Everything can be had at a moment’s notice on Ebay or Craigslist. Has anyone noticed if that helps the kind of hoarder who clings to stuff because “I might need that one day”? I mean, it has got to be clear to those people that even if they might suddenly find a need again for that stack of magazines/fishtank/kiddie bike, it is much easier to part with yours through Craigslist, save the money, and buy a new one second hand if the need arises.
But if the horrder does a search on eBay to see if that’s really true, all it takes is one issue of one magazine, or one particular model of kiddie bike, either not available, or going for exhorbitant prices, to scare them into hanging onto everything.
Still, the general point is a good one. I know that, personally, if there are plenty of cheap used copies of, say, a particular book that I might or might not want to read (again) some day floating around out there, I’m more likely to get rid of my copy, or less likely to grab one the first chance I get, just to let it sit in a box for years waiting for me to get around to reading it.
Make them sit and watch a Hoarders marathon so they can listen to all the “I might need it someday” excuses from people who are standing neck deep in junk.
My mum started buying crap “for you to sell on ebay” 
She didn’t realise that I want to live clutter-free, which is why I use ebay to get rid of my old stuff - she just thought I liked selling, so used it as an extra excuse for her to buy more reduced crap and junk from the local charity shops (she currently has at least one room in the house so full of stuff that the door barely opens anymore and you can’t get to the window).
I think if she knew how, she’d buy crap from ebay too “because it’s a bargain!”
Probably not. “I might need that one day” isn’t really a reasoned position in the case of a hoarder. It’s just a rationalization of an emotion. And, as the saying goes, you can’t reason someone out of a position they didn’t reason themselves into.
To be honest, I never find anything much that I need on Craigslist. So I don’t think telling a hoarder, “Oh, you can get rid of these old bathroom rugs that you are saving for a really bad rainy spell to put down in the front hall to wipe feet on, because you can always buy used bathroom rugs on craigslist” is going to hold much water. So to speak. The hoarder wants to be able to pull things out at a moment’s notice…“See? I knew these old rugs would come in handy someday”…without (and this is the big thing) having to pay again for something they already owned. Or wait for something to arrive from Ebay. The hoarder lives for the moment when that $3 rug they bought in 1967 and stored in the basement when the backing wore off gets used again. That to them is the big WIN…they didn’t have to spend a dime because they were careful and proactive and didn’t waste a perfectly good rug. That is the moment that justifies all the hoarding.
So no, I don’t think Craigslist is the answer.
Nope. They’d just add “I might be able to sell it someday and make more money off of it,” to their excuses. Heck, I catch myself thinking that way myself. About old computers, which, of course, is never true.
I don’t think that would make much difference. I can think of lots of (bad) rationalizations for keeping something even though it’s readily available on eBay:
- But mine has sentimental value.
- But it’s wasteful to have to re-purchase it later.
- But it might not be available online when I need it in the future.
- But mine is special.
- But I can sell this someday.
Etc. It’s not really a rational position to start with so you can’t reason someone out of it.