Los Angeles, Nov 4 (IANS): Chat show queen Oprah Winfrey has collected $600,000 for charity by auctioning her personal items at a yard sale.

The items came from Winfrey's homes in Hawaii, Indiana and California with the auction taking place inside three tents on the polo grounds in Santa Barbara, California Nov 2, reports people.com.

The proceeds from the sale benefit Winfrey's Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.

"I've been accumulating things since 1985," Winfrey told Entertainment Tonight.

"It's just too much stuff. I talk about it a lot in the magazine (O, The Oprah Magazine). We talk about decluttering. And I realised, I need to declutter my own life. It is very freeing. I am downsizing," she added.

At the auction, a set of six 18th-century Louis XVI armchairs with hand embroidered details netted $60,000 and two 13-ft. long sofas, upholstered in crushed velvet with roped fringe, collectively brought in $8,750.