This all started with my wanting to avoid hauling all the junk we hauled from the last house, and didn’t use, to yet another house. As I’ve said in prior posts, we’ve moved 5 times in 2 years and much of the belongings we’ve carted from place to place never left the box they were packed in. And as one does, we picked up more and more items along the way. In many cases, due to our family situation, we picked up two of each.
At first I figured I’d sell things through Craigslist. It’s a great ‘direct market’ for things like playpens, strollers, professional camera tripods, treadmills, cribs and such. But it’s also teeming with the complexities on managing communications, setting up meetings, no-shows, and lost opportunities. I made a few attempts, succeeded with some and did not with others, and then I figured that just sticking a sign on a few street posts and camping out for a few hours would net a greater return on investment of my time. Less hassles, less posting of ads, less emails and phone calls, and no opportunity for somebody to not follow through on a commitment.
What I didn’t really consider was the setup involved. It’s not as easy as you’d think. Well, I guess it’s not as easy if you’re just looking to have people filter through your scattered, dusty belongings ad hoc, having to identify what is/is not for sale, and having to make an off-the-cuff decision as to pricing.
I spent the majority of Saturday sweeping out the garage, looking like Bert from “Mary Poppins”, singing “Chim Chimmery” as I shuffled belongings about in order to contain a cloud of dust and dirt that would make Pig-pen feel like Mr Clean. I made a reasonable yet half-hearted effort to clean and prepare the items so they didn’t look like they’d just come from an archeological dig in Cairo. Then I tried to position things around and in the center of the garage so visitors could easily stroll through and see what’s available. And after all that, I had to think through and price items at what I felt was a reasonable price.
There’s a big difference in a one’s perception of “reasonable” when they’re doing a targeted search for something on eBay or Craigslist, then there is when they’re driving home from Church and make an impulsive right hand turn at the spotting of a hand scrawled sign on the roadside, where they expect they may finally find that ever-ellusive George Forman Grill they’ve longed for, yet have refuse to spend more then the change that’s gathered in the lint filled pocket of their Sunday best. So, with that in mind, I’ve tried to price things in between the drive by browser and the person who knows the value of an item. We’ll see how we do.
So far I’ve have the typical early-morning shoppers that arrive before hand and sit in waiting for the sale to begin. The pro’s. I’ve dealt with these scruffy characters before and it’s always an interesting experience. I’ve had some of the most irritable and caustic buyers show up first thing in the morning on prior sales, always with a large van they’re prepared to stuff with belongings that they intend to pay $1 for and then turn around at a flea market for $5. It’s a business for them. Fortunately for this effort everybody that’s stopped has been very pleasant.
Had I the time or inclination I’d probably enjoy the challenge of finding an elderly couple selling off the contents of their attic, complete with the box of their sons books and records that contains both a 1st edition of “The Catcher in the Rye” as well as a Beatles album that they give to me for free because they’re so offend by the band wearing butcher aprons and sitting amongst meat slabs and dismembered dolls. I’ve know people that have made little side business out of selling vintage ads from magazines on eBay. I think stumbling across such an opportunity is a great rarity but not something one can easily hunt down on a single weekend’s effort.
Things died down quickly and as the stopping point closed in I found myself being a little more flexible on the pricing. Of course even though I’ve cut my asking price by 1/2 to 1/4 of the original desire, there’s still a sense of success attached to knowing that the extra $20 I might make will require more than the equivalent in my valuable time looking for a buyer online during the course of the next week. That said, though, I’ve still encountered the buyer of several items at an amazing savings to them looking for an additional special pricing for “the whole set”, as if buying 4 or more items give them yet another break. I guess it’s all a part of the game.
I’m starting to reconsider which is really more work, online or on the street.
:-/