<story><title>Do I Really Want All This Stuff?</title><url>https://medium.com/editors-picks/4728ca0774be</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>westicle</author><text>For anyone interested in what happens to all this &amp;quot;stuff&amp;quot; at the other end...&lt;p&gt;I administer several deceased estates (the process for which is to locate and prove the will (if applicable), gather in and dispose of the assets, distribute the balance).&lt;p&gt;As most deceased people tend to be in the 70+ age bracket, it is very unlikely that you can even comprehend the volume of &amp;quot;stuff&amp;quot; involved in that undertaking.&lt;p&gt;Typically, 1% - 5% of the stuff has any commercial value. There might be jewellery, an antique or two. I can usually get $100 for a working fridge. Unfortunately we live in a disposable culture - we are geared to buy new rather than re-use old.&lt;p&gt;Some small proportion of the rest of the stuff can be donated (ie. charities will accept it). The rest fills up 2-5 rubbish skips (6 cubic metres each) and subsequently landfill.&lt;p&gt;Look around your house. Experience indicates that on your death I&amp;#x27;ll recover approximately $900 from selling your stuff.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>sushimako</author><text>I&amp;#x27;ve heard of &amp;quot;apartment-looting&amp;quot; parties in Vienna, don&amp;#x27;t know if this is common elsewhere?&lt;p&gt;In order to empty a deceased apartment, they publicly sell a limited number of tickets (~20-30EUR iirc) for a cleaning&amp;#x2F;looting event.
At the event, they let in a certain number of people at the same time, so it doesn&amp;#x27;t feel too crowded.&lt;p&gt;Once inside, everyone is free to take whatever they want and can. This is fairly popular with students who just moved into their new flat and need stuff like kitchen supplies, lamps, frames etc.</text></comment>
<story><title>Do I Really Want All This Stuff?</title><url>https://medium.com/editors-picks/4728ca0774be</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>westicle</author><text>For anyone interested in what happens to all this &amp;quot;stuff&amp;quot; at the other end...&lt;p&gt;I administer several deceased estates (the process for which is to locate and prove the will (if applicable), gather in and dispose of the assets, distribute the balance).&lt;p&gt;As most deceased people tend to be in the 70+ age bracket, it is very unlikely that you can even comprehend the volume of &amp;quot;stuff&amp;quot; involved in that undertaking.&lt;p&gt;Typically, 1% - 5% of the stuff has any commercial value. There might be jewellery, an antique or two. I can usually get $100 for a working fridge. Unfortunately we live in a disposable culture - we are geared to buy new rather than re-use old.&lt;p&gt;Some small proportion of the rest of the stuff can be donated (ie. charities will accept it). The rest fills up 2-5 rubbish skips (6 cubic metres each) and subsequently landfill.&lt;p&gt;Look around your house. Experience indicates that on your death I&amp;#x27;ll recover approximately $900 from selling your stuff.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>sliverstorm</author><text>&lt;i&gt;Unfortunately we live in a disposable culture - we are geared to buy new rather than re-use old.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;p&gt;I think a lot of that has to do with the markets for new &amp;amp; used goods. There are many things I would be perfectly fine buying used, but have no hope of locating for sale in any reasonable span of time.</text></comment>