The gone-ski piles made a run for the exit.
Donation pile ready to go
We packed all the goods into bags to ensure they remain in good condition for sale at the charity shops. They're in the car ready to be dropped off.
All quality items went up for sale
We used a local online Facebook community of around 29,000 people to register our quality gone-ski items for sale. So far we have sold $48 worth of goods. The money is going into a tin can to be used for holidays and family fun stuff.
A couple of principles we followed:
- Take good photos
- Be descriptive
- Make it a fair price or even a bargain
- Hashtag your items so you can find them online (I used #debsgoodsforsale).
- This enables people to look at all your stuff in one viewing
- Take any fair offer
One example was a 1996 Guinness Book of Records. I don't recall anyone opening it. We put it up for $2. A young guy jumped on it and said SOLD. He came straight over. Turns out he is collecting every year and was so happy he gave us $5. Fancy that!
You never know what is gold to someone else...so test the market.
The way I look at it, these items will go to someone who wants them and in return we get a small return on our time and energy. This prevents them going into a rubbish tip or sitting around cluttering the charity shops.
What went out - 2 items
A couple of things from Sammi's room
What came in - 0 items
Nothing to report
INSIGHTS
(1) One mans trash can be another mans treasure
(2) One mans trash can simply be trash
TOTAL: OUT - 742 IN - 64
We've had a new kettle and toaster on our wish-list since starting this adventure... and they came to the top of the list.
How our wish-list purchase was smart but still tasted like sale-mania
We shopped around the stores looking for the appliances we liked. We found exactly what we were after and didn't buy them.
Instead we took the model numbers, researched reviews online and then searched for the best price. We waited another week, looked again online and BAM Myers had a sale. The ones we wanted were heavily reduced.
We contacted our local Myers store. They did not have them in stock... and the sale was for one day only. Now the blood is rushing... we both felt it. Game on people!!
Armed with the rationale that we are clever consumers because it is on our wish-list, we rang the city store and they had both available. We paid for them over the phone and will pick them up on Monday. Yeehaa, we grabbed a bargain!
Our primary vulnerabilities in the face of the consumerism juggernaut is to be emotionally swayed by the prospect of saving money rather than a rational prioritisation of need.
Even though we made these decision consciously and in a planned way, the rush from the drug-like juice we experience when we made the purchase, was a sobering reminder of how powerful that pull can be.
The end result is we got what we wanted for a heavily reduced price and we got to re-examine our relationship with consumerism. Powerful stuff.
What went out - 6 items
Another pile of books left the building.
What came in - 0 items
We will add the 2 purchased appliances on Mondays blog (when they arrive home)
INSIGHTS
(1) We may never lose the taste of the consumer drug
(2) Taking time to make a purchasing decision ensures a better outcome all round
TOTAL: OUT - 708 IN - 51
