Remaining Sane While Divesting

This isn’t necessarily a Valencia-specific post, but it’s something that’s been eating up time and brain cells during our relocation prep. I suspect a lot of people will be able to relate.

When we’ve moved from one place to another, we always spend a little time in deciding what comes and what doesn’t. Part of this is just general decluttering, but there are often things that you just don’t have a need for anymore.

We’re also downsizing from a four-bedroom to a three-bedroom place, and we’ve decided that instead of a designated guest room we’re just going to have a sleeper sofa in my office. This means we’ve got an extra mattress and frame, plus side tables and lights to get rid of.

Kristie has had a trundle bed in her workspace the whole time we’ve been in Portugal, and it’s been used once in five years. This was another item that we didn’t feel there was much point in moving.

And, we figured it was time for a new sofa. When we arrived in Portugal during COVID, about the only place we could buy furniture was IKEA. It wasn’t what we wanted, but with limited choices we picked up a serviceable couch. As part of the move, we decided it was an opportunity to get something better. We found a beautiful leather sofa that will be delivered later this month after we arrive in Valencia full time, which means the existing sofa does not need to make the journey!

So, how do you get rid of this stuff? Let’s start with the easiest ones, first.

Although there’s a general Portuguese online classified site (OLX) that I’ve used to sell musical equipment, it’s sort of hard to use and there are costs associated. I decided that I’d use Facebook Marketplace for the bedroom furniture, instead. I created a listing, but I also cross-posted it in the local expat men’s group chat. I think I got a response from one of the expat guys in less than an hour! Even better, when he and his wife came by to take a look, they also decided they wanted the trundle bed. Bam! Gone before I even listed it!

Now on to the not-so-easy stuff … I had a couple of older-model iPhones left behind from necessary upgrades. Although they didn’t have SIMs, they were perfectly functional if you didn’t need to run modern apps or use eSIMS (which we need, but that’s another story for later).

I decided to use FB again. The good news is I started getting responses right away. The bad news is how people were responding.

Although the ad clearly stated that I was in the Avenidas Novas neighborhood of Lisbon, I had people in the Algarve contacting me. Although the ad clearly stated that the buyer would need to pick up, I had people asking for delivery – in the Algarve! – and then trying to haggle the price down because it would be inconvenient for them to pick it up.

The guy who bought them agreed to the firm pricing, and then missed three pickup windows. He finally showed up on day four and proceeded to try haggling about the price because it was a hassle for him to pick them up! No consideration for the days I spent waiting around for him, you’ll notice.

The worst experience? The sofa. When we were deciding how to deal with this, we took into consideration the fact that there is a little bit of cat damage – not bad, but still it exists. We decided that we’d give this item away, rather than trying to sell it. Who would have known that giving something away would be so much harder than selling it?

My first attempt was offering it to our Lisbon pet sitter. She was interested, but just couldn’t figure out how to get it to her place, so I moved on to the “Buy Nothing Lisbon” group on FB.

Once again, I was pretty specific. I gave the size, I included pictures, and was emphatic about the fact that I would not deliver. And once again, I started to get responses fairly quickly. And once again, there were problems.

“How big is it?” Read the ad.

“Will it fit in the elevator?” Read the ad.

“Where are you located?” Read the ad.

“Will you deliver it?” Read the ad.

A guy firmly declared he wanted it – and then didn’t show up to pick it up.

The next person kept me hanging a week while they organized transportation – which never showed up on two occasions.

There’s probably a philosophical lesson here about attachment and impermanence, but honestly, I just want someone to show up when they say they will.

The third person is still pending, but if I don’t hear from them by tomorrow, I’m listing it again.

The somewhat good news is, if push comes to shove the city has a service to come and pick up stuff. I’ll just have to make an appointment and get it down to the sidewalk. But I was trying to keep this out of the landfill, so I’m going to be disappointed if that’s the final outcome.

Overall, selling or otherwise disposing of stuff is one of the most annoying and stressful parts of this entire relocation! Who knew that parting with stuff could be harder than parting with a country? But hey – at least the new sofa will be waiting on the other side.