How to (hopefully) Address a Packrat

So yesterday I mentioned some "no-no"s when it comes to getting other people to dejunk their stuff.  Here are some ideas that MIGHT actually work.  At the very least, they're much less likely to backfire like the stuff I listed yesterday.  Some of these come from Don Aslett's For Packrats Only book.

• Set an example.  Get rid of some of your OWN junk, then excitedly mention how much happier you are and how much better your place is because of it.  But here's the thing: DON'T add "...so maybe you can do the same with that thing in your living room?"  Just let your actions on your own stuff speak for itself.  Flaunt your new freedoms without being pretentious about it.
• Drop hints about places like eBay and Craigslist.  Nudge towards some huge amount of stuff that they're not using, and say "Oh that reminds me, I saw somebody on eBay yesterday, selling a collection like this.  I think the bids were up to 80 bucks."  Or forward them an email saying, "Hey, this guy on Craigslist is looking to buy [something the person has]."  If they think they can get money for it, then they may just be motivated enough to get rid of it.
• Get the packrat involved in something like a clothing drive, book/toy drive, or flea market.  "The youth center / school where blah-blah-blah goes is holding a drive for blah-blah-blahs.  Could we make a box of stuff for them?"  Or "We're having a clothing drive at work, and we get prizes if we give more stuff."  It also won't hurt to mention the possibility of getting a tax deduction in the process.
• Invite somebody over the house, whose presence would trigger a clean-up.  This is a little tricky to play, because you don't want to spring an invite on somebody without getting their permission, but you don't want the packrat to embarrassingly rationalize an excuse for the person not to come.  But if somebody very important to the packrat is coming over (a highly esteemed old friend, co-worker, grandparent, etc.) then it may drive them to WANT to clean up some stuff.  If it's a house, you could alternatively invite over somebody impersonal like the electrician, plumber, exterminator, or fire marshal.  The packrat might now say "Crap, I have to clear a path to the fuse box now."  If the packrat is single, that's easy: invite a hot other single to visit.
• Throw a party or other event at the place.  Same reasons as above.
• Give stuff that won't add to their piles.  When it comes time to giving gifts (birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, etc.) try thinking of stuff that doesn't take up much room.  For example: restaurant gift certificates, bus/plane tickets, an AAA membership, NetFlix membership, iTunes gift certificate, etc.  Heck, I should write a separate blog post of examples.  Or even better, get them something that will REPLACE a piece of junk they already have.  "A new pair of headphones!  Now you can get rid of the 10 cheap pairs you have that don't work."
• Take a revealing photo...for "other reasons". Take a photo of their place in an area where the junk is horribly piled up.  Show it to them.  But here's the catch: make it look like you had some other reason for taking the photo.  "I wanted a picture of your guitar to show so-and-so."  "Hey, here's a photo I took of your cat!  Isn't Oreo so cute, curled up in that empty shoebox?" (In between, of course, tons of other ripped and empty boxes, stacks of books and DVDs, and then some).  This might make them face the fact that they have a junk problem.
• Buy them storage cases.  Now this one could actually backfire.  If you get them a new bookshelf or DVD rack, chances are they might fill that up and just create a new pile in the future as they amass more stuff.  Aslett, in fact, advises just the opposite: get rid of things like shelves and rotted tool sheds, and the junk might go with it.  I certainly do not advise getting the person a storage unit at a storage complex, because as I've said before, this just gives a way of creatively hiding the junk, not getting rid of it.  However, if the person is stacking their DVDs or books in towering piles because there's no place else to put them, maybe putting a bookshelf or rack in its place IS just what they need.  I guess you'll have to take this on a case-by-case basis.
• Offer to get rid of something.  If you sincerely see something that's junk, then ask "Do you need these dead Bic cigarette lighters for something?  Or can I just throw this out?""  Again, don't nag.  Don't explicitly deem the item as junk.  Don't make it seem like a trick.  You might relieve them of the bother to dispose the item, which might have been the only thing holding them back.
• Offer to help clean up their stuff.  This might work in a good way, or even backfire in a good way.  If they accept the help, great.  Just make sure you're doing it together.  Again, no packrat likes to have his stuff touched and evaluated without permission.  On the other hand, they might say "no" for this very reason.  But if you offer to organize it and catalog it all by yourself, and keep offering, then reverse psychology may kick in.  They might want to get rid of the stuff on their own, for fear that you might keep asking or do it the "wrong" way.

Again, there's no guarantee that any of these things are going to work.  But they're worth keeping in mind if you know somebody who's a hopeless packrat.