Three Ways Singaporeans Let Go of Things
The Seller, The Blesser, and The SharedOuter:
Most of us have a storeroom story.
The cot that's been folded against the wall since your youngest turned two. The pressure cooker bought for one ambitious recipe that never quite happened again. The drill that came out for the renovation and hasn't seen daylight since. The bicycle your older child outgrew that the younger one isn't quite big enough for yet.
At some point, every household faces the same quiet question: what do we do with the things we no longer need right now?
The answer, it turns out, says a lot about who you are.
After watching thousands of Singaporeans think through this decision, I've come to believe there are really only three types of people when it comes to letting go. And understanding which one you are — or which one you've been in different situations — completely changes the options available to you.
The Seller
The Seller is transactional. Practical. Fair-minded.
They bought something for a reason, used it well, and now that chapter is closed. They're not sentimental about objects. They believe in fair exchange — they paid good money for it, and whoever gets it next should too. Carousell is their natural habitat. They'll photograph it cleanly, write an accurate description, price it reasonably, and meet a stranger at an MRT station on a Saturday morning to hand it over.
The Seller's mindset: I don't need this anymore. Someone else should have it. And I should get something back for it.
There's nothing wrong with being a Seller. It's clean, it's efficient, and the Singapore secondhand market is enormous precisely because of them.
But the Seller has a blindspot. Once it's gone, it's gone. And sometimes — not always, but sometimes — you sell something and six months later you need it again. The stroller that found a new home before you realised baby number two was on the way. The bicycle sold the October before your younger child suddenly hit the right height in March.
The Blesser
The Blesser is different. They're not transactional at all.
For the Blesser, the item carries something beyond its price tag — maybe a memory, maybe just a quiet satisfaction that it went somewhere good. They'd rather give it to someone who genuinely needs it than haggle over fifty dollars with a stranger. They post in Facebook groups with "free to a good home." They donate to the Salvation Army or a community chest. They leave things outside their door with a handwritten note. They find a young family in their block who's just had a baby and quietly wheel the stroller over.
The Blesser's mindset: I don't need this anymore. Someone who really needs it should have it. What they pay me doesn't matter.
There's something genuinely beautiful about this. The Blesser keeps the kampung spirit alive in a city that can feel transactional. They're the ones who hold communities together through small, generous acts.
But the Blesser also has a blindspot. Giving something away permanently — even joyfully — means letting go of something that might still have a role in your story. And in Singapore's cost of living, giving away a S$400 stroller or a S$300 drill hurts a little, even when it's the right thing to do.
The SharedOuter
And then there's a third type. One that hasn't had a name until now.
The SharedOuter doesn't want to sell. Not because they're greedy, but because the item isn't finished with them yet. The stroller has another chapter when the second baby arrives. The bicycle will fit the younger sibling in a year or two. The drill might be needed again in the next renovation. The pressure cooker will absolutely come out for Chinese New Year.
The SharedOuter also doesn't want to give it away. Not because they don't want to be generous — but because giving it away permanently closes a door they're not ready to close.
What the SharedOuter wants is something the market has never really offered before.
They want to let someone else use it — genuinely, fully, for as long as they need it. They want to earn something from it during the window it's sitting idle. And they want it back, in good condition, when that window closes.
The SharedOuter's mindset: I still need this. Just not right now. Let it work for someone nearby while it waits for me.
This is not a compromise between selling and blessing. It's an entirely different relationship with ownership — one that says things don't have to be either mine or yours. They can be mine, temporarily yours, and mine again. The ownership doesn't transfer. Only the use does.
Why this matters more than it sounds
These three mindsets exist on a spectrum, and most of us have been all three at different times in our lives depending on what the item is and where we are.
When my youngest outgrew her bicycle, I was a Blesser. I gave it to a neighbour's child without a second thought — she lit up when she saw it, and that was worth more than whatever I'd have got on Carousell.
When my wife's old laptop finally died, I was a Seller. Fair price, clean transaction, done.
But when we talk about the pressure cooker, the camping gear, the party chairs, the tools — I'm a SharedOuter. I know we'll need them again. I know someone nearby could use them right now. And I know that letting them sit idle in the storeroom while that person goes out to buy or rent from a shop is a waste — of money, of space, and of the community we could be building with each other.
SharedOut was built for the SharedOuter in all of us.
Not to replace selling. Not to replace blessing. But to create a third path that didn't exist before — one where your things keep working for you, for someone nearby, and for the community you both live in, all at the same time.
Which one are you?
The next time you're standing in front of your storeroom wondering what to do with something, ask yourself three questions:
Will I need this again? If yes — you're a SharedOuter. Don't sell it. Let it earn while it waits.
Does someone I know need this more than money? If yes — you're a Blesser. Give it forward. The goodwill comes back.
Am I truly done with this and want fair value? If yes — you're a Seller. List it, price it right, and close the chapter.
All three are valid. All three serve a purpose. But for everything in between — the things still mid-story, the items in their idle window, the tools and gear and equipment that are just waiting for their next use — SharedOut is exactly where they belong.
Share it. Share in. Shared Out.
Join the launch waitlist today at
- Instagram: @shareitshareinsharedout — www.instagram.com/shareitshareinsharedout
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SharedOut
SharedOut is Singapore's peer-to-peer community marketplace — connecting HDB neighbours for tool sharing, equipment rental, and trusted home-based services, all within 500 metres of your home. List your idle items or services at sharedout.com.sg and join the community before we launch in your town.
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