Craigslist: The Usefulness and Presumptiveness that Comes with a Great Creation

I find Craigslist to be a fascinating place. You can pretty much find anything on Craigslist from dates to jobs to obscure personal items for sale. Unlike the classified ad section of a newspaper, you don’t have to wait until the next day for something new to appear. It’s pretty cool how it’s an ever changing landscape of weirdness.

I’ve used it several times to get rid of items I don’t want. For example, per my friend Emily’s suggestion, I decided that Craigslist might be a better option to get rid of my collection of unwanted doors than simply throwing them away. I personally probably wouldn’t want to get free doors off Craigslist but like my mother said, people will take anything if it’s free.

Besides, I figured that there might be someone out there who had a desperate need for some new doors and no budget. Thus, why not give them away? I’ve done this before with an entertainment centre and a large collection of cardboard boxes that I used to move into my house.

My mother is right. People will take anything if it’s free. They will also, however, be quite rude and presumptive.

For example, with the doors, I decided that I didn’t want people picking and choosing the doors. I had a picture of people coming to examine the doors and deciding which ones they did or didn’t want and leaving the left behind. Thus, in my ad on Craigslist, I described the doors as best I could. I’m no door expert. I know there are different sizes but these were pretty standard sized. I had four sliding closet doors, one back door and one outdoor screen door. My ad said, “No picking or choosing- you must take all of the doors.” Also, I stated “You must load and haul away.” Not that I wouldn’t assist with the loading if necessary but well, I figured it didn’t hurt to be clear.

So…after I placed my ad, I began to get emails. The first couple were standard “Do you still have the doors?” emails. Then I began to get “Can I come look at them? I only want the screen door,” emails. Then people started being more specific, asking me to please measure the doors.

Now, I suppose that it would have been nice and smart to measure the doors. However, the lazy part of me felt that if someone was going to get six free doors, they could measure them once they got them home. I did say they were standard sized. Granted, if I didn’t have an inbox full of mail from people who didn’t care if measured the doors, they just wanted them, it would have been different. I could be lazy and so I was.

In the end, I started with the first reasonable email. The guy wanted me to call and leave my address on his voicemail. Unfortunately, while I really, really wanted to lose the doors, I’m also not an idiot and I am not about to leave my address on the voicemail of a complete stranger. So I told him to call me. I gave him four hours. No call. I decided to move down to the next email- I wanted the doors gone and my preference was for someone to get them asap. Well, the second guy told me that he couldn’t the doors until next week but would I deliver?

I moved on. The third time was a charm. I spoke to a nice man who lived 10 minutes away. He agreed to come in the evening. I had to leave work a little early because we were supposed to have nasty storms and I didn’t want the guy to get stuck hauling doors in 45 mph winds. He did arrive as promised, didn’t inspect the doors but just took them. He said that he had a friend who’d moved into a stripped house that had nothing and he wanted to give him the doors. I was happy- this is the exact type of person I wanted to donate my doors to and so I felt not only that I’d helped a new homeowner but, also, I got rid of the blasted things.

It just makes me laugh about the presumption of people though. With my entertainment centre, I measured and took photos of it and I put it up on Craigslist for free. People wanted to know if it would fit in “x” sized room. Well, since I did provide the measurements, surely they could figure it out. I had someone who wanted to know if I’d remove the glass doors for them and then they’d take it. I ignored that one.

I guess my attitude is wrong but I can’t help but think if something’s free then surely you can’t be too picky…right? I mean I suppose if you’re going to come and pick up some doors, you want to make sure you can use them but, well, when someone clearly says “No picking and choosing” in the ad, that generally means NO PICKING OR CHOOSING…right?

With my free boxes, I folded them flat to make them easy to store. I took pictures and put them on my Craigslist ad. I had people ask if I could assemble the boxes before they picked them up. Uh, no….sorry….for one thing, they’re way easier to move if they’re flat and, well, you want 50 free boxes, you can bloody well assemble them yourself.

I’ve had experiences on the other side of Craigslist too. For example, I wanted to build a privacy fence when I first moved in and I was so sick of Dog Whisperer’s noisy beasts, I decided to shut them out. I found a guy on Craigslist who charged a reasonable fee for his hourly rate, would pick up the materials provided I paid and build the fence. I got in touch with him. He seemed decent. I arranged for him to come inspect the garden to see how much fence I’d need. He never showed up. I tried to call. I never heard back from him. Now, it is entirely possible that some nasty fencing accident befell him and he was unable to contact me but, alas, his ad on Craigslist appeared again two weeks later.

I suppose I’m a sucker. I can’t help but think if someone agrees to something, they should follow it through. I know people who buy things on Craigslist and more than one has showed up to a place and no one’s been home or the item wasn’t as promised.

It’s a shame that there are abusers of such a nifty service. I’m still a big fan of Craigslist. It’s a fantastic way for getting rid of crap. My brother in law has used it to trade things- he started out with a ton of junk he got from garage sales and he ended up with a car. Granted, the car didn’t run very well but I thought it as a pretty good trade. My sister didn’t agree since it stood in her driveway for a while but…I was impressed at free car.

Still, in the end, I got rid of my doors. I do have a couple of angry messages from people who really wanted my doors but were too late to get them but I can ignore those. It really does prove the saying, another person’s junk is another person’s treasure. My only rule is that if my junk is your treasure, you come and get it. It’s worked pretty well so far. I did feel a little bad about not measuring the doors but, truth be told, I kind of figured that most doors were the same size. It just goes to show that I’m a door-ignoramus.

Ah well, the only ones I have to deal with now are the ones already in my house, being used. I have a much cleaner garage and I got to help someone.

And it’s all thanks to Craigslist and people who will take anything for free.

Happy Wednesday!

The Captain Monkeypants Guide to Garage Sales....

It is a super wet night out there. I drove back from my parents where it was raining but only sporadically back to Cincinnati where it is a steady downpour at the moment. It's apparently been raining a lot. I discovered my herb garden is partially under water and the new asparagus trench I dug is completely flooded. I'm hoping it will drain on its own by tomorrow, otherwise I'll have to start bailing out the water.

Rory and Sookie are pleased to be home but are quite disgusted that their garden is sopping wet. It's so wet that when you walk, water seeps up from the grass. Given that they hate getting their feet wet, they're not thrilled to go outside.

Nevertheless, we had a nice weekend, even despite the rain. It was the Citywide Garage Sale day yesterday in my parent's town and, as we did last year, my sister and I had made plans well in advance to go. My brother-in-law usually joins us for the sales and acts as a very kind and patient chauffeur.

This year, I woke up to discover that it was raining on the day of the sales. After a bit of dithering, my sister and I decided to risk it since the forecast said it was going to clear up. After a wet start, the day did clear up and we managed to hit rather a lot of sales.

Since this was my second year of going to garage sales, I felt far more experienced. Last year, I not only went to my parent's town Garage Sale Day but also the neighbouring town's and then, at the end of the summer, the one in my own neighbourhood.

Thus, I've learned a lot and I know what's a bargain and what isn't. What I've learned is that you can easily tell who has either had or been to to garage sales before and who is absolutely clueless.

The richer folk, the ones who live in the nice neighbourhoods clearly don't go to many sales. This is evident by the fact that they feel their junk is worth far more than it is. The whole point of a garage sale is to get rid of stuff and raise a little money in the process. This means that you price things low and people will buy them. If you label them at a price that is only a few dollars below what you'd pay new in a store when the item is clearly nowhere near new, you won't sell them.

For example, DVD's. I love buying DVD's at garage sales. Unless it's a rarity, DVD's should be $2 at most. If it's a DVD that you find in the $5 bin at Walmart, it should not be sold for $4 when the case is bent and it looks a little beaten up.

Some of the sales we went to were just completely unrealistic. I was looking for a cheap weed whacker. Well, I found one but it was a bit cruddy looking and they wanted $45 for it. Now, Walmart has a weed wacker for $47. Granted, it may not be as good quality as the garage sale one originally was but, lets face it, you buy it at a garage sale, you can't take it back if it breaks. If you buy a cheaper one at Walmart and it breaks, you can exchange it. Also, the Walmart one will be shiny and new and not brown, dented and grass-stained.

So, just as a hint if you're going to have a garage sale, if you have an item that you want to sell for a fairly decent sum of money, don't put it out at a garage sale. Put it on Craigslist. If you do try and sell it at a garage sale and people keep asking if you'll take less, take a hint. If people keep offering less, then it's priced too high. My name for this is "An Overpriced Crap Sale."

As another tip, if you're having a family garage sale and it's in a garage, it's not a good idea to invite all your family to come at the same time and sit with you. It's especially not a good idea if it's a small garage and you all are sitting in said garage. You see, for a buyer, this is highly uncomfortable. It leads to what I like to call, "Being Stared At Syndrome."

Yes, garage sale perusers do not like to go into a pokey little garage where you're really only selling absolute junk and discover that there are seven or eight people sitting in there. They especially do not like it if you stop your conversation when they start browsing. It's...what's the word...oh yes, UNCOMFORTABLE.

If you have to sit there while people browse and there's more than one of you, have a conversation. Don't stop and stare. It makes people hightail out of your pokey little garage and run away.

Trust me, this happened to us at least 3 times yesterday. As awful as it sounds, the old couples are the worst. These are usually pensioners- husbands and wives who are selling their treasures.

The problem with this is that quite often, these folk don't go to garage sales so they tend to have Overpriced Crap Sales. Their items usually consist of such things as beat up kitchen utensils that are clearly from the '70's, a plethora of Christmas items, usually handmade but very rural and craftsy, Chicken Soup for the Soul books and for some strange reason, used personal hygiene products.

Sadly, as sterotypical as this sounds, it's not an exaggeration. Some of the sales even had,um, used undergarments for sale. Now, while I appreciate the need to earn a little something-something from your items, used underwear is where most people draw the line. Tip #3- don't sell used underwear.

These older couples very much inflict the second issue I listed, "Being Stared at Syndrome." They sit in the corner of their garage and beam at you which is nice...at first. Then they comment on every single thing you pick up. Sometimes, they get enthusiastic and they start to push you to buy something by following you around, telling you about everything. I try not to give in to this although last year, I purchased a set of picture frames for $3 because it was either that or some bizarre sew-on sequined decals that were absolutely everywhere and, in most cases, they were so hideous that I couldn't help but pick some up to examine them. This, of course, led to the proprietor thinking that I was actually interested in the decals and telling me about them in great detail. Thus, I bought the picture frames and skedaddled as quickly as possible.

I try not to do that very often. These days, my sister and I tend to shy away from garage sales where there's nothing in the driveway, the garage is small and doesn't hold many items for sale and the garage is flanked in front by an elderly couple in lawn chairs.

It sounds bad but, trust me, until you experience this, you don't know how uncomfortable it is.

There are other rules to garage sales. While it's a nice idea to sell baked goods, if it's mid afternoon and your cookies and muffins have turned into soggy piles of goo under the sun, you might want to take them away. They look a little vile.

Also, if you have kids, don't have them play with the toys that you're trying to sell in the middle of the driveway while people try to dodge them. I know that kids get excited but when they're making a mess with the toys, it makes it hard to see what's for sale and what isn't.

On the other hand, if you price your stuff low, you're pleasant and friendly and you don't hover, you get points for being a good sale. If someone asks a question, it's good to answer it but don't shout out info on every single thing someone picks up.

Just a few tips, in case you're having a sale or thinking about attending them. Yesterday's sales were quite good. There were some good bargains to be had and the shoppers were out in large numbers by the afternoon.

All in all, it was a fun garage sale day. I'm hoping we can go the neighbour town's again this year but that's in June and we'll have to see. For now, however, I'm going to hang with the puppies and examine some of my bargains- some prints, a plant rack and a magnet with a cute picture of a clown that says, "I've got a circus in my pants." I couldn't help it, it made me giggle.

Yes, I'm twelve. But if you can't buy crap like that at a garage sale for 25 cents, when can you?

Happy Monday!

A Bright and Sunny Monday Morning...

I don't think there's any way around the fact that Monday mornings are...Monday mornings. No matter how much sleep you try to get the day before, no matter how good the weekend, a Monday is still a Monday, even if you pretend it's not.

Today is a beautiful Monday morning here; there's no humidity in sight, the morning air was a little chilly, the sun is shining and the grass is gleaming with dew. Even my grass at home is gleaming with dew, freshly mown, I'd like to add. I'm still not a fan of mowing, but I've discovered if I just do it, it's not so bad. Though I did get chased by a swarm of gnats the entire time I mowed. I felt like a horse. I hate gnats.

When I drive to work on mornings like this, the scenery is beautiful. The road I take cuts through some hills and its just the most glorious shades of green with all of the grass and trees and plants. Today, as with most of the cooler summer days, there's a spot that's foggy; it lasts for less than a mile and it seems to come out of nowhere. It's thick fog. I think it actually comes from the river that I pass over daily but it masks the countryside before and after. When I emerge from the fog, the world is clear and green again but for a few brief minutes, it's another world entirely; one that's chilly, slightly murky and a little eerie.

In the office, Mondays start slowly. People stumble down in search of coffee, stop to chat and then go about their business. I like that; I like the peace in the mornings. Lately, it hasn't been peaceful around here. There's been a lot of social activity, cleaning and other events that make our normally-quiet office a little hectic. Office politics are a little odd around here; it's not what I'm used to. It's not a bad thing but I've never worked for a company where the personal/professional line is quite so blurry at times where managers are friends with the employees outside of work as well as in the office. I think it's because I've worked for much more structured companies in the past. As I said, it's not necessarily bad but it adds a certain complicated layer to a company that's already a little lacking in communication.

Today, though, it's a nice day. I had a very nice weekend; I did quite a bit of unpacking. The house is starting to seem like my own. I set up my 'office' yesterday. This will be my writing room and it was important to make it feel right. I bought a couple of new bookcases and so while I write, I will be surrounded by books. That seems perfect to me.

As a result of my unpacking, I got to behold the powers of craigslist.org had a ton of empty boxes which I folded flat when I was finished. Having inherited them from someone at work who'd recently moved, I didn't want to recycle them because they still have some use in them. Thus, I placed an add on my local craigslist for "Free Boxes". Less than three hours later, the boxes were picked up by someone who needed them for their own move. Now I have a lot more empty space and they have their boxes; everyone's happy.

The one thing I've noticed about moving into my own home is that people tend to be pessimists. If I say, "I don't want to mow the grass," someone inevitably says, "wait until you have to shovel snow!" When I first became a homeowner, I had many people say variations of "Welcome to the headaches of homeownership!" As a first time homebuyer, I was hoping for a few more, "Hey, Captain Monkeypants! That's pretty cool. Congrats!" than the more practical "You need your own screwgun now" comments I got. I know people are trying to be helpful but sometimes a little encouragement goes a little further than inspiring a slight sense of dread.

That aside, I'm enjoying being a homeowner. I turned in my apartment keys on Friday and I'm still experiencing the joys of knowing that I'm now only responsible for my house, I'm not 'living' in dual places. Everytime I walk in my house, I feel this sense of rightness, of knowing that I made the right decision. When I do my laundry, I still get a small thrill that I can do it whenever I like, no quarters required. Even when I mow the grass, I know it's my grass and if I want to extend my patio out eventually to cut down on the grass, I can do that.

So, while it's a Monday morning, it seems like it's a pretty good one so far. It's a beautiful day, I can go home and relax without having to stop by my apartment to pick up more boxes. That's a lovely feeling.

Happy Monday.