Maggie McKay (Host): Welcome to Stoughton Health Talk. I'm your host, Maggie McKay. There comes a time, usually later in life, when we have to downsize. Whether it's our location or our belongings or both, and as a senior, that can be very overwhelming. So today, client relocation consultant Alesha Filiatrault will answer questions on how to get started.

Thank you so much for being here, Alesha.

Alesha Filiatrault, Client Relocation Consultant: Thank you very much for having me and letting me talk more about downsizing.

Host: Absolutely. Are there challenges seniors might face when trying to sell their belongings?

Alesha Filiatrault, Client Relocation Consultant: Definitely. One of the biggest challenges that seniors face when selling their items is understanding how the market works today, the resale market, I should say, specifically. So in other words, the value of an item isn't based on what they paid for it, what it may be insured for, or even how much they love it.

It is simply based on what someone is willing to pay for it today. Though it's tough to hear, especially when it's a beloved item, items can often sell for a fraction of what we paid for them, or there might not be a resale market for an item at all.

Host: Are there specific items that tend to sell better than others in today's market.

Alesha Filiatrault, Client Relocation Consultant: Oh, definitely. First of all though, the resale market is fickle. Items that were not sellable even six months ago, may now be a hot item. It tends to be kind of based on the people who are starting their first apartment, moving into their first home and the things that they're looking for come from their childhood.

So things right now, may be from the seventies, eighties and early nineties are kind of in style or sought after. Items need to be well made. Unique and quirky tends to sell pretty good. And then condition matters. So when people are getting ready to sell items, they need to be cleaned. They need to be checked to make sure that they're not broken.

They need to make sure that if they're say a small appliance, that all the pieces are there. And like I said, it's in working condition. If it's a collectible, it probably does best if it's in its original packaging. So those are some conditions. And then on the hot list, at least, like I said, as of recording today, mid-century modern furniture, been in style for quite a while.

They're clean and simple pieces and they kind of combine well with other types of furniture. So they kind of blend together. Vinyl records and vintage stereo equipment is pretty hot right now. Vintage jewelry and tees t-shirts, so like a band tee from seventies and eighties or nineties. High quality tools, kitchenware, the vintage kitchenware. So cast iron cookware, Pyrex, retro pieces and, and barware is kind of fun. And then vintage game boards. So those seem to be hot. And if they're packaging even better.

Host: Alesha, I'm thinking I better get going. And, you know, start doing it now because everything you mentioned I have, even though I'm not downsizing right now. On the flip side, what are some things people assume will sell but often don't?

Alesha Filiatrault, Client Relocation Consultant: That's really a good question because there is a lot of assumptions. I often run into people who were collecting in the nineties and if they haven't been shopping since then, maybe have not figured out that some of the things that we were buying in the nineties or in the eighties, what have you, are just not as hot right now.

So that can be somewhat of a, a readjustment. So the other thing is, is that there are a lot of people that are our seniors now that are also downsizing. So the market has gotten flooded with a lot of the same things that people were buying to set up their homes in the forties, fifties and sixties. So, or forties and fifties.

I should leave out the sixties because there are some things. So items that seem to be, some of the hardest things to hear are the, the formal pieces, so formal entertaining pieces. So the formal China set that you probably took decades to build up, crystal stemware, collectible figurines, like Hummels and Precious Moments, just for example, vintage well, yeah, I guess it's vintage encyclopedia sets, but anytime I use the word vintage, it usually means it's on the hot list. But encyclopedias, even a lot of the dictionaries because we don't need them anymore and they take up a lot of space. Silver plated items, collector plates, the big bulky furniture from the eighties and nineties, like oversized leather sectionals, floral pattern furniture, upholstered furniture, and a lot of the oak pieces, the large entertainment centers and just in general, formal dining room sets, which man, that one hits hard as well. And then pianos, organs, and grandfather clocks. There's just, the market's flooded and oftentimes like pianos, they're beautiful, they're absolutely beautiful pieces, but they're often not maintained very well.

And most people, young people aren't looking for those. They get the electronic keyboards, they weigh a fraction and they can kind of do the same thing. So, they're a hard one.

Host: Yeah, that is especially the china and the sterling silver platters and serving dishes. I mean, even, my nieces and nephews, they don't want any china. They're more about experiences and they're minimalists. So a lot of kids are going that route these days. So what are some options for seniors to sell belongings that they're ready to let go of? What are the pros and cons of each method?

Alesha Filiatrault, Client Relocation Consultant: Well, first of all, I do want to say Sterling Silver does have a dollar value, because it's a precious metal. So those are pretty sellable. They can even be melted down for value. And the minimalism, oh my gosh. I hear it like it's a four letter word from seniors.

My kids are minimalists, so yeah, I hear that one all the time. The ways that seniors and most of us can sell things are pretty much the same, but the challenges may be a little different. So this is definitely one where that starting early is really important. So if you start early, you can usually kind of, you have a better odds of connecting with the people who are looking for unusual pieces.

So it may take longer to find them. At the top of the list that I hear from people are garage sales. Garage sales are wonderful for selling a big bulk of items. It usually implies that you just open your garage door so you have it right outside your own home. So it's not as hard to set up. That's about the only thing that isn't hard with setting up a garage sale. They are are a lot of work. It can be very exhausting. It may depend on the weather, it may depend on whether or not people, like if you live someplace that's hard to get to; you may not have people come.

So it can be a lot of work and people are going to haggle with you. So that can be pretty exhausting. Then let's see, the online platform. So we've got eBay, Facebook Marketplace, Next Door, and Craigslist is still around. So all of them do a wonderful job of helping connect people, trying to sell things with people, looking to buy things, but they can be a lot of work and there can be some safety issues around them.

And then you also have to really know how to price items. So it requires a little bit of research and maybe a little technical savvy. So this one might be a good one to get some help from family. Estate sales. I hear from a lot of people that they're just going to have an estate sale. Those can be very invasive, but they can be effective.

So you need to interview the companies that you're working for to see what they're going to charge, how they go about that, what they're going to do with the items that don't sell. Are you going to be charged for having things removed? So there's a few factors, and there's a lot of times I hear from people that they really didn't make the kind of money for the amount of effort that went into it. So, a decent solution. And then consignment shops, so the two that kind of come to mind are the furniture and clothing consignment shops. But keep in mind, again, it's all about how they format their business.

Most consignment shops pay about 50% in the beginning and may be down to 30%, and then when you hit, say the, the end of the third month, you either have to pay to have it removed, to come and get it, or take into donations. So again, something that requires a little bit of research.

Host: Speaking of donating, what are some good ways for seniors to donate items and what should they keep in mind when they are donating?

Alesha Filiatrault, Client Relocation Consultant: So first of all, donation is a great way to keep things out of the landfill and connect people who need something with somebody who is trying to lessen the items that they have. So I can honestly say I do a lot of thrift store shopping, so I'm always appreciative of people who donate.

But there are things, first of all, that the items need to be ready to use. So they should be clean and still in working order. So donating something that's broken is not an effective solution. But look at local charities, churches, shelters, Habitat Restore is one of my favorites. Our favorites. And then just check ahead to see what they are and are not looking for, they're just not going to be the complete solution for everything.

And for example, churches, they might take some things, but they may not have the bandwidth to take things all the time. So, you know, they may be looking to connect in need of a certain family at a specific time, but may not always be taking things. So some more research and then organizations like in our area, St. Vinny's, Grace and Boomerang Thrift store, they offer pickups, which can help the donation process for a lot of seniors. But again, you have to work with the organization to make sure that they accept the item and that it's in the condition that they're looking for. So they're going to have their expectations too. So you may have to send pictures and do some other things.

Host: I don't know about where you live, but during COVID, they were not coming into your house, understandably, when they came to pick up things like furniture. And they have kept that going. So that can be really hard for seniors because they may not have someone to help them take heavy furniture outdoors.

So there's another roadblock. But what should seniors do with items can't be sold, can't be donated. And like you said, you want to keep it outta the landfill, but what do you do?

Alesha Filiatrault, Client Relocation Consultant: There are some items that aren't allowed in the landfill. So to be mindful of that does help lessen the burden. When you're looking at items that you have to dispose of, in here in Dane County, you can go to the Landfill.DaneCounty.Gov website and check and see what they take, you know, what needs to go to Clean Sweep and how, what times they're available and that sort of thing. But they take things like electronics, paint, household and yard chemicals. And then a cool thing about Clean Sweep that maybe not everybody knows is that they also have a product exchange program.

So if you are looking for things like paint, solvents and pesticides, they may have some used items in a room that they have as part of the Clean Sweep facility. So that's kind of cool to keep it out of the landfill. But there's also, in this way I'm mostly looking at the landfill and disposing of things.

But besides donating, I just kind of wanted to throw in that there's kind of the whole world of re-gifting. I have one of the people I work with, when it came time to, lessen her China, she's a baker, so she would bake the best goodies, put it on one of her fancy China plates, and then she would give that to a neighbor or a friend, or maybe anybody who came to visit her in her house, got a plate with the understanding that they kept the plate.

 There's creative solutions. So, being open to looking at things from a different light, that things don't have to necessarily be done perfectly. Also when I've worked with people who are selling their homes, there are times when some of those bigger items, like say a pool table can stay in the home or new buyers might be interested in purchasing certain items.

So, there's just kind of keep your eyes open for other alternatives or other solutions. But whether you sell, donate, or discard, every step of that is a step towards living a simpler, more manageable life at this point.

Host: I know when my mom was in her eighties and completely healthy, she moved to a smaller place and she wanted to downsize before she moved. So she said, there are five of us siblings and she said, everyone come over and not at the same time, but whatever you want. She got the blue painter's tape and you know, we wrote our name and put it, underneath, or just took it at that time.

So by the time she moved, she had about half as much stuff and I thought was very effective. And I know a lot of my friends' parents have done that. They, while they're still alive, they're like take what you want now. And it makes it easier for them to move. But that's just one idea. What do you think about that?

Alesha Filiatrault, Client Relocation Consultant: Oh, I think that's wonderful and I hear anecdotal stories all the time. From my mom, she started going through her jewelry chest. She had a lot of jewelry and she started each birthday and Christmas and any other occasion she could get away with it. She started gifting my daughters and my brother and I, things from there and from her collection of elephants and other things that were really precious to her that she wanted to make sure that we got, and that she could be around to see that. So first of all, she wasn't spending any more money on Christmas things because we weren't in acquisition mode at the time.

So it was nice to not get more, but it was also an opportunity to hear stories about the items that she was sharing with us. Because I would've never known that the brooch that she had had been her great aunt's brooch and she grew up seeing her wear it on her coat at church and things like that.

It was just, it's an opportunity for sharing some beautiful stories as well, which I'm kind of all about the stories.

Host: That's so meaningful. Thank you so much, Alesha. This has been so eye-opening and you gave us such useful and practical advice on how to go about this process because it's not an easy one.

Alesha Filiatrault, Client Relocation Consultant: No, it's not. It, it can be very emotionally and physically even challenging to do so. Thank you. I appreciate the opportunity to talk about this.

Host: Again, that's Alesha Filiatrault. To find out more, please visit wellrive.com. And if you found this podcast helpful, please share it on your social channels and check out our entire podcast library at stoughtonhealth.com for topics of interest to you. I'm Maggie McKay. Thanks for listening to Stoughton Health Talk.