Week 13 of 15 in 15 in ’15 Challenge: Sports and Fitness Equipment

Another great weekly challenge that overlaps with Spring Cleaning is dealing with all the sports and fitness equipment you might have around.  Again, this one may not truly be 15 pieces, but I bet you can find a way to think critically about what you have in your home, what you REALLY need to keep, and what you might let go of, in exchange for more room in critical storage areas, and less stress finding what you really DO use the most. 

Sports and Fitness Equipment

So, let’s venture into those spaces:  the garage, shed, basement, kids playroom, workout room, wherever you keep some of this stuff. 

Lots of ideas come to mind on why you might let go of particular pieces of sports and athletic equipment:

• We’ve physically outgrown it
  • These bicycles don’t fit the kids any more
  • We don’t need the “little little” kids playthings any more

• We’ve moved past it as a hobby
  • Kids are playing baseball now, not tee ball
  • I was going to try _____ and got a great deal on this. But it never really took. 
  • We thought we’d play more golf. We never play any more, and we don’t seem to be missing it. Honestly, if I had a totally free day with nothing to do, I wouldn’t put “let’s go play 9 holes” on the top of my list of how to fill it.

• It’s not in great enough shape to use, or use safely

• Someone else could get a lot more use out of it than we do

• It’s taking up valuable space I’d really love to devote to something else

• I’ve been saving it for a “well, someday, someone might actually want to play badminton” kind of moment,  but it’s been a few years, and no one has yet been so inspired

• Sure, I need SOME amount of baseballs, tennis balls, golf balls, tees, etc.  But do I really need THIS many of them?  Can I edit down my collection?

So, what to do with the equipment (the stuff that is safe and in good shape)?

Now is the perfect time of year to get the most value for all the outdoor / spring / summer equipment you have, because it is when others will want it most. (PS — got some “end of winter equipment” you’re looking to get rid of? Give it a try now, but maybe you hold onto that until October for a better market? Think about your customers…. and when are they thinking about this stuff?)

• Sell on your local Facebook group yard sale / swap page.  PRICE it to move!
• Big ticket items?  How about looking into a sports equipment resale shop, like Play It Again Sports   or another store local to you?
• There’s always the old favorites of eBay and Craigslist, too
• What about donating kids equipment to a youth group, town playground, daycare, etc.?
• Local charities like Epilepsy Foundation, St Vincent de Paul, Big Brothers Big Sisters, etc., will always take items like this in good shape. 

So, go tackle some of these spaces and gather some of these items…  a great way to start to make progress on some of your “clean out the garage” or “clean out the basement” items on your Spring Cleaning list!