Have you moved recently? Have you had the responsibility of dispersing the estate of a close relative?

How about just cleaning out to make more room and simplify your life? If you have faced any of these events you have also faced another problem - what to do with all the "stuff."

Some of it you probably want to keep for sentimental attachment, moral obligations or other intangible reasons but for most of the rest of it you just wish it would disappear - for a price of course. Other than just passing an asset along to another relative or even a friend, most forms of dispersal have some sort of an economic benefit.

Which one you choose depends on your priorities. Considerations include timing, convenience, economic expectations and family feelings and pressure.

The easiest thing to do of course is to load it all up and take it a local charity outlet store. It's quick, easy and painless. In some cases, if you itemize the load and get a receipt you can even use it as a tax deduction. Many charitable organizations will even pick up your load, including automobiles.

But what if you want to produce a more direct financial benefit? Then you have to pick a method to sell the inventory and that gets tricky because you almost have too many choices. Your options include selling to a private buyer, selling to a dealer, selling to an auctioneer, consigning to an auctioneer, consigning to a dealer or selling online.