Advice please - clearing out the house!

warnski

Hi everyone, I'm in the process of a serious de-clutter and was after some advice on the most ethical / worthy / profitable (where relevant) ways of getting rid of the following without it going to landfill....

BOOKS

VHS TAPES

ELECTRONICS (more specifically: cables, wires and chargers from old mobile phones and PCs; old routers; old SIM cards; microfilters; software CDs)

Thanks in advance

McKneff

Try local auction sites, they are like ebay but free.

Ive had a declutter just lately and sold loads and loads.

little_busy_bee

Hi,

depends on how much time you have, and the whether the main reason for a declutter is to generate income or clear space...

for books try local charity shops, oxfam will often be able to arrange collection of large numbers of boxes of books, and will take cds, dvds amd vinyl as well. Oxfam also claim back the gift aid on these making it esp. good for the charity.

if you have any books which you suspect may be valuable/rare you check on amazon marketplace/abebooks before donating.

it is increasingly hard to sell 'normal' books second hand as so few shops aound to accept these, and postal costs, etc. if selling through amazon marketplace/abebooks can be pretty high - so i would not bother with these.

most charity shops will not accept videos, and they are very difficult and costly to recyle so i am afraid i have to say that they are a black bag in bin job.

for mobile phones and charges please see http://practicalaction.org/support-us/recycleforlife

as for lap-tops, ours were old and bulky to donate to charity so we sold on https://www.sell-your-laptop.co.uk/ and donated the money to the charity instead.

other electrical equipment such as cables are very difficult as charity shops, etc. can not take as they are not pac tested, so i think the best thing for these is to offer on freecycle or even your workplace noticeboard...

good luck with the project!

VRose

VHS tapes are tricky as due to the tape its not easily recycled.
I have found the independent charity shops still accept them, unlike the bigger ones (Oxfam etc.)
You may be able to make use of the boxes. Reverse the cover so you can label and use for all those little bits. My craft stuff has never been so organised!
I have kept the tape to use as ribbon.
My preferred place for books is the free book shop in town, your local council should be able to tell you if you have one. Check any books of value on Amazon 1st, as you might be able to sell it. Text books tend to do well.
I have found the local facebook site to be a quick free way to either give things away or sell things.
Sure you will enjoy the new de-cluttered space you create.

dreaming

I have used Freecycle (or Freegle in some areas) and have been amazed at what goes. There often seems to be someone looking for odds and sods of wires/cables etc., and the best part is they come and collect it.

jackyann

definitely use Freecycle / Freegle
also contact your local council about recyclables (or, if convenient, call at your nearest tip) I am able to recycle all small electrical items, and cables at our local tip
mobile phone bits & pieces can be recycled for charity - most Post Offices have envelopes to put them in
Just a warning about the value of old books: if you look them up on Amazon/Abe books you will sometimes see very high prices - be warned that in some cases people are just taking a punt. I can't tell you which ones, but just be aware! I know a very small amount about second hand books, so could make a rough guess. I finally decided (as I had not time to spare at that point) to donate all to Oxfam, on the grounds that if they could get a few extra quid for some special book, that was fine by me.