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You’d think we get enough drama from news and social media—but honestly, we live for it. Netflix has stories of tortured romance; parental struggles; political victories; and all manner of triumphs and tragedies, whether entirely fictional or inspired by true events.

Past Lives (2023)

Greta Lee plays Nora, whose family emigrated from South Korea to the United States when she was a child. Years later, and then over the course of several years, she reunites with childhood friend Hae Sung (Teo Yoo), forcing an examination of her life as it is, and as it might have been. Certainly among the best of the last five years, the film’s exploration of roads not taken builds to a powerful emotional punch. You can stream Past Lives here.

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The Two Popes (2019)

With a bit of extra relevance in recent days, this biographical film from director Fernando Meirelles (City of God) dramatizes a key period in the relationship between then-Pope Benedict XVI and his soon-to-be successor, Jorge Mario Bergoglio (later Francis). Following the Vatican leaks scandal of 2012, Benedict (Anthony Hopkins) finds himself weakened both physically and in terms of his authority—as he considers resigning the Papacy, he summons Bergoglio (Jonathan Pryce), the leading contender to replace him. The two debate theology and struggle with their own futures in a near two-hander than earned each of the actors Academy Award nominations. You can stream The Two Popes here.

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The Six Triple Eight (2024)

Tyler Perry directs this war drama, and it’s likely his best movie yet, with a powerhouse lead performance from Kerry Washington as the real-life Major Charity Adams, commanding officer of the 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion. During World War II, a backlog in mail delivery was causing tremendous harm to troop morale, and so this battalion of Black women was charged with getting letters delivered; Perry’s greatest achievement here is making an extremely convincing case for the significance of mail sorting. Once deployed to Germany, the women come under fire from enemy soldiers, as well as from fellow allied soldiers who see no place for women, and particularly Black women, in wartime. You can stream The Six Triple Eight here.

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The Long Game (2023)

The drama here is quietly understated, though the stakes are very real. Jay Hernandez heads up the cast here to tell the true story of a group of teens from Del Rio, Texas of the 1950s, who set out to play golf at a white country club as the San Felipe Mustangs. They could be caddies, of course—but to actually play?! The kids went on to win the 1957 Texas State High School Golf Championship, with Long Game dramatizing the triumphs, setbacks, and extremely overt racism on the road to that victory. You can stream The Long Game here.

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Society of the Snow (2023)

The true story of the 1972 Uruguayan rugby team lost in the Andes following a plane crash has been the subject of multiple documentaries and two previous dramas (the best known being, almost certainly, Frank Marshall’s cannibalism-heavy Alive from 1993). For all that Andes-crash content, this is the best of all of them: a thoughtful and tasteful take on what’s sometimes been presented as a salacious drama, with director J. A. Bayona emphasizing both the physical perils faced by the team and the spiritual toll of survival. You can stream Society of the Snow here.

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Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (2020)

Sweaty, smoky clubs; outspoken (often openly queer) women who accepted no bullshit—women like Bessie Smith, Lucille Bogan, Gladys Bentley, and, of course, Ma Rainey. The 1920s blues scene was a moment, and Wolfe’s movie goes a long way to resurrecting the era with its contained but explosive story of one stormy Chicago recording session. Based on August Wilson’s play, it’s packed with brilliant performances, led by Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman in his final film role. You can stream Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom here.

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The Power of the Dog (2021)

Jane Campion came roaring back after an absence from the director’s chair of a decade or so, with this, the most acclaimed film of her career to date. Benedict Cumberbatch stars as Phil Burbank, as beguiling as he is cruel, who runs a family ranch in 1925 with his far gentler brother, George (Jesse Plemons). Phil’s callousness sparks into flame when George finds love with a local waitress (Kirsten Dunst), his brother’s happiness shifting their power dynamic uncomfortably, and leaving Phil to contemplate (or, rather, to avoid contemplating) his feelings for the man who taught him how to be a cowboy years earlier. You can stream The Power of the Dog here.

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Shirley (2024)

A woman president? What’s next?! Academy Award winner John Ridley (screenwriter of 12 Years a Slave) directs this quite necessary biopic of sometimes-forgotten pioneer Shirley Chisholm. The first Black woman elected to Congress (in 1969), Chisolm ran a forcefully progressive campaign for president just three years later. Even if the movie is a bit formulaic, in the ways that these things sometimes are, Regina King (perhaps unsurprisingly) gives a moving, illuminating performance as the idiosyncratic trailblazer. You can stream Shirley here.

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The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018)

Charmingly unwieldy name aside, Guernsey is a cute and clever period drama based on the popular novel from Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. Lily James stars as Juliet Ashton (pen name: Izzy Bickerstaff), a writer in 1946 who finds herself entranced by the titular society, formed during the German occupation of the island. Like the book before it, the quirkiness of the story’s characters masks dark undertones related to the horrors of the just-concluded war, lending the film a surprising emotional depth. Mike Newell (Four Weddings and a Funeral, Donnie Brasco) directs. You can stream The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society here.

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Anyone but You (2023)

A loose spin on Much Ado About Nothing, Anyone But You stars Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell as a couple who meet, hit it off for about a minute—and then immediately start to get on each other’s nerves. Until, of course, they need wedding dates and find themselves surrounded by scheming friends. As Shakespeare taught us, of such inauspicious beginnings are great romances sometimes born. It’s not wildly out there as rom-com premises go, but the movie is briskly directed and boasts strong chemistry (a must) between Sweeney and Powell. You can stream Anyone but You here.

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Beginners (2010)

Better late than never: That’s the message of Beginners, in which Hal, played by Christopher Plummer (beginning his own late-career resurgence) comes out to his son, Oliver (Ewan McGregor). As Hal begins to live his life more openly and finds love with a younger man, he also develops a more honest relationship with his son. As a result, the two become closer than they ever were before, and their relationship inspires Oliver to pursue a new romance of his own—and to generally live life on his own terms. It’s a movie about how, sometimes, being true to yourself is the best way to be a good parent. You can stream Beginners here.

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Do the Right Thing (1989)

Director Spike Lee had his greatest triumph with this funny, quotable, and ultimately explosive film about the racial tensions percolating in a Brooklyn neighborhood on a hot summer day. Stylish, funny, humane, and, ultimately, a gut punch. You can stream Do the Right Thing here.

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Scoop (2024)

The reliably great Gillian Anderson plays real-life British journalist Emily Maitlis, who lead the BBC2 team that secured the disastrous interview with Prince Andrew (Rufus Sewell) that laid bare his associations with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein—and by “disastrous,” I mean that it was a disaster for the Prince, who couldn’t seem to stop himself from making things worse. A juicy and compelling true story. Keeley Hawes and Billie Piper also star. You can stream Scoop here.

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Passing (2021)

This gorgeous black-and-white adaptation of the once-controversial 1929 novel explores the dramatized history of some light-skinned African-Americans attempting to pass as white. Ruth Negga and Tessa Thompson play old friends who reunite unexpectedly after years apart; one is married to a Black man and living in Harlem while the other is married to an odious, racist white doctor who has no idea his wife isn’t the woman he thinks she is. The fallout both women experience as a result of their chance encounter is an indictment of a society that would place so much value on skin color, yes, but it’s also a challenging consideration of the choices people will make for self-preservation, and it offers no easy answers. You can stream Passing here.

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May December (2023)

Todd Haynes directs this insightful, moving, and also deliberately campy story of an actress visiting the woman she’ll be playing in a film. The movie’s deft, and unexpected, blending of tones makes it pretty consistently fascinating, and the lead performances from Natalie Portman, Julianne Moore, and Charles Melton saw them all as Oscar nomination frontrunners, even if no actual nods were forthcoming. You can stream May December here.

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Carol (2015)

The chemistry between Rooney Mara’s Therese and Cate Blanchett’s Carol is palpable from the moment their eyes meet across a crowded department store—but it’s the 1950s, and theirs is a love that dare not speak its name, even to one another. That’s just how things were back then (luckily, queerphobia has been entirely eradicated). The women suffer for their love in Todd Haynes’ modern classic, but the tears come less when things are going bad as when it starts to feel like they might just possibly start to go a little right. You can stream Carol here.

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Nyad (2023)

Annette Bening stars as the real-life Diana Nyad, who swam from Florida to Cuba in her 60s—powered largely by an unyielding willfulness. The movie succeeds in large part because of the performances from and chemistry between lead Annette Bening and Jodie Foster, both of whom received Oscar nominations for their work here. The movie makes a strong case that age is inevitably a weakness in many ways, but can also be a source of surprising strength. You can stream Nyad here.

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The Lost Daughter (2021)

Inspired, in part, by ancient Greek mythology, this psychological drama was probably never destined to be a crowd-pleaser—but it’s a genuinely confident, bold debut from writer/director Maggie Gyllenhaal. Olivia Colman (who got a Best Actress Oscar nomination for her trouble) plays Leda Caruso, a middle-aged college professor who develops a rather disturbing obsession with a woman and her young daughter while on holiday in Greece. Jessie Buckley also got an Oscar nod for playing a younger version of Leda, and Gyllenhaal picked up a nomination for her screenplay. You can stream The Lost Daughter here.

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The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind (2019)

Chiwetel Ejiofor wrote and directed (also co-starred) in the biographical, family-friendly (in the best sense) film based not he memoir of William Kamkwamba (played here by Maxwell Simba). Born to a family of farmers in Kasungu, Malawi, William barely manages to stay in school (essentially blackmailing a teacher in lieu of being able to afford tuition), but his persistence pays off: the young engineering prodigy develops a design for a windmill that might be able to save the village from the impacts of drought and a global economic downturn—but only if he can convince his family that the sacrifices required to build his machine will be worth it. You can stream The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind here.

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Judy (2019)

Renée Zellweger won an Oscar for her portrayal of screen legend Judy Garland in this biopic that focuses on the last year of her life, contrasting the period of trial with scenes from her early life, and drawing straight lines between the treatment of a child actor with the troubles of an aging star. There are some biopic tropes here, and the film builds to a necessarily tragic conclusion, but there’s a great deal of heart and humanity here, and Zellweger offers up a very worthy performance. You can stream Judy here.

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Twilight (2008)

Say what you like about Catherine Hardwicke’s adaptation of the Stephenie Meyer’s novel: the movie was a blockbuster and a genuine pop culture phenomenon, touching on the drama and trauma of teen romance in grand, nearly operatic, style. The movie was released during the country’s last major economic downturn, and some sparkly vampires might be just the comfort watch you need in more recently troubling times. You can stream Twilight here.

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Goodfellas (1990)

Martin Scorsese’s epic take on the life of real-life mobster Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) is an indisputable classic of the genre—in fact, it’s the movie people think of first when you mention gangster movies. Scorsese has rarely been better, but the movie’s performances (from Liotta, Robert De Niro, Lorraine Bracco, and Joe Pesci) are where it soars. You can stream Goodfellas here.

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Rustin (2023)

Colman Domingo gives a stellar performance (he earned a Best Actor Oscar nomination) as the title’s Bayard Rustin, the gay Civil Rights leader who planned the March on Washington. Domingo is all charm here as a man desperate to advance a movement focused on his skin color but is less certain how to treat his sexuality. Not only is it an intersectional corrective to our very straight-centered vision of the Civil Rights Movement, it’s a stylish and moving biopic in its own right. You can stream Rustin here.

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The Boys in the Band (2020)

An update of the 1968 play (previously adapted to the screen by William Friedkin in 1970), Boys in the Band keeps its period setting and premise: Michael (Jim Parsons) is hosting a very gay birthday for his friend Harold (Zachary Quinto), joined by their friends Donald (Matt Bomer) and Larry (Andrew Rannells). Everyone’s ready to cut loose without the pressure of having to act straight—until they’re joined unexpectedly by married Alan (Brian Hutchison), and everyone has to decide how far they’re willing to shove themselves back in the closet. You can stream The Boys in the Band here.

The old turn-it-off-and-on-again adage has helped successfully troubleshoot computers for years, but there’s more than one way to restart your hardware and software—including a lesser known option on Windows that may well be new to you.

Having spent many years writing about tech, it isn’t often that I come across something I didn’t already know about. So when I stumbled across this old BetaNews article about an emergency restart feature in Windows, I was taken aback.

It showed a screen and a keystroke combination I had genuinely never heard of before. A bit more digging revealed that this has been in Windows for decades, making it even stranger that I’d never come across it.

Official information on this emergency restart in Windows seems to be thin on the ground, or has perhaps been lost to time. Essentially though, it seems to replicate what a long press on your PC’s power button would do: A quick, no-questions-asked reboot of your computer, with the minimum of fuss.

The Windows enthusiasts over on Reddit have spotted this feature before, and there appear to be plenty of people on the boards who hadn’t come across it until their attention was drawn towards it. If you dig into those threads you’ll find some technical information on what exactly is going on behind the scenes, and the different calls that the feature might be making.

It’s worth emphasizing that this is very much a last resort option, as indeed the feature itself will tell you. You’re not going to get a chance to save anything you’re working on, as is the case if you force a reboot by pressing and holding the power button.

How to access the emergency restart option

If all is well with your Windows computer, you can of course click the Start menu button on the taskbar, then the power button on the right, and then Restart. But what if your computer has crashed and left you hanging, so you can’t click anything? What if the situation is so bad that the Start menu has mysteriously disappeared?

To get to the emergency restart option, you need to press the familiar Ctrl+Alt+Del keyboard shortcut, known by pretty much everyone who’s ever had to fix a Windows PC at some point. This shortcut is designed to work even if your computer is otherwise unresponsive, and gives you access to options for locking your PC, signing out of your account, and bringing up the Task Manager.

Down in the lower right corner, there’s also a power button: Click this and you get the standard Sleep, Shut down, and Restart options. However, if you hold down Ctrl and then click the power button, that takes you to the emergency restart page, together with the warning about losing any unsaved data. Click OK, and your computer will reboot itself almost instantly.

If you can get to the screen after Ctrl+Alt+Del, then you’ll want to try the normal restart option first—you’ll only need to go down the holding Ctrl route if that doesn’t work. Presumably, that will be because there’s a program or a part of the Windows code that isn’t shutting down properly to clear the way for a restart.

Should you need yet another way of restarting your computer without using the Start menu, you can do it from the command prompt or PowerShell utility, too: Just type “shutdown /r” and hit Enter. There are a host of extra flags you can add to that command if needed, including setting a timer for the restart and forcing applications to close: You can read full instructions here.

Having now familiarized myself with the emergency restart option in Windows, I’m off to find more features that I haven’t come across—even though they’ve been around for years. Any suggestions are most welcome.

This week, the Out-of-Touch Guide grapples with an eternal question of man vs. beast, sees Gen Z throw a hilarious right cross at millennial decorating trends, contemplates whether refusing to wash your face is a skincare routine or a cry for help, and explains why serving booze at weddings has become a generational flashpoint.

What is “100 men vs. 1 Gorilla?”

In a video posted three years ago, TikToker yuri5kpt2 was the first online to ask a seemingly simple question: who would win in a fight between 100 men and a single gorilla? It took some time for the general population to catch on to this intriguing hypothetical, but critical mass was achieved this week, and the debate has spread everywhere online.

My first thought was 100 men are taking it, without a doubt. I mean, it’s a hundred guys! But then I considered the overwhelming power of an enraged gorilla, how it could literally tear off limbs and bite off faces, and the scale started tipping heavily the other way. I mean, look at this thing:

On the other hand, actual primatologist Dr. Tara Stoinski gives it to humans:

But I don’t think she’s considering the panic factor. If the question assumes 100 average dudes with no training, I’m guessing about 99 of them run screaming as soon as the most unlucky of the bunch has his face bitten off. I know I would. But the gorilla is going to panic when it sees a mob of 100 men screaming at the top of their lungs!

Then there’s stamina to consider. According to this (self-proclaimed) animal expert, the gorilla would be gassed after killing 30 or 40 dudes, so the men would ultimately triumph, but only after taking heavy casualties.

Right now, I’m leaning slightly toward humans, based on the combined stamina of 100 people and our natural survival instinct. This is the kind of question that won’t be answered until someone does it for real, and good luck making that happen with all the “laws” we have.

Because this is 2025, the question couldn’t be left to quietly drift away like previous internet imponderables like “what would you do if a super intelligent, deadly snail was following you?” Instead, it’s become a part of the tedious “gender wars” with people hijacking the format to ask questions like, “Can we get 100 women vs. accountability?” Responses include “how about 100 men vs. shutting the fuck up?” Can we just have one fight between a gorilla and 100 men without people ruining it?

What is “caveman skincare?”

Moving up the evolutionary ladder from gorillas, we have “caveman skincare,” a minimalist approach to personal hygiene that involves not washing your face, or at least not using soap. The idea has been kicking around since at least the 1960s, but TikToker Tia Zakher brought it to the world’s attention in April by documenting her experiment of not applying any products to her face, or even washing it at all. The idea is to “reset” your skin to a more natural, and presumably healthier, state. The result is not exactly pretty.

But this is temporary, at least according to Zakher. She says the uneven, bumpy skin on her face is a build-up of dead skin cells that would normally be washed away, and underneath is healthy, clear skin. Most commenters don’t seem to agree, and suggest that it’s actually a fungal infection, or maybe she’s rage-baiting, faking it for the attention, or it’s just gross.

There’s a lot going on here culturally. Widespread interest in the technique seems like a backlash to the elaborate, expensive skincare routines many people feel they need, and the online trashing of Zakher is depressingly predictable, given that she’s a young woman who is doing something other than presenting herself as alluringly as possible. But all that aside, is this actually a good idea? According to dermatologists, not really, but a little, maybe, kind of.

“It could temporarily help some people whose skin is extremely irritated from overuse of products, as it reduces the chances of chemical irritation,” dermatologist Dr. Angela J. Lamb told Teen Vogue, but she added that if you’re still wearing makeup and working out, not washing will likely clog your pores and could make acne worse or lead to fungal infections.

According to another dermatologist quoted by Teen Vogue, Dr. Asmi Berry, the caveman method is not backed by scientific evidence, and there’s a better approach to dealing with strengthening your skin. “Stick to a gentle cleanser, a hydrating moisturizer, and a mineral sunscreen,” Dr. Berry suggests.

What is millennial green and why is it so cringe?

Maybe it’s my inner mean girl, but I can’t get enough of members of Generations Z noticing lame details about millennial culture and savagely roasting them for it. First it was being overly into Harry Potter, then eating at millennial burger joints, and now it’s “millennial green.”

Sometimes called “sage” or “forest green,” Millennial green is an evolution of the “sad beige” aesthetic from a few years ago. It hovers around here on the Pantone scale:

Once you notice it, you notice it everywhere—just as evolution eventually leads to crabs, all decorating eventually leads to millennial green.

I love this trend because millennials are still young enough to care what kids think of their decorating choices, and they’re posting funny/poignant videos about discovering that they’re not cool:

Wait, I just realized that Lifehacker’s color is kind of a millennial green. We’re not super cringe, are we? Oh my god. I’m going to rethink my life now.

Gen Z and cash bars at weddings

OK, I’m back. Our website may be millennial green, but at least Lifehacker understands the importance of free booze at weddings. With June marriage season approaching, many young people are defending the practice of charging their guests for drinks at their weddings. This is against the order of nature and should not be allowed.

Check out the discussion in this X comment section:

This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.

On the other side of the debate are Gen Z members calling people “alcoholics” for expecting free drinks.

Seriously, people should be able to have whatever kind of wedding they’d like, but this debate highlights another cultural divide between Gen Z and We Who Have Come Before: Youngsters aren’t drinking as much as previous generations, proving that the real generation gap isn’t about napkin colors; it’s whether you think vodka should come with a price tag.

Viral video of the week: I Hid in Viral YouTube Videos and Nobody Noticed…

This weeks’ viral video is about viral videos. So meta. YouTuber Airrack has made a name for himself with challenge and prank videos, often involving sneaking into and hiding in unlikely places, like the Superbowl or Disneyland. This week, he decided to sneak into other YouTubers’ videos.

The idea is that Airrack would disguise himself and appear in the background of videos from online celebrities like cooking YouTuber Nick Digiovanni, fitness influencer Jesse James West, filmmaker Darman, gadget-maker Mark Rober, and car destroyer Whistlin’ Diesel. If the commenters spot him, they get a point. If they don’t, Airrack does. I won’t spoil the ending, but Airrack has promised that if he loses, he’ll do whatever the most upvoted comment says. That comment is “Legally change your name to diddy,” which really raises the stakes. Whether the entire project is a delightful sitcom-crossover-style experiment or an annoying influencer stunt depends on your point of view, but the kids, as they say, love it.

Rideshare services are convenient, but accessing them can prove a challenge to less tech-savvy potential passengers, particularly older adults. But companies are introducing changes that make their services easier for these groups to access. Lyft Silver is a new account type that, like Women+ Connect (aimed at women and nonbinary passengers), makes it simpler and safer to hail a ride and get support when needed.

Lyft Silver has several features to make rideshare services more accessible to older adults. With a Lyft Silver account, users will see a redesigned version of the app with larger fonts and simpler navigation. The app will prioritize matching Lyft Silver users with vehicles that are easy to get into and out of, and allow them to share real-time ride details with trusted contacts.

Lyft will also offer live phone support between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. ET to assist Lyft Silver riders in the U.S.

How to access Lyft Silver

Lyft Silver will be available nationwide on May 5 to the first 25,000 riders to enroll in the service, with wait list signups open now.

To enable Lyft Silver in the Lyft app, tap You on the bottom right menu bar and select Lyft Silver. You can also gift Lyft Silver to a friend or family member and fund their rides with Lyft Cash. Send an invite from the Lyft Silver page in the app—the recipient will get a link via text to turn the service on (and be prompted download the app if they don’t already have it). You can add a gift card with the invite, which will automatically apply Lyft Cash to the recipient’s account.

Uber also has options for older riders

Lyft competitor Uber also has features built for older riders. A senior account has a “simple mode” for the Uber app, with larger text and icons, fewer ride options, prominent saved locations, and a streamlined booking process. Simple mode is automatically on for senior accounts, but can be disabled under Account > Settings > Accessibility > Simple mode.

Uber senior accounts can be set up by a family organizer, and health benefits cards can be added for eligible rides, such as transportation to and from medical appointments.

May’s sky watching calendar includes planetary viewing, prime stargazing, and a meteor shower peak, so you have plenty of reasons to head outside and look up this month. Here’s what’s coming to the night sky.

May 3: Mars and Moon

The first quarter moon this month will appear right next to Mars on the evening of May 3. Look toward the western sky in the first half of the night. You may also be able to see the Beehive Cluster (Messier 44), a cluster of 1,000 stars that’s around 600 light years away, lit up by the glow of the Red Planet.

May 5: Eta Aquarid peak

The Eta Aquarid meteor shower has been active since mid-April, but it will peak on the night of May 5–6. This event results from the Earth passing through debris left behind by Halley’s Comet (which is also responsible for the Orionids in October). The shower is best viewed in the Southern Hemisphere, but in the north, viewers may still see 10–30 meteors per hour.

According to Space.com, the best time to catch the Eta Aquarid peak is between 2 a.m. and dawn local time. As always, you’ll want to choose a location that’s as dark and free of light pollution as possible, and give your eyes at least 30 minutes to adjust.

May 12: Flower Moon

May’s full moon is known as the Flower Moon, and it will occur on May 12. Like April’s Pink Moon, the Flower Moon is a micromoon: 5% smaller and 10% dimmer than a regular full moon because it takes place at the farthest point from Earth.

Planetary events in May

Planet pairs in May include Venus and Saturn, which can be seen close together, low in the eastern sky, early in the morning toward the beginning of the month. In the evening, look west a few hours after sunset to see Mars and Jupiter.

For stargazers, the Corona Borealis will be visible all month in the eastern sky during the first half of the night. Dark skies on the night of May 26 (thanks to the new moon) may be especially good for locating constellations. You may also be able to catch two globular clusters—densely packed stars—on May 11 and May 28, when Messier 5 and Messier 4 will be favorably located.

Gaming laptops are a great blend of portability and power, but you can usually only get one or the other at a time. Plug your laptop in and you can have top-notch graphics, but as soon as you unplug, all those polygons will drain your battery faster than you can say “Play of the game.” Fortunately, there are some ways to mitigate this downside.

The good news is that gaming laptop manufacturers have invested a good deal of effort into tools that will try to balance GPU performance with battery savings. Your laptop may have even come out of the box configured with some of my suggestions, but this varies widely by manufacturer, so be sure to check yours anyway.

It’s also important to note that battery life savings will vary widely by what type of game you play. A laptop that can last all day playing Stardew Valley will obviously die much faster while cranking through frames in games like Overwatch 2 or Marvel Rivals. Which is to say, based on what game your playing, your mileage will vary a lot. Experimentation is your friend here.

Set battery-specific default options

Windows can set different power settings when you disconnect your laptop from a power source, and this is where your tweaking should start. Here are just a few things you can adjust to start with:

• Switch your power mode: In the Windows Settings app, head to System > Power & battery and under “Power” you can choose from a few basic power modes. Most laptops default to Balanced, but you can switch to “Best power efficiency.” In this mode, Windows will make small changes like turning off the screen sooner or limiting the CPU clock speed to save more power.

• Put your display to sleep faster. Your laptop’s screen is one of the biggest battery drains, and every minute it’s on while you’re not using it is power wasted. If the default is set to around five minutes or longer, you can save a decent chunk of battery by switching this to one minute.

• Check your manufacturer’s software: Companies like Razer, MSI, and Asus have their own software preloaded on gaming laptops that provide more settings you can fiddle with. Some settings, like switching refresh rate (more on that below) when you’re on battery power aren’t available in base Windows, so be sure to check what’s available.

The more settings you can set to automatically change while on battery, the less you have to fiddle with every time you try to play games on the go. And there are, unfortunately, still quite a few that won’t change automatically.

Change your display’s refresh rate

One of the other ways your display drains battery is with its refresh rate. While many games can get by with 60 or even 30 frames per second (FPS), some fast-paced and competitive games can utilize FPS in the multiple hundreds. If you’re not playing a game where enemies are rapidly moving around the screen, you can save a ton of power by changing the refresh rate.

Importantly, “refresh rate” is distinct from a game’s FPS. Most games have some kind of FPS settings that let you limit how many frames the game generates. This can save battery power because the GPU doesn’t have to waste energy rendering frames you don’t need. However, without changing your display’s refresh rate, the screen itself will still update more times per second than you need.

Search for “Display Settings” in your Start menu and select “Advanced display” towards the bottom. On this screen, you can change the refresh rate for your screen. This is a setting you’ll have to change manually every time, so it might be a good idea to see if your manufacturer has a tool to automatically change refresh rate while on battery, first.

Turn off the unnecessary lighting—including backlights

The primary features that distinguish a gaming laptop are RGB LEDs, a powerful GPU, and high-quality displays, in that order. And while your device will cease spiritually being a gaming laptop the moment you turn off all the colorful lights, it will at least save a bit of power.

RGB LEDs themselves aren’t super power-intensive, but most manufacturers include software to choreograph lighting effects and even make your lights responsive to your games. Turning this all off won’t magically give you several hours of gameplay, but the power savings aren’t negligible.

You can also save a little extra power by turning off your keyboard backlight, and more by dimming your display brightness. The latter will depend heavily on what type of display you have. LCD displays have a backlight that shines through color pixels, while OLED-based displays light each pixel individually. In both cases, dimming your display will save a bit of power, but how much will depend on your display.

Adjust your game’s graphics settings

You spent three months’ rent on a gaming laptop with an RTX 4090 inside, and I’m about to suggest you play on Medium settings? Who do I think I am? Well, all that power doesn’t mean much if your laptop dies 20 minutes after you start. So, if you’re not connected to a power source, maybe turn the ray-tracing off.

If your games have graphics presets, try starting with the lowest settings and work your way up. Most games that have really power-hungry features like ray-tracing will automatically turn these off at lower presets, so you can get a baseline of how long your battery lasts, then slowly bump the graphics up as needed.

Disable all the preloaded junk

You bought this laptop for gaming, but it’s still a Windows machine. Which means it probably came preloaded with some stuff Microsoft—or the manufacturer—wants included that has nothing to do with gaming. Microsoft Teams, an application that I even found running in the background on the ROG Ally, is one example.

Hit Ctrl+Shift+Escape to pull up your task manager on your laptop and take a look at what processes are running in the background. While some might be ambiguous tools your games need (you shouldn’t mess with those) you probably don’t need Teams or OneDrive running in the background constantly.

You can also take a look at any utilities running in the system tray to find bloatware apps you don’t need. Typically, gaming laptops mostly come with bundled software that is relevant to gaming, but if there’s extra junk, disable it.

Trump’s tariffs mean the days of ultra-cheap online shopping from international retailers are coming to an end. Starting today, the long-standing exemption on import tariffs for packages valued under $800—known as the “de minimis” exemption—has been eliminated for shipments from China, a move that will dramatically impact consumers who have grown accustomed to suspiciously cheap e-commerce goods from sites like Shein and Temu.

While the exemption remains in place for countries other than China, the Trump administration has indicated it plans to eventually eliminate those carve-outs as well. Here’s how the end of this tariff loophole will impact you, and what you can do to make the most of it.

What’s is the de minimis exemption, and why is it ending?

Previously, packages valued under $800 entered the United States without any import duties or tariffs. This loophole allowed e-commerce platforms like Shein, Temu, and the TikTok Shop to flood the U.S. market with incredibly low-priced goods shipped directly from overseas manufacturers, bypassing traditional import taxes that domestic retailers face.

The Trump administration officially ended this exemption today for packages originating in China, which has thus far borne the brunt of the president’s restrictive tariff policies. Without the de minimus exemption, even your $15 t-shirt or $5 phone case will now be subject to tariffs when shipped from China.

How will this affect your wallet?

According to Krista Li from Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business, whose research focuses on online shopping behaviors, the impact will be significant: “The end of the de minimis exemption means that many low-cost goods, such as fast fashion and apparel, small electronics, home kitchen goods, toys, and beauty products, shipped directly to U.S. consumers via postal services, particularly from international e-commerce platforms such as Shein and Temu, will now be subject to a baseline tariff as high as 145%.”

What does that mean in practical terms? That $10 blouse from Shein could potentially cost $24.50 after tariffs. Those $15 wireless earbuds from Temu might jump to $36.75.

Beyond price increases

The changes go beyond just higher prices. Li explains that consumers should higher prices, yes—but also fewer ultra-cheap options, potentially fewer varieties, and slower delivery times as manufacturers and retailers adjust to the new cost structure. “Consumers may make fewer impulse purchases of inexpensive imported goods and be more price-conscious,” according to Li.

Shipping times may also increase as customs processing becomes more complex. Many international retailers are scrambling to adjust their operations, with some considering opening U.S. warehouses to mitigate the impact—though this would likely still result in higher prices to cover these new expenses.

What this means for different online retailers

There are a lot of reasons you might want to curb your online shopping habit (the environment, your budget, being buried under mountains of stuff, etc.). But with the closing of the de minimis loophole, you’ll need to brace yourself for a financial impact.

Fast fasion sites (Shein, Temu)

These platforms will likely be hit hardest, as their entire business model is built around extremely low prices achieved partly through the de minimis loophole. Expect significant price increases or potential changes to their shipping and fulfillment strategies. (Temu has already announced plans to stop shipping direct to consumers from China, and will rely instead on “locally based sellers” to fulfill orders.)

Amazon and major U.S. retailers

Established U.S. retailers may actually benefit from the change, as it levels the playing field against international competitors who previously enjoyed tax advantages. However, many Amazon Marketplace sellers source products from overseas, so certain categories may still see price increases.

In response to earlier tariff changes, Amazon briefly considered displaying tariff costs separately in product pricing, though they ultimately reversed course; the White House accused the company of a politically motivated “hostile act” against the administration.

Small businesses

American small businesses have long complained that the de minimis exemption created an unfair advantage for foreign sellers who could ship goods without tariffs. This change may help domestic sellers compete more effectively, but the main takeaway here is that U.S. consumers will bear the cost. Meanwhile, U.S. based businesses that rely on importing goods from China to resell will have to choose between lowering profit margins, charging higher prices, or sourcing goods U.S. made goods (which simply won’t be possible for some sellers, as no U.S. made alternatives exist).

How to minimize the impact of tariffs when shopping online

As prices rise on international platforms, consider these strategies to avoid taking a tariff-related hit to your wallet:

1. Buy in bulk when possible: Consolidating purchases may help offset some shipping and processing costs.

2. Look for U.S.-based alternatives: Many domestic retailers have been forced to become more competitive in recent years. When it comes to Shein and Temu specifically, I recommend turning to secondhand markets like Depop.

3. Check retailer policies: Some international retailers may absorb a greater portion of the tariff costs than others in a bid to maintain market share.

4. Be strategic about big sales: Major sale events may offer better value as retailers try to maintain volume despite the new tariffs. Stay on top of what deals are available before you check out.

The bottom line

What’s clear is the end of an era for seemingly impossibly cheap goods arriving directly from overseas, at least for the time being. But on the bright side, perhaps this hit to your wallet can be a wake-up call to curb your online shopping addiction. I mean, those impossibly low prices were impossible for a reason—the manufacturers rely on unfair wages, low-quality goods, and cutting corners. Maybe it’s time to bring a little more intention to your shopping habits.

Unfortunately, it won’t end here either. Keep bracing yourself for impact of the ongoing trade war, and be prepared to continue to alter your personal shopping habits. As my colleagues at Mashable point out, given the tariff-related price increases we’ve seen so far, we can expect to see more import taxes passed on to U.S. consumers going forward.

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For over a year, I have been on a quest to sell a bunch of my stuff to make room in my closet—and, in the process, earn money for more stuff.

I have encountered highs, lows, and many resale apps, some of which are better than others. In addition to making me a little extra money, this endeavor has really helped me reduce my clutter, too: A lot of the popular decluttering techniques ask you to sort your items into three categories—keep, throw, and donate—but by adding the fourth category of things to sell, I’ve cleared major space in my closet. What’s more, I do my best to use my “balance” in each app to buy any new items I want or need, helping me stick to my own version of the “one in, one out” decluttering method.

After all these months and dozens of trips to the post office, here’s what I’ve learned about buying and selling online and which apps I recommend most.

A few notes on reselling clothing online

There are sellers on these apps who do this in a hardcore way, sourcing cool, rare, or expensive items and turning them for a profit. They treat this like a job and, in some cases, it is their job. You don’t have to be like that. Don’t worry about the profiles that feature professional-grade photos and hundreds of listings, because someone out there wants the thing you’re selling and will find it by searching for it—it won’t really matter if you’re displaying the item on a mannequin in studio lighting as long as it’s the right size and price for the buyer.

Here are my tips to get you started.

1. Don’t list something unless you’d actually want to get rid of it if it sold. That seems obvious, but this has happened to me: I’ll get a little overzealous, list something I still use, and feel sad when it gets bought sooner than I wanted it to. One safeguard I’ve employed is listing things I still like to wear at higher prices than they deserve. Interested buyers will still like the listings and may send offers I can consider. If someone actually buys it at the listed price, it was meant to be—and I get extra money to soothe myself through the grief of losing the item.

2. On the other hand, don’t list something if you really want it out of the house. You can’t determine how fast something will sell, even if you undervalue it in price and promote it on the apps every day. If waiting for something to sell impedes your decluttering, consider a brick-and-mortar consignment shop if the item is truly valuable—or just donate it.

3. I still use my items while they’re listed on my apps, but be careful if you choose to do this. If something happens to a bag, like it gets a scuff or a stain, it reduces its value and you’ll have to update the listing at the very least. Don’t try to trick people by showcasing something in perfect condition, then sending it to them in worse shape. They can send it back and this can have an impact on your seller rating. 

4. Take a lot of pictures. You don’t need fancy lighting or a backdrop, but I at least try to set my wares on a nice rug and keep other stuff out of the frame. Take pictures from a few angles, close-up photos of any damage, and a shot of the date stamp or serial number if it’s a luxury or high-end piece. Tags, defining features, and details are important to include. (If you don’t do this upfront, be prepared for potential buyers to ask for them later.) 

5. Be open to offers and respond to inquiries. Most of the time, you won’t get the price you ask for, at least not in my experience, but accepting reasonable offers or being willing to lower the price will help you get the thing out of your house and the money into your account.

6. Always search for the item you’re selling to see what other people are selling theirs for. If yours is of comparable quality, consider listing it for a little less than your competitors to get it sold faster.

7. If you list the same thing on multiple apps, stay on top of what you’re doing. A few weeks ago, I sold a wristlet that I accidentally way undervalued on one app a day after listing it for its true value on another. I lost out on good money! Plus, if something sells on one app, you need to immediately remove its listing everywhere else. Otherwise, it could “sell” again, you’ll need to cancel that order, and your seller rating may take a hit.

8. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, be wary of scams. This applies more to you if you’re buying something than if you’re selling, but as a general rule, never communicate with anyone off-app, let alone conduct transactions that way. These apps are reputable and well-run. Anyone claiming they’re having trouble with the payment system is almost certainly lying to you. All of the apps I highlight here have quality customer service and are available to help you if you’re sold a counterfeit item or encounter a buyer who is lying about the condition of the thing you sold, but you need to conduct your transactions on the app for them to be able to render service.

The first app you need is Vendoo

Before I get into my top apps for buying and selling, I want to highlight one that has made my use of all of them much easier: Vendoo. Essentially, it’s a cross-listing app that enables you to create listings for all your sellable possessions, then post them to a variety of marketplaces, including Poshmark, Vestiaire Collective, Depop, Mercari, and more. You can change prices, track sales, and stay much more organized if your goal is to get rid of as much as you can as fast as you can.

Having your goods for sale across multiple platforms is helpful because, while there are a lot of shoppers who peruse multiple apps, each one also has a pretty dedicated fanbase that only uses one specific marketplace. By cross-listing, you increase your chances of a potential buyer running across your item.

Another app that is really helpful is PrimeLister, but really only if you’re selling on Poshmark. This one automates all of the tedious little tasks you can (and should) do to boost your sales, like sharing your listings to landing pages and the homepages of your followers, plus it gives you the option to bulk-complete tasks, like changing prices or sending out discount offers to interested buyers.

Vendoo and PrimeLister both cost money—about $30 per month, depending on the services you need—but, in my experience, are worth it for boosting sales and making this process easy.

The best apps to sell clothes and accessories

Even though I only really got into selling about a year ago, I’ve been buying on these platforms for many, many years and made the sporadic sale here and there back in the day, too. I recommend Poshmark, Vestiaire Collective, TheRealReal, and Depop. To me, these four have the best interfaces and are easiest to use for buying and selling. Let’s go over their details. 

Poshmark: Best for selling pretty much anything

When you sell on Poshmark, you keep 80% of your sales as long as they’re over $15. For anything under $15, you pay the app a fee of $2.95. On this app, buyers can offer lower prices than what you’re listing your item for and you’re free to accept or decline their offers.

Declining gives you the chance to submit a counteroffer, so you may end up negotiating for a little bit, but the app always notifies you of what, exactly, you’ll make if you sell something at a certain price. The app also allows potential buyers to “like” items, enabling you to send private discount offers to all of a listing’s likers at once. Lowering the price of an item is easy, too, and you can share listings to “parties” that match your item’s description. For instance, Poshmark regularly hosts luxury bag parties, creating a landing page for shoppers looking for those, and I share my listings for bags to those parties when they’re happening.

Creating a listing is very easy if you’re doing it in-app, not using a third-party service like Vendoo. Upload your photos, fill out a form that includes simple details like size, brand, original price, and asking price, and you’re good to go.

If there’s a downside to Poshmark, it’s that you do need to be pretty active and engaged. Offers expire after 24 hours, you can only share listings to a party when the party is happening, and users expect timely responses to their comments. 

Like I said, you can put anything on here. You can sell a Louis Vuitton bag or a Nike T-shirt. Some people sell housewares and handicrafts. I’ve bought a few Diptyque candles and once offloaded a Yankees bobblehead I accidentally acquired on a trip to the Bronx. If you want an app where you can sell everything, not just a certain kind of clothing, it should be Poshmark. 

In my experience, selling higher-end items on Poshmark is hit or miss. Yes, I’ve done it, but people on there are shopping for all kinds of things. I mostly buy baseball jerseys there and save my own luxury resale browsing for other apps. Poshmark doesn’t authenticate designer goods the way other dedicated luxury apps do, so buyers are less confident and more likely to lowball you to make up for their lack of faith in your wares. If you have mid-tier stuff, like Lululemon, Uggs, or Skims, Poshmark is going to be especially handy for you.

All that said, Poshmark is by far my most-used resale app and I’d say I conduct over 90% of my business there. The interface is easy to navigate, the variety of listings and diverse user base lend themselves to a surprisingly high amount of sales on even the most random things, and selling is really easy. When I make a sale, Poshmark generates a QR code that I simply have to show to the people at the post office. The shipping fee is paid by the customer and includes a priority box or envelope. I don’t have to print a label, buy a box, or do anything but show up at the post office. A day or two after the buyer gets the item, the money appears in my balance. Crucially, Poshmark allows you to use your sales balance to purchase things on the app, which I really love, but you can also very easily transfer it out into your bank account. Read my full Poshmark review here.

Vestiaire Collective: Best for higher-end items to maximize profits

Vestiaire Collective is meant for higher-end items, which usually means luxury goods, but I’ve seen it include plenty of other quality stuff, like Gymshark. Where this one shines is its authentication process. Much of the time, items you sell will be shipped straight to VC, where a staffer will authenticate them and send them out to the buyer. This extra security is great, especially for really high-ticket items, and VC has low selling fees: You pay 10% on every sale, plus a 3% payment processing fee. You don’t get charged on your first one, either, as long as it’s below $2,000.

VC often runs specials, too, where where you’ll pay no seller’s fees on certain brands, for example. Like Poshmark, buyers can send offers, but here, you have two days to accept, decline, or counter them, rather than one. One difference that can throw a bit of a learning curveball is that once you accept an offer, the buyer has to make the purchase. On Poshmark, a buyer who sends an offer agrees that if you accept it, their balance or card is charged. On VC, just because you accept the low price does not mean you’ve made the sale. The buyer then has two more days to decide if they want to go through with it. Selling on VC, in my experience, is a much slower process than other apps, especially because of the extra time required for in-person authentication.

Overall, I love buying on here because I know I’m always getting high-quality goods, but the slow pace of sales stops me from selling on VC too often. When you make a VC sale, you don’t get a handy QR code to ship the item. Rather, you have to print the label, buy a box or envelope, and ship it yourself. It takes a while for the money to get to you, given that the item has to go to VC for authentication before being sent out to the buyer. And when you do get that money, it goes into your Venmo account, not a balance that you can use to make new purchases.

It’s worth noting that VC is the most global app on my list. People around the world buy and sell on here, which is awesome because it really broadens the market from which you can purchase and the population to which you can sell, but not-so-awesome because global shipping certainly takes a while. If you buy, don’t expect your item to come in quickly—and if you sell, don’t expect your money to come in quickly.

Buyers on here are looking to spend on nice stuff, so you won’t get lowballed often and items that wouldn’t sell on a more mid-level app get way more attention. Selling on VC requires you to measure your bags, take more specific photos of items (including ones that clearly show brand labeling), identify the material your item is made of, and wait—sometimes, in my experience, up to two or three days—for the photos to be approved by a staffer. Like I said, this is not a fast-money app, but one nice thing is that the app suggests a price for your listing based on prices similar items in similar condition have sold at, so you don’t have to guess. For all the extra work you need to do on this one, it does help you out with little features like that—plus, its cut of the profit is lower than competitors’, so if you’re willing to put in more effort and wait a little longer, you do end up making more money. Read my full Vestiaire Collective review here.

TheRealReal: Best for fancier stuff you just want out of your house

TheRealReal is only for designer, luxury items, and it operates more like a consignment store than direct selling. How much you actually make depends on your “loyalty tier” at the time of sale, so if you’re just starting out, you get 55% commission on anything sold for more than $195. If you earn $1,500 in annual net sales, you move up to a new tier and earn more. You can also just fork your goods over to TRR in exchange for site credit and let them sell as they will. I won’t lie: It’s a little confusing, so only go with this one if you have really expensive items to sell that require authentication and can still bring in a hefty chunk of cash, even with fees. 

I use this app almost exclusively as a buyer, not a seller. Since TRR is in charge of the prices, a lot of really nice things inevitably go on a deep discount if they don’t get sold quickly. If you want a quality piece that you can wear for a little and then resell, try looking here.

Depop: Best for getting rid of anything you have, from mall finds to more luxe items

Depop is another site where you can sell anything. It can be fancy, it can be basic, it can be handmade—you can sell whatever. You don’t pay a listing fee, but you pay a 10% fee for everything you sell. That’s it. It’s super straightforward, and Depop helps you fill out the listing by populating suggestions based on your pictures and text inputs. This speeds up the process so you’re not spending five minutes on every listing, pulling brand names and sizes from drop-down menus. You can offer likers discounts and, like Poshmark and VC, field offers from potential buyers. 

I’ve had success with Depop as a seller and a buyer, but it’s definitely a crowded marketplace. I think of it more like a thrift store than anything. You can find fancy things, yes, but they’re not authenticated and I’ve seen pages and pages of very obvious fakes (and, likely, less obvious fakes I didn’t bother investigating), so beware. (As a side note, if you ever need help determining if a listed luxury product is authentic, you can reach out to me. This is a fun hobby I genuinely enjoy.)

Also prominent are truly basic things, like Forever 21 tops. You may not think the fast-fashion, mall-bought shirts clogging up your closet are worth trying to sell, but you’d be very surprised. Someone out there may want them, so try listing them on Depop before donating or tossing them. Set a hard deadline for yourself, though. If it doesn’t sell in, say, two weeks, get rid of it another way. Again, selling is awesome, but not if it stops you from effectively decluttering. Read my full Depop review here.

Best for set-it-and-forget it sales: Mercari

I am very new to Mercari, as it’s the only app on this list I downloaded just to review and had never used before. That said, I liked what I saw! The process of listing on Mercari is especially simple, so this is a solid entry point if you’re new to reselling and want to start with a more manageable experience. Tapping Sell at the bottom of the home screen brings you to a listing creation page that is notably pared down when compared to the other apps on this list. You add your photos, a title, a longer description, up to seven hashtags, a category, a brand, and a condition indicator. You have the opportunity to offer free shipping (which means you pay for it) or make the buyer pay the cost. Then, you set your listing price. That’s it.

Remarkably, Mercari will even handle your discounting for you, which is something you have to do manually on the other apps or else recruit a third-party service like PoshLister to manage for you. When you finish creating a listing, just toggle on “Smart Pricing,” set a minimum you’d be willing to accept for the product, and do nothing else. Over time, if it doesn’t sell, Mercari will incrementally lower the price until it hits that minimum you set. Of all the apps here, this one is the most hands-off from beginning to end.

There is one downside: While all apps take a little cut of your profit in the form of seller’s fees, not every app charges buyer’s fees, however, which Mercari does as of January 2025: Buyers pay a “Buyer Protection Fee” of 3.6% on Mercari, and that fee is displayed as part of the final price in the item checkout section. Think of it like when you order food off Uber Eats, but only see the true cost, with fees, when you get to the very end.

If you’re a seller, you might want to keep that in mind and, unfortunately, lower some of your prices to make your wares more appealing in light of these price increases. You also need to keep in mind the fees you’ll pay on the sale. Mercari takes a 10% cut of your earnings and, depending on whether you elected to offer “free shipping” to buyers, you’ll could also have to pay around $9 for the shipping cost. Some good news is that you can spend your balance in-app, which you know I’m a big fan of. Read my full Mercari review here.

Honorable mention: Rent your clothes out on Pickle

This list is all about resale platforms, yes, but I have had incredible luck using Pickle, an app that allows me to rent out my accessories and clothes instead of selling them. I’ve only been using it for two months and few bags in my closet have already been rented multiple times. Theoretically, they can keep generating me money over and over again and I can keep using them myself, neither of which is true when you make a straight-up sale.

There are three ways you can rent out your stuff on Pickle: You can arrange a meetup with a renter and hand it off in person, the renter can pay a $3 fee for a courier to transport your item to and from their location, or you can ship your goods wherever the other person is in the country. Meetups really only work in large metro areas, but with the shipping option—and because the courier system runs through established apps like Uber Eats and Doordash—Pickle works surprisingly well even in far-flung areas. During a recent interview, the app’s cofounder also let me know that it’s hoping to broaden the scope of Pickle’s marketplace offerings soon, too, so you could rent out musical instruments, camera equipment, or whatever goods you have lying around.

I have loved being able to put my goods to work and a few of my handbags and shoes are close to paying themselves off, so to speak. Like other apps, Pickle allows potential renters to send you an offer, which you can accept or decline, and it takes a 20% fee off your profit, but again, you get your stuff back and can rent it out again indefinitely. If you’re worried about sending your possessions out, take heart knowing Pickle has a robust customer service team and care policy. If someone damages or fails to return your item, the Pickle team works with you to get you the value of the goods. That’s a rarity, though, because the app has a strong community feel to it. Not only have my things always been returned in perfect condition, but they usually come with thank-you notes and, notably, one renter even sent me a thank-you gift.

Pickle is really helpful if you’re starting to declutter because it is comparable to a purgatory box, or a space you put something if you’re not quite sure you’re ready to get rid of it. You can experience what life is like without immediate access to that item and you may even find you didn’t miss it. In that case, list it on one of the apps above. Notably, Pickle also allows you to sell your stuff. All you have to do is indicate an item is for sale in its rental listing. Read my full Pickle review here.