My Storage Locker

In My Humble Opinion
1

I went to my storage locker. I found my old deer rifle and gave it to my sister-in-law. I have not used the thing in 20 years.

The locker costs me $75/month I have been overseas for 12 years now and have no real plans on returning for the next ten years. The locker is full of furniture. Lovely stuff, oak, hand-made two bookcases, a set of end tables and a coffee table all of them match a huge (huge I say) oak Army desk. I bought it as a souvenir of my Army life. Great stuff.

Nobody in my family wants this stuff. Nobody has offered me storage.

The money I have spent is spent. We need not loose sleep over sunk costs. Still, ought I to sell this collection? Keeping it will cost me thousands.

Your thoughts?

2

Get it valued. If it’s all valued at less than what it will cost to store it for a decade, then sell it. But you’re choosing a bad time to sell.

3

I wonder what a consignment shop will give me for this stuff?

4

Probably very little; if it’s decent, either keep it or sell it at auction. You could give it to a charity.

5

We’d store it for you if we had the room, but we’re in a rowhouse.

6

Thank you Ginger. Did I mention the desk is huge?

7

It depends. Is the feeling that you still own this stuff worth thousands? Is this money spent on the feeling of a “home-base”? Then it might be worth it.

If OTOH you wonder if it might save you money, don’t even bother for a second. What if you decide to move in with someone? What if she has other tastes? What if you settle down in another country again, will you pay the shipping and moving costs for that huge desk?

Now with ebay and craigslist you could buy other furniture if you need it. After my recent divorce, I left the house with nothing ( I felt guilty, long story) and I set up a new household in a rented home with everything from furniture, curtains, equipment, to china, for about 5000 USD.

8

It may be lovely stuff, but you don’t need it. The clue is that it’s been in storage for 12 years. :stuck_out_tongue:

Sell it. Assuming you find you need similar stuff after 10 years is up you’ll be able to spend the 9k you save on the rental, plus the interest you make on that 9k, plus the proceeds from the sale. Ka-ching.

9

Consignment shops usually give you 50-60% of what they sell it for. It might be worth checking into.

10

Talked to an auction company. THey offered to pick the stuff up, but doubted the desk would sell, and would not pick it up if they thought they would be stuck with it.

I am willing to get rid of all f it, but keeping even one piece is as expensive as keeping the whole lot.

Of course I could set a fire.

11

Put it on free cycle, or put it on Craigslist in the for Free section.

People lose all sense of perspective when something is free. If it cost them five bucks, they will ask themselves if they really need it, and they will set all sorts of demands on you as the seller for the quality of the item, the time they want to go look at it, etc.
Put put it up for five bucks less then five bucks, i.e. for free, and it is a whole 'nuther ballgame.
It may cost people lots of money to go see the item, have it transported, and find out it doesn’t fit their room either and they have to store it, but they don’t make that calculation, because, hey! It’s free, right?

You won’t believe the junk I got rid of by posting it on the Dutch version of Craigslist as “free”. Five used matresses? Check, made a bunch of illegal immigrants very happy. Ugly cheap cabinet? Check, young single motehr loved it.

Saved me time and effort because I didn’t have to bring it to a landfill. Plus gave me lots of warm fuzzies.

12

I’d put the stuff up on craigslist for a price (plus “you haul”). See what that gets you. Whatever isn’t sold in a week or two, put it back up for free. Whatever isn’t gone then, call a charity or auction house to come get it.

I agree with others who say that when the time comes that you may actually need any of this stuff, you can easily buy replacements again on craigslist for cheap.

13

If you’re going to give it away, rather than simply giving it away, get it valued by a valuer, then donate it to a charity. That way it will be tax-deductible.

14

I am having a furniture guy over next week. Depending on what he says, I will take action.

15

About a year or so ago, there was an interesting article on storage facilities.
It mentioned how they make huge bucks with divorced couples…and how things end up in there that should have long since been tossed.

The article said the rule of thumb is, unless you have a particularly good reason (waiting for your house to be built, or waiting for the moving truck to move you to another state) you should never keep things in storage for over two months. That is a clear sign you don’t need the stuff anymore, and most likely are never going to find an use for it. They said it if was there for more than three months, you are wasting money and should sell, donate or toss everything.

16

Odd how efficiently I have been in tossing excess crap out of my mother’s basement, but the stuff in my storage locker is different, darn it.

17

Ah, the famous irregular verbs.
My potentially valuable keepsakes with significant emotional connotations, your easily replaceable household goods to which you are irrationally attached, her worthless and possibly dangerous old crap :smiley: