Going Once, Going Twice, Sold!
Last night I started going through boxes. X cleared out the storage unit for me, so my living room was filled with boxes and boxes. The majority of these boxes contain books that I have collected over the years. I love books, but I finally realized that I will never read the majority of them again. What is the point of keeping them in boxes? Why not give others the chance to enjoy?
So I went through the boxes separating the literary treasures into three piles – keepers, sell to Half Price Books, donate to Goodwill. The keeper pile was the smallest, and I am looking forward to seeing what I can get from HPB. Mr. Slick turned me onto the place. He was always buying and selling, and we bought many CDs there together. Now I have two boxes of great condition hardback books to sell. I am not expecting a goldmine, but a little return would be great.
I have gotten into the selling mode. After helping my mother with her garage sale and making $160 of my own, I have been listing things to Craig’s list…my sleeper sofa, my loveseat, my dining table, curio, and now a bunch of baby stuff that I don’t anticipate needing for a very long time so why not make a little money off of it. I am even putting my dishes up for sale.
To X’s chagrin, I am also selling off the bedroom set that X slaved away for us to afford for little Bubba. I have decided that I don’t like it anymore. It is time for her to have a big girl bed, so I figure why not get rid of the whole set. I already have a nice full size bed for her courtesy of Coco, and I am going to use the fancy, hand painted dresser that has been in my room. I offered the set to X, but he turned it down, while cursing that I ever made him buy it in the first place. We used it for three years. What more could he want?
Now that I am moving to a new place, and away from the home I shared with X, I am going through a sort of cleansing ritual. I am seeking all new everything. I just need to have something that is mine, and was never ours. I know that I will never make enough from selling the majority of my belongings to purchase an apartment full of pretty, designer furniture, but I figure that with the cut in rent, and the upcoming bonus, little by little, I will be able to create my home.
But then again, research pays off. Taking a break from writing this for a few minutes, I logged on to eBay to see if I could get a hint on pricing the Mikasa china set, which was given to me by my mother when she was seeking to exorcise memories of my father from her house. I needed the dishes for my house in SC, so I took them gladly. Ever since then, I have been half-heartedly trying to give them away. My mom didn’t want them back, and my friend Aly’s mother, who owned the same pattern, turned them down because of a desire to be rid of it herself. But it turns out that the pattern is worth something. My original asking price was going to be $20 from some needy Craig’s list consumer, but it turns out that I can get at least that from just one plate on eBay. So I am going to turn myself into an online vendor and begin hawking my mother’s wedding china. I am even stroking my chin at the idea of calling Aly’s mother and seeing if she still has her stuff around for me to purchase and resell. I had no idea that it would be worth anything. And to think I was ready to take it to Goodwill even.
But my conscience nags at me, and I wonder if I should now treat the set as an heirloom and begin collecting pieces I don’t have like the soup bowls, serving pieces, and teapot. They are all very expensive though, and frankly I don’t really care for the set. But it is apparently the nicest thing I own, so do I really want to replace it with the cheap set I had my eye on? And what if I do collect all of the other pieces? I could hold onto the set for longer as it appreciates in value. Decisions, decisions.
I also wonder if I should let my mother in on the set’s value and cut her in on the take, but then she was just going to give it away if I didn’t want it, so it really is mine completely.
Perhaps I will just consult Cy; he is pretty knowledgeable on such things.
So I went through the boxes separating the literary treasures into three piles – keepers, sell to Half Price Books, donate to Goodwill. The keeper pile was the smallest, and I am looking forward to seeing what I can get from HPB. Mr. Slick turned me onto the place. He was always buying and selling, and we bought many CDs there together. Now I have two boxes of great condition hardback books to sell. I am not expecting a goldmine, but a little return would be great.
I have gotten into the selling mode. After helping my mother with her garage sale and making $160 of my own, I have been listing things to Craig’s list…my sleeper sofa, my loveseat, my dining table, curio, and now a bunch of baby stuff that I don’t anticipate needing for a very long time so why not make a little money off of it. I am even putting my dishes up for sale.
To X’s chagrin, I am also selling off the bedroom set that X slaved away for us to afford for little Bubba. I have decided that I don’t like it anymore. It is time for her to have a big girl bed, so I figure why not get rid of the whole set. I already have a nice full size bed for her courtesy of Coco, and I am going to use the fancy, hand painted dresser that has been in my room. I offered the set to X, but he turned it down, while cursing that I ever made him buy it in the first place. We used it for three years. What more could he want?
Now that I am moving to a new place, and away from the home I shared with X, I am going through a sort of cleansing ritual. I am seeking all new everything. I just need to have something that is mine, and was never ours. I know that I will never make enough from selling the majority of my belongings to purchase an apartment full of pretty, designer furniture, but I figure that with the cut in rent, and the upcoming bonus, little by little, I will be able to create my home.
But then again, research pays off. Taking a break from writing this for a few minutes, I logged on to eBay to see if I could get a hint on pricing the Mikasa china set, which was given to me by my mother when she was seeking to exorcise memories of my father from her house. I needed the dishes for my house in SC, so I took them gladly. Ever since then, I have been half-heartedly trying to give them away. My mom didn’t want them back, and my friend Aly’s mother, who owned the same pattern, turned them down because of a desire to be rid of it herself. But it turns out that the pattern is worth something. My original asking price was going to be $20 from some needy Craig’s list consumer, but it turns out that I can get at least that from just one plate on eBay. So I am going to turn myself into an online vendor and begin hawking my mother’s wedding china. I am even stroking my chin at the idea of calling Aly’s mother and seeing if she still has her stuff around for me to purchase and resell. I had no idea that it would be worth anything. And to think I was ready to take it to Goodwill even.
But my conscience nags at me, and I wonder if I should now treat the set as an heirloom and begin collecting pieces I don’t have like the soup bowls, serving pieces, and teapot. They are all very expensive though, and frankly I don’t really care for the set. But it is apparently the nicest thing I own, so do I really want to replace it with the cheap set I had my eye on? And what if I do collect all of the other pieces? I could hold onto the set for longer as it appreciates in value. Decisions, decisions.
I also wonder if I should let my mother in on the set’s value and cut her in on the take, but then she was just going to give it away if I didn’t want it, so it really is mine completely.
Perhaps I will just consult Cy; he is pretty knowledgeable on such things.
posted by The Narcissist at 2:33 PM
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