When Dr. Henry Green downsized from his 3,000-square-foot Coronado house to a 1,200-square-foot Downtown condo, he had the equivalent of 1,800 square feet of household items to liquidate. Quite a task.

The good news for Green and other San Diegans is that no matter what you’re trying to sell, options abound. But how do you decide which sales channel will produce the highest yield with the least hassle? The answer depends, in part, on the items you want to sell and how involved you are in the process. Here are your options.

Classifieds Ads

We’re all familiar with newspaper classifieds. These ads can be free, or cost up to $50 or more for a 10-day listing.

Internet classifieds, some of which are affiliated with a newspaper version, are an option.

With the most basic knowledge of the Internet, you can place free classified ads on pennysaverusa.com, craigslist.org, and sdreader.com.

One consideration when placing classified ads is the time it takes to field calls about the items you’re selling. Also, keep in mind that complete strangers may be coming to your home.

Consignment Stores

More than 100 consignment stores operate in San Diego County. Some specialize in clothing or sporting goods, but most carry general merchandise with inventory that varies from month to month.

Be prepared to bring each item to the store, where the owner will decide which items to accept. The owner also decides on a starting price and subsequent markdowns.

Consignment stores usually take 40 percent to 50 percent of the final selling price with contracts lasting from 60 days to a year. Most will charge an additional fee to pick up your items.

Be sure to monitor your sales activity. If your item hasn’t sold by the time your contract runs out, it often becomes the property of the store.

For a good list of consignment shops in San Diego County, visit one of the online yellow pages such as superpages.com or worldpages.com.

Estate Sales

Estate sales are used for a complete liquidation of the contents of a home. An estate liquidator comes to the home and liquidates the entire estate on site, usually over the course of one weekend. The estate liquidator cleans out cupboards, dusts off items and lays them out on tables. What doesn’t sell, typically 3 percent to 8 percent of the items, is donated to charity. At the end of the weekend, the estate liquidator leaves the home “broom clean” and devoid of all household goods.

When preparing for an estate sale, don’t throw anything away. Estate liquidators are fond of telling stories about finding diamonds in coffee cans, money in a shoe box or expensive artwork destined for the dumpster.

Estate liquidators generally charge about 35 percent of the sale. Ask if the liquidator does previews for dealers. If they say yes, this could be a red flag signaling that they might be letting their friends in first — for preferential pricing.

e-Bay

e-Bay is the dominant Internet auction site with 100 million registered users. More than $450 million worth of merchandise is sold on e-Bay every week and at this moment 25 million-plus items are listed on the site.

The market of potential buyers is much larger than available locally. Often, this can translate into higher yields — especially for collectibles. However, consider the time and skills required to properly photograph, list, process payment and ship items. The San Diego Community College District offers e-Bay classes free of charge. For more information see sandiegocet.net or call (619) 388-4831.

e-Bay charges a small listing fee and a 1 percent to 3 percent commission on the final sales price. See eBay.com for more information.

e-Bay Consignment

For those who don’t have the time or expertise to sell on e-Bay, you may want to consider using an e-Bay middleman company. These companies are expert e-Bay sellers and use their online reputations and experience to get 10 percent to 30 percent higher yields over novice sellers. Consignment comes at a price of course, usually about 35 percent.

One such company, San Diego-based AuctionHandoff, offers free appraisals and pickups in San Diego County.

For more information, visit AuctionHandoff.com or call (866) 426-3633.

Which sales channel is best suited for your items?

The table below is meant as a general guide to help you decide which sales channel is most appropriate for your items. Estate sales have not been included as they are used only when selling the entire contents of a home.

You may want to make a list of all the items you wish to sell and write item descriptions. Any information you can put down such as age, condition, original price, maker, brand, model, features and history will be very helpful. Then begin to segregate the items by most appropriate sales channel. With a little bit of thought and preparation, you’ll be sure to get top dollar for your household treasures.