{"id":470,"date":"2020-06-04T00:33:05","date_gmt":"2020-06-04T00:33:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/onthemovenow.com\/blog\/?p=470"},"modified":"2020-06-04T00:33:05","modified_gmt":"2020-06-04T00:33:05","slug":"the-emotional-side-of-downsizing-part-3-bargaining-lets-make-a-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/onthemovenow.com\/blog\/the-emotional-side-of-downsizing-part-3-bargaining-lets-make-a-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"The Emotional Side of Downsizing, Part 3: Bargaining! Let’s Make A Deal!"},"content":{"rendered":"
You Can\u2019t Always Get What You Want<\/em>\u00a0is a well-known song by the Rolling Stones. It’s also\u00a0\u00a0the theme song for downsizers who have unrealistic expectations about the money they\u2019ll make selling things they no longer need or use.<\/div>\n

After a taking a break to talk about downsizing in the time of Covid-19, we\u2019re returning this month to continue the story of Dan and Donna — an early-middle aged couple living with two young children in Southern California, faced with the responsibility of clearing out Dan\u2019s mother\u2019s Bay Area home.<\/p>\n

After a decade of helping people downsize and declutter, I\u2019ve come to realize that, as happens when going through grief,\u00a0many people go through a five-stage process\u00a0as they downsize.<\/p>\n

When we last visited Dan, he had gone through the\u00a0Denial\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Anger<\/strong>\u00a0stages. As we pick the story back up, Dan is deep into\u00a0Bargaining<\/strong>.
\n_______________<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bargaining isn’t only about money.<\/strong>
\nDan began bargaining with his wife, Donna, as soon as he realized that he was going to have to clear out his mom\u2019s house.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wanted me to go up there and do it with him,\u201d Donna told me. \u201cWhen I told him I didn\u2019t see how that was possible, he suggested that we pack a truck and bring it all down here. That\u2019s when I knew we needed professional help.\u201d<\/p>\n

An important part of bargaining is assessing the other party’s interest.<\/strong>
\nDonna had no intention of getting involved in clearing out Dan\u2019s mother\u2019s home. She had her hands full taking care of her children and her work, and she didn\u2019t want any of her mother-in-law\u2019s things. Dan tried all sorts of ways to convince her to get involved, but Donna flatly refused. He couldn\u2019t bargain with her because she had no interest in what he was trying to \u201csell\u201d.<\/p>\n

Recognizing he couldn\u2019t do it on his own, Dan agreed to have On The Move come in and help.<\/p>\n

The buyer decides the price.<\/strong>
\n\u201cHer furniture is in good shape,\u201d Dan told me. \u201cAnd look at all of this china! She loved to entertain! We can make a few thousand on this alone, right?\u201d<\/p>\n

I had to tell Dan that, like most people, his expectations were unlikely to be met. While his mother may have paid many thousands of dollars when she outfitted her home, the secondary market for those things is currently flooded.<\/p>\n

Go to your favorite online sites (NextDoor, Decluttr, LetGo, OfferUp, Ebay, Craigslist, just to name a few) and you\u2019ll see that you can get almost anything you want in the second-hand market.\u00a0Many people are giving away good things for free. This is great news for those who are looking to bring stuff home. Not such good news for those letting go.<\/p>\n

The original retail price doesn\u2019t determine an object\u2019s value. The market does. And when there are more sellers than buyers, the price goes down. Way down.<\/p>\n

Getting your desired price will take time and effort.<\/strong>
\n\u201cWhat about these rugs?\u201d Dan asked. \u201cThese paintings! Some of these furniture pieces are real antiques!\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan decided that there were a few things he felt were worth the energy it would take to find appropriate buyers, and I agreed.<\/p>\n

We found dealers for those things. So far, they haven\u2019t sold.\u00a0 When they do, they’ll be selling for a lot less than Dan hoped. And, he’ll have to give a significant percentage to the dealer.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, an object’s value comes from what it means to you.<\/strong>
\nIf you love something, it has value. Those are the things you want to keep.<\/p>\n

Everything else is something you should\u00a0let\u00a0go as quickly and easily and possible. You may not make the most money, but you will\u00a0get more space, spend less energy and have more time. And that\u2019s a worth a lot!
\n_______________<\/strong>
\nNEXT<\/strong>:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Find out how Dan and Donna’s downsizing story ends.<\/span>
\n\u00a0<\/span>
\nMORAL OF THE STORY:<\/strong>
\nGetting what you want means understanding the true value of an item, as well as its potential value to the market. It’s difficult to drive a hard bargain when you don’t have all the input you need. If you’re thinking about downsizing and you’d like someone on your side, we’re here to help. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You Can\u2019t Always Get What You Want\u00a0is a well-known song by the Rolling Stones. It’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":471,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[29],"class_list":["post-470","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-declutter","tag-parents-gethelp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthemovenow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthemovenow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthemovenow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthemovenow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthemovenow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=470"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/onthemovenow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/470\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthemovenow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/471"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onthemovenow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=470"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthemovenow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=470"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onthemovenow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=470"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}