How to Liquidate Your Possessions for RV Life

Everyone planning for full-time RV life faces the same challenge: what do I do with all my stuff? Some have gracious relatives with extra space and others spring for monthly storage. But those options aren’t always available. Sometimes, everything must go!

You’re not here for disclaimers, but I have to give two up front:

1. Eric and I had not accumulated a lifetime of possessions before we went on the road. In fact, from the time we were married in 2011, we purposely kept our belongings to a minimum. We already had some idea that this lifestyle might be in store for us, so we only got what we really needed…with just a handful of splurges along the way! All that to say, the amount of stuff we had to get rid of is very likely less than you have – and I want to recognize that!
2. Our 40-foot RV has a ton of storage space. I still have drawers with nothing in them, and our basement storage underneath is kind of unbelievable. If you’re making a gas RV your home, you’re facing a challenge I can’t even imagine, with no pass-through storage!

With those notes out of the way, our 700ish square feet of apartment space, plus a storage closet off the patio, held plenty that I couldn’t take with me. And yes, it was absolutely overwhelming.

After a lot of reflection, I decided this is why: I could have bagged everything up and donated it to Good Will in one fell swoop. Done. But many of these things meant something to me. By receiving money in return, I received validation that they meant something to others too. Hopefully you understand what I’m saying from a sentimental standpoint. We’re not talking about spring cleaning. We’re talking about the entire liquidation of a home. It’s a big deal.

In loose chronological order, these are the methods I used to pare down our possessions:

Selling on Craiglist

Craigslist was our starting place. We were eager to get rid of our furniture, the biggest pain to get rid of otherwise, and our best money-makers.

Pros: Austin is a large city and it’s easy to get responses if the price is right. People inevitably want to negotiate, so we recommend starting a little high with your asking price. Craigslist is super easy to use. List a short description, price, your location, and photos. The longer description and more photos you offer, the more comfortable people will feel contacting you. You do not need to list any personal information. Craigslist can create an anonymous email address for you, and you can give buyers more information when you’re ready.

Cons: Scammers are out there. It’s healthy to be suspicious, and to be careful about giving out your personal information. Besides the scammers, there are people who are not serious buyers, and who will waste your time if you let them. It can be a pain to weed through the emails and texts, and to set appointments with people who end up not showing.

Overall, I feel that using Craigslist is worth it. We ended up selling a patio set, deep fryer, patio side table, Baldwin piano (/tear), rug, ottoman, bar stools and recliner through Craigslist.

Selling on Facebook to Friends

And then there’s Facebook. As we posted on Craigslist, Eric also posted about our items on Facebook. Basically, “These are the things we have available. Let me know if you want photos or more info.”

Pros: What’s not fun about relocating your things into friends’ homes!? Plus, they tend to be more reliable than strangers. Cons? Can’t think of any.

We sold our couch and matching recliner, counter height dining table set, microwave, entertainment center, side tables, and coffee table to friends through Facebook.

From our furniture sales, we made about $2,300. We felt that was pretty fair for what we sold (we obviously didn’t shop at Ethan Allen).

We had been so anxious that a month wouldn’t be long enough to sell all of our furniture. One weekend later, we were down to our futon. We moved it from our bedroom to our living room. During the day, we put it up and sat on it while we worked. At night, we put it down and it was our bed! Our TV sat on an upside-down tupperware container. We had no tables, no chairs. For a month.

What We Didn’t Do: Garage Sale

Apartment living made any sort of garage sale concept a little difficult. I did consider an “apartment sale,” but ultimately we ran out of Saturdays, and I didn’t like the idea of having strangers in my home. With their shoes on.

I would think that – for those of you with “real” houses (and driveways) – a garage sale or two would probably be Plan A. What you don’t want to do is feel like you have to sell truly valuable things for a lot less than they’re worth. I think this happens when you run out of time. If you can reach more people through something like Craigslist or even eBay, give yourself time to try those avenues.

For those of you who used garage sales as part of your liquidation strategy (yes, it’s important to use official-sounding phrases), please comment about your experience and any lessons learned! I’m not any help in this area.

Too Many Clothes!

With the big stuff out of the way, it was on to the hard part. We separated everything into four categories:

• To Sell
• To Donate
• To Store (at my parents’ – thank you, Mom and Dad!)
• To Keep (a.k.a., to take with us in the RV)

Both Eric and I got rid of a ton of clothing. Here’s what I did with it:

• Plato’s Closet – Plato’s Closet is a resale store with locations all over the country. You take in your used clothing, and they buy what they want. Here’s the catch: they’re picky. They want barely used clothing, usually name brands, and usually styles from the previous year. I took in our very best stuff and they picked out a few things. I think I walked out with about $33…and a lot of clothing I still had to get rid of! But hey – that’s $33 I didn’t have before.
• Buffalo Exchange – Buffalo Exchange is similar to Plato’s Closet, but it’s more on the alternative/vintage side. For me, it was a total bust. They didn’t want anything I took in.
• Open Door Clothing Store – An Austin friend of mine saw my Facebook posts about having clothing to give away. Turns out she’s on the board of a local non-profit called Open Door, which gives away clothing to those in need (among other meaningful things). I was excited to hear about it, and to have clothing to give to Open Door.
• Good Will – Even after Plato’s Closet, Buffalo Exchange and Open Door, there was still more clothing!! So glad Good Will is there, and that they also have a valuable mission in communities across the country.

I Love My Books

Besides my piano, the hardest thing for me to get rid of was a lot of my books. I turned to Half Price Books. I think I made all of $12 from the gigantic tupperware container I took in. I ended up leaving everything with them anyway. They told me many of my donated books would go to a local hospital, and that made me happy. Buh bye, books!

When All Else Fails, Ask Your Family for Money

My Dad got my 1997 Toyota Avalon for me at the end of my freshman year of university. My sweet Kendra Eadaoin (Eadaoin is Celtic and I found it in a baby name book)! When it came time to downsize to one vehicle, I knew my Dad wanted first right of refusal. I’m so happy that Kendra got to stay in the family!

We also offloaded our huge flatscreen TV to Dad…had to twist his arm on that one. :p

Storage With Family

My parents did kindly offer to store some things for us – the photos, keepsakes and collectibles that we didn’t want to part with. We managed to condense into eight stackable tupperware containers for the garage, and a few other things that fit in one of my old closets. Mom and Dad were surprised at how little there actually was…I felt a little proud about that!

When All Else Fails, Give Stuff to Your Neighbors

On the day of our move, Salvation Army was scheduled to pick up our faithful futon and the rest of our bagged items. Half way through the day, we got a phone call that the truck was broken and they couldn’t come. So stressful – we couldn’t even carry that ridiculous futon between the two of us! Hurrah for our neighbor Dylan, who we hardly knew. Dylan got a free vacuum, shoe rack, coat rack and futon…because he helped carry it all next door.

With one last-minute Good Will run as we were trying to get to our first campground before dark, we FINALLY GOT RID OF ALL OUR STUFF.

Holy cow. What a process, right?!

So glad I never have to do that again! Let me know if you have any questions, or leave a comment with your suggestions so others can benefit.

-Brittany