http://s.wsj.net/media/swf/main.swf
Boomers are selling their shit and nobody wants it. They are selling off their stuff at a bargain. I really need some new dressers for our bedroom. Looks like I can get a bargain.
8 thoughts on “Nobody Wants Your Shit”
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Apt. 11d 
I want it! I pretty much never buy new furniture. There’s so much good stuff out there, much cheaper.
My big dilemma right now is that I want some new comfy chairs or recliners. Buying used, the pro: cheaper. Buying used, the con: Don’t have a car big enough to transport them. If I’m going to go through the trouble of renting a U-Haul, I might as well just buy new and have them delivered.
I will of course put off this decision until the magical Craigslist listing appears that say “Hey Wendy, here are your comfy chairs for under $100 each! We’ll even bring them to your house!”
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Look closely before you move in a used comfy chair. Bedbugs aren’t technically limited to beds.
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I took some chairs I purchased used to an upholstery place, and when I asked where I should buy a new couch to get a quality one that will last, the owner told me they will build/make from hardwoods and the best quality webbing and springs, any couch or loveseat I want for about half the retail price (which is for poorly-made junk). I just have to bring in a picture, or they can combine elements from different pictures.
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I think this post needs to make an exception for Kai’s future sofa.
I’m a regular Craigslister (I’ve got a big box of stuff ready to be posted on ebay and Craigslist and donated to Goodwill) and I find that it is a very chastening experience to coldly price out the stuff that you bought earlier with so much passionate expectation. It so often turns out that you’re lucky if the market clearing price is $1 for a $10 item.
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A lot of people don’t quite get that, though. They expect to get 80% of the original price of their Pottery Barn or high end baby stuff when they put it on Craigslist.
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Greater Cincinnati area has several online auction services that do all the organizing prep, photos, and run the auction. They charge 30% (consignment shops charge 50% and you have to deliver it yourself). They bundle things in lots that facilitate getting rid of crap, by packaging a few good things in with the rest and requiring the buyer to take the whole lot. I was able to get my dad’s home completely cleaned out (hoarder status garage, basement, closets) within 2 months, and we netted $12,000 from what I would have called junk and donated, and I would have had to do a lot more work. They have an extensive database of buyers, and the online bidding makes it accessible to almost anyone. Friends who are trying to do the same for aging relatives in Rochester NY say there is nothing like this service available there. Somebody needs to get this type of service started outside this area, it really was a lifesaver for my family.
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My neighbors growing up did those types of auctions. I think it is a midwestern thing, at least for people who don’t pay more for rugs than I would for a car. My sister once got a box that included a live shotgun shell in with whatever it was she wanted to buy.
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My parents went to a couple of auctions in western Washington recently. There was at least one divorce involved. Both sales had poorly maintained private roads and at one of places, the auction people had had to pull a number of customers’ cars out of the parking lot mud by tractor. My parents didn’t risk that one. These were quasi-farm properties, with lots of equipment in dubious condition at the sale my parents actually went to. My dad wanted to buy a planer for a major construction project, but the auction people didn’t have it set up so that you could plug in the stuff and see if it functioned. So, no planer and a lot of wasted time.
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