Hugh Kidman admits he’s guilty of hoarding. Being an architect, he finds beauty in the design of objects, so over the years, he had accumulated art, books, souvenirs, toys, fashion.

“It’s part of who we are,” he says. Not wanting to throw things away, he would put all of the stuff he treasured in storage every time he moved to another country. Eventually, his “prized” possessions grew, and so did the need for space. It didn’t take too long for him to realise that clutter can actually steal time, rob one’s senses and waste space and money.

“I realise now that a great deal of the things that I stored cluttered my life and had little or no value at all. Even the sentimentality had been lost. Instead, these things took up space — my storage space — costing me money in the process,” he says.

For people who are carrying too much clutter in their lives, it is about time they downsize and value simplicity. Mimi Tanner, author of the book Declutter Fast, says one of the positive benefits of eliminating disorder from home is that it gives people a “sense of accomplishment” that encourages them to do even more.

“Decluttering affects more than just our living space. Clutter keeps us stuck. When we make progress on decluttering our home, we feel a great sense of well-being, and this energises us to move on to accomplishing even more,” she tells Gulf News.

“It’s much more important to clear your space so that you can live in an uncluttered and organised home. Clutter holds us back, but when we declutter, we feel happier and more at peace,” she adds.

However, what may not be very obvious is that getting rid of the clutter and simplifying little areas in the home can offer some monetary rewards. By selling or trading household stuff no longer needed, for example, consumers can recoup a portion of their investment.

Trading old books

As Kidman aptly puts it, “one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.” “Some of your clutter may have value many times more than you think,” Kidman, who works as a senior architect at Omrania and Associates, says.

Ashik Siju, an Indian expatriate studying in the Delhi Private School in Sharjah, discovered at a very young age the benefits of trading old books. Two years ago, when he went on vacation, his grandmother requested him to declutter the book shelves and take the unwanted pieces to a second-hand shop. The store eagerly took the items for half the price.

“That’s when I heard about it for the first time,” he says. During his next vacation, when he realised his own books were taking up a lot of space in his personal library, Siju followed his grandma’s example. “I gave the second-hand book shop a few of my books and bought a few ones in return,” he says.

 There are several ways to make money while removing the clutter in your living space.

Here are just a few suggestions:

Join a flea market

Flea markets are a boon to people who wish to do away with the clutter. They provide a great platform for households to sell almost every unwanted thing in their home, from clothes to kitchenware to accessories. “Thousands of people come to a flea market, so you can sell everything in two or three hours. It’s a quick platform to sell,” says Melanie Beese, founder of the Dubai Flea Market, which is held every first and third Friday of the month.

Beese herself managed to sell all her clothes in 30 minutes in the recent flea market in Dubai which regularly attracts 15,000 visitors during winter and around 2,500 in summer.

The flea market is usually held on the grounds of Safa Park, but for this summer, the event takes place inside the adjacent Al Safa Hall. For those wanting to sell at the flea market this summer, they will have to pay a Dh300 registration fee. When the event returns to its regular venue, the fee will be Dh250.

 

Recycle your gadgets

Don’t throw away old mobile phones, notebooks, cameras, MP3 players and gaming consoles. Just bring any of these gadgets to a Jacky’s Electronics shop and you will get a cash voucher in return. The amount you will get will depend on the item’s working condition, demand and the duration for which it was used. A one-year-old iPhone that still works can fetch 40 to 50 per cent of its original value. Valuation of a laptop can vary anything from 25 per cent to 40 per cent.

It doesn’t matter if your old camera was bought from another merchant. The retailer, through its eco-exchange programme, will accept items for recycling of any brand, including those sold through another retailer. Due to limited recycling facilities in the region and logistics cost, however, home appliances and TV sets are not accepted yet.

If you’re wondering what will happen to your old phone or laptop, they are disposed of “responsibly” or, if still re-usable, they are refurbished and sold in developing markets. “All the recycled products are shipped to certified recycling facilities. The non-working units are processed and the re-suable parts are separated, while the rest goes either to the landfill or is melted,” saysAshish Panjabi, COO of Jacky’s Electronics.

 

Try consignment

There are stores that sell secondhand on consignment basis. Anyone who wishes to get rid of their clutter can entrust their stuff to a store owner, who will act as an agent on their behalf. The two parties will agree to a sale price and once the item is sold, each will get a percentage of the sale amount.

In Dubai, it may be worth checking out stores like Garderobe, a second-hand designer wear boutique on Jumeirah Beach Road. The store accepts used fashion and accessories from high-end brands like Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada or Jimmy Choo. It can agree to display the items for 90 days and if someone buys them, the owner of the second-hand goods will get 50 per cent of the sale.

However, if your pre-loved pair of Jimmy Choo shoes or Louis Vuitton bag fails to attract a buyer after 90 days, you will have to take your item back. The store is currently looking for summer dresses, sandals and accessories, so your designer winter coats and clothes may have to wait until winter.

 Go to a second-hand bookshop

Dubai is home to a number of bookstores that specialize in hand-me-downs. If you feel like your personal library is running out of space, you might need to bid goodbye to War and Peace, Pride and Prejudice or Catcher in the Rye. Some booklovers out there will certainly be happy to have these books, but you don’t have to give them away for nothing.

Bookworld in Satwa and House of Prose, which has outlets in in Festival City, Ace Hardware, Dubai Garden Centre and Jumeirah Plaza, may be glad to accept some of your hard and soft covers for a price. But bear in mind that each shop may have their own requirements, so not all your trashy novels might make it to their shelf. “We just buy books we need. You have to bring them here and we’ll sort them out,” says a shopkeeper. In one of the stores, the average buying price is between Dh10 and Dh15 a piece.

 Deal with a secondhand buyer

If you visit Karama or Deira, you’ll find some shops that are willing to buy your unwanted bed, sofa, cupboard, curtains, home appliances and office furniture. Visit stores such as Malik Al Madina in Al Nasr Square Deira or Al Karama Buying and Selling near Karama Centre.

You don’t have to haul your stuff all the way to the store. A store representative can go to your apartment to check out your things and fix the price. If you reach an agreement, the shop will take care of the pickup and delivery. Depending on the condition and quality of your items, you might get Dh50 for your two-door cupboard, Dh200 for your sofa or Dh400 for your laptop. “We can’t set the prices very high because we have to re-sell them at our store and our customers normally have lower budgets for used home furnishings,” says one shop owner.