FIND THE RIGHT MARKETPLACE

NEXT, Sarah raids our shed. We decide to list an old bike on Gumtree, which is best for collection-only goods.

We take Sarah’s advice and wait for a sunny day to take attractive photographs of the bike next to tubs of purple flowers.

The bike was worth £1,200, but we are realistic and price it at £300.

It sells for £200 a week later to a family living in the same town, without any doorstep haggling.

Sarah also identifies some old children’s toys — a slide and playhouse and a baby-walker — which she thinks will sell well on a local parenting Facebook group.

When it comes to valuables you must be careful. I tell Sarah about a friend who tried to sell her late grandmother’s jewellery at a car boot sale and had to fend off people fighting for fistfuls of tarnished, gold necklaces.

Sarah says: ‘Car boot sales are a great way to sell lots of things which you don’t mind selling cheaply, but I wouldn’t recommend it for valuables or sentimental items as you’re unlikely to get a good price.’

Vintage Cash Cow is a website which allows you to send off your jewellery and gold en masse to be valued by experts. If you don’t like the price, they will send it back to you free of charge.

By the time Sarah leaves, she has helped me make more than £300. But while it feels good to have cleared some space, it has been rather time-consuming.

Kate Ibbotson, who set up her own decluttering company, A Tidy Mind, and is a member of the Association of Professional Declutterers & Organisers, says: ‘Selling goods takes time and effort as well as ensuring you use the right platforms for the type of possession. But I’ve seen people sell more than £2,000 worth of items, and in rare cases, where collectibles are involved and an auction house such as Christie’s, the sale value can reach tens of thousands of pounds.’

The key is not to let the clutter build again. So, as I await the money from my Mary Berry cookbook, I resist buying the latest from Deliciously Ella — and borrow it from the library instead.