Free tool

Moving sale calculator

List what you plan to sell and see what the whole sale could bring in: at asking prices, at quick-sale prices, and at the lowest you would take.

  • Item 1

    List at $220

  • Item 2

    List at $120

  • Item 3

    List at $150

  • Item 4

    List at $115

Your sale, 4 things

$605

If everything sells at its asking price.

Quick-sale total

$405

Priced to be gone in a day or two

Lowest total

$245

If every price drops to its floor

And about 903 lb you don’t pay to move

These things take about 129 cubic feet of truck. Movers charge by weight or by the hour, so what you sell also comes off the bill.

What size truck do I need?Sell it or move it?

Start this sale

Rule-of-thumb estimates for mid-range pieces, not appraisals, and not a promise that everything sells. Check what similar things are listed for near you.

How to read the totals

  • Your sale is every asking price added up. It is the most the list could bring in, if each thing found its buyer at full price.
  • Quick-sale total is the same list priced to be gone in a day or two. Use it if you are moving this week.
  • Lowest total is the floor: every price stepped all the way down. If you would rather move something than sell it that low, it should probably come with you.

Where the prices come from

The same rules of thumb as what’s my stuff worth?, applied to each row as a mid-range piece. A sofa resells for less than half its price even when nearly new; a bike or a solid dresser holds its value longer. For the full table by age and condition, see the used price guide.

These are estimates, not appraisals, and a total is not a promise that everything sells. Check two or three similar listings near you before you set a price.

Get closer to the top number

  • Start early. Two to three weeks gives slow, bulky things time to sell before their price has dropped far.
  • Let the price fall on a schedule. A price that drops every day gets buyers to claim early instead of haggling. The price-drop planner lays out the steps to your moving day.
  • Write listings that answer the questions. Size, condition, flaws, pickup. The listing writer puts them in order for you.
  • Sell it all in one place. One page with everything gives a buyer a reason to take three things in one trip. See how to have a moving sale.

Questions

How much can you make from a moving sale?

It depends on what you own, how old it is and how long you have. The calculator prices each thing from what it cost new, its age and its condition, then adds them up three ways: at asking prices, at quick-sale prices, and at the lowest price you would take. Treat the first as the ceiling: not everything sells at full price, and some things may not sell at all.

How are the prices worked out?

Each kind of item starts at a typical share of its new price when it first resells, then loses a little more every year, down to a floor it rarely goes below. Condition moves the price up or down. They are rules of thumb for mid-range pieces, not appraisals.

What is the difference between the three totals?

The first is every asking price added up. The quick-sale total is for when things have to be gone in a day or two. The lowest total is what you would get if every price dropped to its floor, about 40% of the asking price, which is where daily price drops stop.

What should I sell first?

The big things. Furniture needs a buyer with a truck and takes the longest, so list it first and leave time for its price to come down. Small things can go in the last week.

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