronics
• Garage tools (e.g., DeWalt drills and batteries)
• Sports equipment (e.g., golf clubs)
• Some clothing (including Lululemon)

What often didn’t sell

They struggled with items like:

• Generic kitchen items, serving dishes, and glassware
• Old bedding and towels
• Some home decor
• Even items they thought were valuable—e.g., professional scuba fins, which they couldn’t give away until prices dropped to effectively “free.”

Donation approach (easier + more rewarding)

They donated most items to:

• Goodwill
• Salvation Army

Benefits they emphasized over selling:

• No scheduling or no-shows
• Feeling good knowing items helped others

Donation notes / acceptance reality

Commonly accepted:

• Clothing, small appliances, kitchenware
• Furniture in good condition

Commonly not accepted:

• Mattresses
• Older electronics
• Items with missing parts

They also gifted/donated locally to friends and neighbors (example: a tote of LEGO given to an 8-year-old).

Trash / hard calls

• Some items truly can’t be passed on.
• Example of a loss: custom vacation photo artwork prints that cost ~$700 couldn’t be sold or even given away, and were ultimately thrown out.
• Instead of hiring junk removal, they:
  • Drove SUV-loads to a waste management facility (~$10–$15 per run, about six runs)
  • Used municipal free curbside pickup for larger items (bookable a few times a year), including:
    • Old recliner chairs
    • Old mattresses and box springs

Practical tips to make it work (their “how to” list)

• Start earlier than you think
  • Plan for 3–6x longer than expected
  • Goal: handle each item only once after choosing a pile (sell/donate/gift/trash)
• Take photos of sentimental items before letting them go
  • Keep the memory without keeping the physical item
• Don’t let stubbornness block selling
  • Mindset example: a $10 sale beats a $25 no-show
• Set a hard deadline
  • Everything must be gone by a specific date to force decisions
• Get family involved early
  • Let family review “wish list” items first to reduce conflict and improve fairness
• If they could redo it:
  • Start 6–12 months earlier to reduce stress

Notable takeaway

Once they stopped trying to extract value from everything and focused on moving items out, they felt lighter and freer as rooms emptied.

Notable locations, products, and speakers

Locations / organizations

• Goodwill
• Salvation Army
• Local waste management facility
• Municipal free curbside pickup

Platforms

• Facebook Marketplace
• Kijiji

Products mentioned

• DeWalt drills and batteries
• Lululemon clothing
• Scuba fins
• Golf clubs
• LEGO

Speakers

• Jeremy and Brooke