I've been a member of Ebay since 1999, and my experience with the site has been mostly positive. I've bought and sold many things, dealt with nice people, and made some extra money in the process. I'm even using Ebay as part of my strategy to rid myself of clutter. As time goes on, however, I find myself wondering if the process is doing more to increase clutter, rather than getting me closer to the clutter-free existence I hope to attain.
In our basement we have an extremely small closet. It's actually an access door to our electrical box, but it does have enough space for some minor storage. Last week, our cable modem bit the dust, so I went looking for its box. It's a rental, so I wanted to return it the same way I received it. I went into the closet and pulled many other boxes out. I think in total, there were about 15 boxes of varying sizes. I took the modem back, and ended up leaving the other boxes out on our filing cabinet. When my wife came down to the basement, she asked me what all the boxes were for. I told her that I kept them in the event that I would sell the items. She gave me a look like, "You need to repeat what you just said, because I don't believe you're saving boxes just in case you sell the items
someday."
I don't have statistics to support it, but I would think it's more favorable to resell something that looks (somewhat) like it did when you bought it: with the original box, packing materials, and any accompanying literature. I do know that I'm creating clutter by speculating on the
eventual sale of things that I'm using now. And there's no guarantee that I will ever get rid of the items that correspond to these boxes. I guess because most of the items are electronics, it may be safe to say that I will get rid of them...
eventually.
Another issue with using Ebay is the packing materials needed to ship items. I've shipped most things via the U.S. Postal Service, so I've ordered their Priority Mail items, which are free. I have boxes of all sizes, Priority labels, Tyvek bags, etc., etc. I also have packing peanuts which I've saved from packages that we receive in the mail - oh yeah, I save those boxes too. So, of course you can imagine all the space that this stuff takes up.
Finally, I have all the things that I want to sell. I definitely wouldn't want to run an Ebay business, needing to constantly look for new items to sell...I'm out of space!! But I do have inherited items, as well as things that I no longer have use for. The unfinished part of our basement is full of items that meet these descriptions. I guess if I had a huge garage, or say, a warehouse, this post may not be relevant.
I hope you can see now what I mean by Ebay creating clutter. The other thing to mention is that this all takes up a lot of time - from listing items to packaging them - which lessens the time I have to tackle other types of clutter in my house. It also takes a long time to get rid of things. Some things may not sell initially, or even after relisting them. Ebay is definitely not an expeditious way (in my opinion) to rid your home of clutter.
I will still use Ebay, but much more selectively. If I do list something, it will only be once. If it doesn't sell, it will be placed on the
Clutter List. I haven't determined how long items will stay there until they are dismissed altogether - it all depends on the success of the List. Basically, the
Clutter List is like Ebay, but without the expense. With varying fees (and relisting), Ebay can definitely cut into your profit margin.
So, that's it. I'm not here to bash Ebay - I know that it's been successful for many - even me to some extent. But when it comes to the added element of clutter management, I don't know that I will rely so heavily on the service in the future. Let me know what you think.
