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For anyone interested in what happens to all this "stuff" at the other end... I administer several deceased estates (the process for which is to locate and pro

For anyone interested in what happens to all this "stuff" at the other end... I administer several deceased estates (the process for which is to locate and prove the will (if applicable), gather in and dispose of the assets, distribute the balance). As most deceased people tend to be in the 70+ age bracket, it is very unlikely that you can even comprehend the volume of "stuff" involved in that undertaking. Typically, 1% - 5% of the stuff has any commercial value. There might be jewellery, an antique or two. I can usually get $100 for a working fridge. Unfortunately we live in a disposable culture - we are geared to buy new rather than re-use old. Some small proportion of the rest of the stuff can be donated (ie. charities will accept it). The rest fills up 2-5 rubbish skips (6 cubic metres each) and subsequently landfill. Look around your house. Experience indicates that on your death I'll recover approximately $900 from selling your stuff.

Renaud 13y ago
>... I'll recover approximately $900 from selling your stuff. A sobering thought. I'm a bit late for my spring-cleaning, now is as a good a time as any.
sliverstorm 13y ago
Unfortunately we live in a disposable culture - we are geared to buy new rather than re-use old. I think a lot of that has to do with the markets for new & used goods. There are many things I would be perfectly fine buying used, but have no hope of locating for sale in any reasonable span of time.
- adestefan 13y ago
  Or price. People tend to overvalue used items.
- jodrellblank 13y ago
  Are you suggesting there's room for disrupting eBay?
sushimako 13y ago
I've heard of "apartment-looting" parties in Vienna, don't know if this is common elsewhere? In order to empty a deceased apartment, they publicly sell a limited number of tickets (~20-30EUR iirc) for a cleaning/looting event. At the event, they let in a certain number of people at the same time, so it doesn't feel too crowded. Once inside, everyone is free to take whatever they want and can. This is fairly popular with students who just moved into their new flat and need stuff like kitchen supplies, lamps, frames etc.
- keithpeter 13y ago
  Now, a variation on that where I could designate a room in my (tiny) house where people could come and just take stuff would be good. Do people ever do this while still living? Perhaps moving away?
  - wink 13y ago
    I've seen and heard that from folks who are moving cross-country or even cross-continent. So far it's mostly been students with smaller apartments, but it's not unheard of. (I'm in Germany.)
    - kaybe 13y ago
      We sometimes raid the bulky refuse collection that is done every few months. I hope the next one is soon, half of our chairs are broken.. and sometimes there is stuff by the side of the road with a 'free' sign. Or I'll put up a notice to inform the neighbours of our plight and see how many chairs they have.. It's really interesting. There is so much stuff going around that a student shared house doesn't have to really buy any furniture at all.
jaegerpicker 13y ago
We are moving across country right now. We are going from a 1500 sq ft 4 bedroom house with a full basement and shed to a two bedroom 800 sq ft apartment with a 5x5 storage unit. We don't have much choice but to purge 50-75% of our stuff. It's been one of the greatest things I've ever done for myself. The focus it's allowed on the really important part of our lives is amazing. We've sold well over $5000 of our stuff. We are fairly young so maybe our stuff is in general more desirable but if you work at you can sell a lot of stuff I think. That said we have also given away more than we sold. We put out a free sign and put it in the front yard and it went incredibly quickly.
deleted 13y ago
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Renaud 13y ago

>... I'll recover approximately $900 from selling your stuff. A sobering thought. I'm a bit late for my spring-cleaning, now is as a good a time as any.

sliverstorm 13y ago

Unfortunately we live in a disposable culture - we are geared to buy new rather than re-use old. I think a lot of that has to do with the markets for new & used goods. There are many things I would be perfectly fine buying used, but have no hope of locating for sale in any reasonable span of time.

adestefan 13y ago
Or price. People tend to overvalue used items.
jodrellblank 13y ago
Are you suggesting there's room for disrupting eBay?

sushimako 13y ago

I've heard of "apartment-looting" parties in Vienna, don't know if this is common elsewhere? In order to empty a deceased apartment, they publicly sell a limited number of tickets (~20-30EUR iirc) for a cleaning/looting event. At the event, they let in a certain number of people at the same time, so it doesn't feel too crowded. Once inside, everyone is free to take whatever they want and can. This is fairly popular with students who just moved into their new flat and need stuff like kitchen supplies, lamps, frames etc.

keithpeter 13y ago
Now, a variation on that where I could designate a room in my (tiny) house where people could come and just take stuff would be good. Do people ever do this while still living? Perhaps moving away?
- wink 13y ago
  I've seen and heard that from folks who are moving cross-country or even cross-continent. So far it's mostly been students with smaller apartments, but it's not unheard of. (I'm in Germany.)
  - kaybe 13y ago
    We sometimes raid the bulky refuse collection that is done every few months. I hope the next one is soon, half of our chairs are broken.. and sometimes there is stuff by the side of the road with a 'free' sign. Or I'll put up a notice to inform the neighbours of our plight and see how many chairs they have.. It's really interesting. There is so much stuff going around that a student shared house doesn't have to really buy any furniture at all.

jaegerpicker 13y ago

We are moving across country right now. We are going from a 1500 sq ft 4 bedroom house with a full basement and shed to a two bedroom 800 sq ft apartment with a 5x5 storage unit. We don't have much choice but to purge 50-75% of our stuff. It's been one of the greatest things I've ever done for myself. The focus it's allowed on the really important part of our lives is amazing. We've sold well over $5000 of our stuff. We are fairly young so maybe our stuff is in general more desirable but if you work at you can sell a lot of stuff I think. That said we have also given away more than we sold. We put out a free sign and put it in the front yard and it went incredibly quickly.

deleted 13y ago

[deleted]