Art & Inspiration You think buying stuff is hard

Well....give-it-away ya stingy bastid!!!!
Swap it to a buddy fer something he has.......or let your "heirs" worry bout it !
When it gets-in-your-way-until-ya-can't-stands-it-no-mo.......then your price will be right!!!
6sally6

 

That’s a good point. Can’t use it, can’t sell it. But when you want to give it away, they’ll ask “can you deliver”?

 

Years back I had a two-stroke dirt bike listed on the ‘Net. A fella asked a bunch of questions, etc. he was about 60 miles from me. He said he’d give me an extra 50 bucks if I rode it down to him.
Ya kidding me? He must thought I was living on my last penny.

 

I looked for several years, tried to buy a certain make Toyota motorhome, found a promising listing on Craigslist drive 225 miles north of me…it was in decent shape, decently priced, I didn’t haggle, handed him cash, he counted the bills, handed me back $200….said the deal was so painless, he wanted to ‘reward me’….To Be Honest His Advertised Was So Reasonable I Figgered It Was Too Good To Be True….SO I didn’t bring a driver with me….we’d already agreed I could pick it up in as much as 2-months….about 45 days later he called me, said he was coming my way….would I drive 100 miles to pick it up….For Gas Money….You Betcha!….My 100 mile Test Drive Home uneventful….! Going Thru His Paper Work Was A Receipt For A Crate Engine Some 20,000 Miles Ago….Bill Was More Than I Paid For The Motorhome!….Bonus!

 

I'm rapidly approaching the "Time" to clean out a lifetime accumulation of "Stuff" and have been procrastinating due to my recent years/times/experiences dealing with people. What happened to courtesy, respect and a little common sense ? I have come across many very obnoxious people, few decent guys and dreading dealing with the cheap, rude Asshats that seem to be the norm today. Considering having an auction, that can go either way depending on who shows up on that day and I live in the beautiful Northwoods, Wi. a retirement/tourist area, debatable area for car hobby/machine shop auction. I'm on the fence again procrastinating. LOL. I've bought and sold Many items through the years, made deals without insulting people, that does not seem to be the norm now IMO.

 

Hello,

Nice topic that rings a bell for everyone. First off, in selling stuff, you have to really want to sell or at least be motivated enough to get rid of the stuff. It does not matter if the things have been in the family for ages, if you haven’t used it in several years, then it should be priced to sell. Most prices are to make money and hold out for the top dollar. Since most of us are not in the business of selling auto parts or such, the cost is relative.

The garage overloaded with projects and things that haven’t seen the light of day for years needs a new life elsewhere. Pricing it is just a means to catching someone’s eye. If it is priced too high, no looks, but remember, you are trying to get rid of the stuff. Your lifestyle does not depend on every penny from the sale, or at least it shouldn’t be that way.

If the sale items are gone, you did a great job. No one wants to load up a bunch of junk to take home and resupply the overloaded yard or garage.

Jnaki

As fast as things move, there is excitement in the swap. My brother and I went with our families to a local Goleta, CA swap meet after cleaning out his little garage. We brought up stuff from our garage, too. Parts and tools that we knew we would sell quickly. But, as we all started selling early in our adjoining stalls, our stuff got sold fast. It was fun to almost give something away or at least trade it for something.

We needed a solid oak skateboard for a new project I was going to make for my son and the area was ripe with folks selling new stuff from the local factories. So, we traded a socket wrench for a new blank solid oak shaped skateboard. The buyer/seller/trader threw in some new street wheels that he had not used and were just sitting around. For my project, the wheels were perfect as I knew they would get a lot of use.

Within several hours, we sold out everything we had brought from our old house. My brother still had most of his stuff, because, he thought they were valuable and wanted the most he could get. So, when I helped him sell some of his stuff, he got irritated at my seller’s theory. The cost was $10 sitting there for hours, so for $5 it disappeared instantly with the next guy that walked by our selling spaces.

I remember placing this ad in early January of 1961. My brother was now home and could go out to the backyard garage with me to price items to sell. He was in a good way during his recovery as things were looking brighter with the healing. So, we looked at all of the items we had taken out of the 1940 Willys Coupe and the other parts sitting around in the backyard garage.

At first, the biggest item was the 671 powered SBC motor. We asked all of our friends who owned speed shops and they said the price of $1000.00 was not out of the question for a powerful running motor, especially since it came within .40 sec of the National Record for C/Gas. So, my brother and I decided to lower that amount to sell it fast. It sat for several weeks and then the full amount was given to us by a racer from the Midwest. Money order in hand, the guy flew out and shipped the motor home. That was a sad moment, as I would have liked to keep that motor for other Chevy hot rod applications.

The rest of the parts were simple, low cost and would be looked at by local hot rod/drag race guys. When we told them of the prices, they felt sorry for us and some nice folks offered more for certain items. We just wanted a clean slate and needed the backyard garage space clean and empty.

The backyard garage was beginning to see a few surfboards and some supplies. But, the hot rod/drag race stuff was gone, except for our gas welding set, Hydraulic Jack, Jack stands, and Crafstman tool box. It looked relatively empty, but it was a good feeling of paying it forward with the old/new parts for someone that could use it/them.

The money? We could have held out for more, but why? The idea was to clean out the backyard garage, get ready to move on with lives, and start our new adventures, what ever they may be.

 

Due to getting older I,m going to start down sizing.
I,m really not looking forward to dealing with the lowballing idiots.
Had one a few weeks ago and it deters me from wanting to sell anything

 

I'm smarter than all you guys...over the years, I've managed to sell of all my good stuff BEFORE it became valuable

 

Luckily I managed to sell off one of my O/T projects yesterday. Lost my ass on labor and parts but I stopped wallowing in the mud wrestling the hogs. Might be able to pay for a few nights in a motel if Ian gets too destructive here