Better to donate to Goodwill and get tax writeoff or sell on ebay?

[noVA99]

I'm thinking about getting 'rid' of some stuff:

some pleated wool dress trousers: a couple Burberry and Hickey Freeman, one of which has a small hole and needs to be reweaved

a Donna Karan, made in Italy suit which had a couple small holes sewed up (not weaved)

perhaps some other dress clothes...


what is a better return on my 'investment': donate to Goodwill and get a tax write off or try to hawk my goods on ebay?

 

[mrpologuy]

Anything of decent quality donated by you will be snatched up by forum members. I think it is easier to donate. It is too much hassle to list, wait for payment and ship. I would donate it.

 

[bobbers]

Recently I've begun dropping off my less valued clothing to Menzfit, an organization that helps people get prepared for entering the workforce, including providing interview clothing.

www.menzfit.org

They give you a form that you can fill out for a record of the donation, and the donator fills in the value of the goods. With the items you've mentioned - in the condition they're in (holes) - I think you'd be better off donating.

 

[kwilkinson]

Yeah, I'd say donate to Goodwill. Never heard of menzfit, but it sounds good too.

 

[Thurston]

I donate. I have way too much mediocre crap and am constantly tring to thin the closet even as I upgrade. I have been trying to adhere to a one-in one-out (or even two-out) policy. I hit Goodwill about 5 times a year and some things have been known to be NWT.

 

[A Harris]

The value of your donations has to be greater than your standardized deduction or else you will not reap any benefit...

 

[von Rothbart]

Originally Posted by A Harris

The value of your donations has to be greater than your standardized deduction or else you will not reap any benefit...

Not necessarily. As long as his total itemized deductions before his Goodwill donation is larger than the standard deduction then he'll reap tax benefit.

 

[Thurston]

Originally Posted by A Harris

The value of your donations has to be greater than your standardized deduction or else you will not reap any benefit...

Going the other way, I'm sure many here have itemized deductions well above the standardized deduction but only get to claim a percentage as a result of their adjusted gross. It's not a financial consderation for me, it's a matter of praticality and charity.

 

[JR88]

Originally Posted by A Harris

The value of your donations has to be greater than your standardized deduction or else you will not reap any benefit...

. . . if you have no other deductions whatsoever, which I doubt is true for most SFers.

 

[kwilkinson]

Or maybe the guy wants to earn some Karma points and donate the clothes regardless of whether it helps his taxes too much.

 

[NoVaguy]

Originally Posted by JR88

. . . if you have no other deductions whatsoever, which I doubt is true for most SFers.

i don't know about that. a lot of people here seem to be young people, so it's unlikely they have a house or other expenses that would push the deductions past the standard.

as it is for me, i have a job that pays overtime, so my consideration is different - the money i get for my time put in selling stuff generally doesn't match what i can get if i put an equivalent amount of overtime in.

 

[binge]

I go Goodwill. I don't have the time+patience for selling on eBay.

 

[mack11211]

Looking at it from another way...

The brands are OK but not super for ebay selling. I'm not talking about the quality of the garments, I'm just thinking of ebay resale values.

Also any holes or visible repairs will lower their value further.

I say, donate.

 

[JayJay]

I donate to Goodwill or Salvation Army.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by kwilkinson

Or maybe the guy wants to earn some Karma points and donate the clothes regardless of whether it helps his taxes too much.

I agree that's an important consideration, but the OP specifically asked which would give the better return on his "investment", so I think the specific economic advice is responsive. How the karmic/psychological returns factor in is obviously a much more personal choice.

Given the description of the clothes, I'd guess they'd not likely go for that much on ebay, which for me would be another point in favor of donating. If I thought something was likely to go for hundreds or thousands of dollars, I might ponder the relative economic benefits of donation versus sale (or if I were a regular ebay seller, which I'm not). But otherwise, donation would be a no-brainer for me.