Lay My Hat

Hello,
I have just found your Forum whilst doing a search for the below and I would welcome any advice/suggestions on the disposal of contents of our 16 occupancy FHL in Ennerdale, West Cumbria.
Our property has sold subject to contract and the new purchasers have agreed that we can continue to run it until our booking obligations are fulfilled in mid-September.
We have the full contents of the business to dispose of; all furnishings, linen, pans, crockery, cutlery etc.
We are getting a full intentory together.
We are considering posting on ebay (as we have been doing for the contents of the outbuildings) and Freecycle (but people often just don't turn up!)
If anyone knows of any business to business type forum where we could post we would be very grateful for any suggestions. It might be of interest to people just starting out in the business in the area, or anyone replenishing/replacing stocks. Could it be posted in the 'Selling' Topic on this forum? Thanks in advance for any direction offered.

If you do not wish to make any money from the sale of you furnishings you could consider donating some to a charitable organisation.
We have donated quite a lot of furniture to the Heart Foundation. They are always grateful to receive such items and will come out and collect them from your house.
They do insist though that sofas and beds have the fire safety label attached to them.

Hello Drax and thanks for your reply.
There are some things that we will give away and some that we would like to sell - this is a move into retirement, so we are keen to raise some money from selling the contents.
British Heart Foundation is certainly one we've thought of for some of the furniture and Impact Housing another.
It's more difficult with the vast quantity of linen, crockery, cutlery, cookware etc.
Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

We bought everything in our first holiday rental. Do new owners want it?

When we sold it Gumtree.

Hi Apex Blue

And thanks again for the suggestion of Gumtree, will probably give that a shot, along with ebay.
No, the new owners are not interested in buying the contents, unfortunately!
Best regards

When I disposed of my Mum's holiday let I sold a lot of stuff on Facebook - local selling group and marketplace. Very easy - people just turn up and collect, although yes you do get the odd no-show. Mostly people want cheap prices, but to us it was worth it just to get rid of the stuff and not have to transport it ourselves. Anything that didn't sell I put on Freecycle, and again it was usually gone within a couple of days.

Hi Jenster and thanks for taking the time to reply.
I'm not a facebook user but I'm sure I could bring myself to set up an account to get onto local selling groups - great idea.
And then at the end, just bear with Freecycle and the no shows.
Our problem at the end will be time, we've to be out a couple of days after our last guests depart.
Best regards and thanks again

There is also a site/app called Nextdoor. You join your local area and nearby local areas. You can sell items free on there too. It will upload your address so local people can see where you live, but you can remove this in your settings to just show your road. Very useful site for local info, trade recommendations, etc.

Hi Sam V
Thanks! I'd never heard of Nextdoor.
Will give everything a go!
Best regards

I can’t see how it’s possible to get rid of everything if you only have two days after the last guest. All things can sell eventually but it takes time. eBay and Facebook marketplace/local selling groups are the two I use.

Do you have a garage or a room at your house where you could store stuff whilst gradually getting rid? Otherwise a storage unit but as that costs it would potentially wipe out any profit. Good luck and enjoy your retirement!

Thanks Nemo

As we're right in the thick of it at the moment with all that entails, retirement can't come a moment too soon.javascript:emoticon(':D')

Yes, the disposal is a pretty impossible task, but I think between British Heart Foundation (who apparently do hotel clearances!), ebay - so long as we post stuff well in advance with a set collection date and as a last resort we do have a local auction house who will collect.

But, if anyone in Cumbria and particularly West Cumbria reads this then please do get in touch as there will be lots of bargains to be had.

Kind regards and thanks for your time

When we moved to Spain in 1986 we just put everything into the front garden and put up a sign. Sold nearly everything in one day. In Canada they call it a "garage sale" and it is one of the most popular ways of selling unwanted things.

Quickest and easiest way is to contact a specialist house clearance company and book them to clear it for you.

You may not make much money out of it though.