Damn It! Buy my crap!

I am trying to clean out my basement of all the furnature and junk that accumilates over a long period of time. In fact my basement was so bad that I had no idea my husband was hiding an ENTIRE WEIGHT BENCH. I didn't know it was there. No lie-so I'm selling it to. I have enough crap to outfit an entire 1 bedroom apartment neatly, and 2 bedroom streatched. What I don't understand is why somethings sell and some dont?

I have posted on Kijiji, and two of my local swap N' buy sites on facebook (herein refered to as FB). I've done my research on the items posted on there so I can go accordingly lower to move this junk trove of treasures. I've sold 1 stroller-and everything else sits in my living room anxiously awaiting its new home...which it appears is my livingroom as opposed to the basement. I go on to these sites and I see open bargining of prices and occassional "2nd in line if item falls through" even up to 3rd or 4th. And the prices agreed on I have a heart attack thinking "dear god go to a yard sale and get it for $0.25" So I've posted some of the same things, and for cheaper I might add-and nothing. My pictures are rudely pushed back one page to the next with no respect.

Here is my theory as to why it doesn't move like those over priced things. I don't know these people, have no knowledge of the secret hand shake, and am to honest in my postings. I'm thinking instead of "Or best Offer" I'm going to write "PRICE FIRM >:-P". I will even use the devil face smilie icon to show how serious I am. I might even add "don't bother asking for a lower price because I'm HARDCORE BITCH" and then maybe I'll get a response. It must be because women like a challenge. A fixer upper. We need it to feel good about ourselves. So we bargin, lecture and plead our way to a lower price in the hopes the other person will feel like they'll need a shower by the time we're done with them. Its like the sleeze bag project every women will undertake at one point in time. We may not date them "but hes such a great sensitive friend". Lady I'll tell you why hes so sensitive HE SLEEPING WITH YOUR ROOMMATE or possibly looking down your shirt. Maybe using you for cable? I don't know why hes a sleeze and you're surprised when you find out. I do know Mr. Scummy Hottie Sleeze Bag isn't buying my stuff.

Any way as it stands, I'm slashing prices LOW LOW LOW. Come to my yard sale you might get an entire work out weight bench thingy for $25.00 and a coffee table for $5.00. I've added pics of crap I'm selling, make me an offer.

Battle of the lack of wallet bulge.

I buy used-there I said it. I'm to poor to buy new on everything I need. Baby stuff, maternity cloths, heck regular cloths in general-all to pricey for my tastes. I even buy my girls cloths used-not all of them. I figure kids this age (4 years and 6 months) grow so fast most clothing doesn't have time to wear out. So I hunt for deals, specials, and in general the extras that I want but can not afford. I scour on-line local sites, thrift stores big and small, garage sales, Kijiji. Also my favorite-the Facebook pages dedicated to city specific sales of items. Ranging from baby socks to couches and anything in between. Now I believe in negotiating-the old fashioned haggle. I start lower than I'll actually pay and by the time I hit the price I think is fair most people think they've won. I'm horrible I know-but I'm very good at it. Its how I bought a barely used king sized bed WITH bedding for $175.00. I find though, its not the big ticket items are hard to find the good deal on-its the kids toys, clothing and various small items.

Nothing drives me more nuts than people who think they're doing you favor by charging you $4.00 for a rattle that went through all three of their kids. Its okay that charge that apparently because they spent $6.99 at BabiesRUs six years ago for the thing. I see it all the times with those exersaucers and bouncy chairs. They range in price brand new $39.99 on sale to $75.99 and beyond. Seing some one charge $50.00 FIRM on the same exersaucer I bought USED five years ago for $30.00 makes me angry for the poor person they're going to take for that ride. I can't even look at most of those pages any more, they make me so mad. Mad at the price and mad at the women posting it. Yes I said women, women trying to appease thier angry husbands. Anger over a spending habit thats gone way to far out of check. I don't even bother asking for a lower price any more, time and time again I recieve a snarky reply about how "I guess I can, but I'd rather not". All I can think is "lady it's not my fault you feel guilty for paying full price on a baby einstein item. I don't have to come and take what is essentially your garbage off your hands". I also tend to find its like they're doing YOU the favor by charging you to much for a kids toy that you could have bought on sale at wal mart in 3 weeks. My favorite is when a few weeks later I over hear people complaining about how those things NEVER work. Pfft lower your prices and see who comes out of the wood work.

And it gets better its what I call "The Brand Name Clothing Drop". Now I"ve recently-and by recently I mean in the last two years-been lucky enough to have a very large mall open within 10 minuets of driving distance from my front door to the parking lot. This mall has a number of high end brand name stores. These stores are CONSTANTLY clearing out inventory at $5.99 and under. I was able to out fit both kids for the fall/early winter for just under $300.00. This includes coats, pants, shoes, tops, hoodies, hats, mits, and jammies. I came online to check some stuff out and there it was. Most of the stuff I just bought brand new for $3.99 and under and item. The line under the pictures read "Paid $29.99 an item, GREAT DEAL $10.00 tops $15.00 bottoms. Childrens Place worn once". The audacity of some people! Thank you I'd rather be taken for a ride at the stampede!

I believe in paying it forward. There are a lot of people out there who can't afford a bumbo chair, much less a safe car seat. By paying it forward I mean GIFTING some cloths my girls aren't going to wear any more. DONATING my toys to the local "Best Beginnings". A GREAT organization helping set up mother on low incomes to take care of thier kids, and babies. They help with blankets, coupons, food, clothing and anything you can possibly imagine. Buying, selling, gifting used has many great benifits also. You pay less than retail, you aren't contributing to the land fill crisis. If you're selling you get a couple bucks, a good feeling of helping and your basement is cleared out. Now with all this being said I'm not adverse to a good yard sale. We have way to many kids books to be considered acceptable to donate, an extra couch, extra dishes, and many items that I thought were a good idea at the time. To be honest I dont' want this crap in my house so its been priced to sell. You mean $5.00 for a coffee table or OBO?! Why yes, yes I do!

Pay it forward; good people who need good quality items sometimes just can't afford it need all the help they can get. Have a mind set of "If I was in a situation where I just CAN'T AFFORD new what would my budget be?" and go from there. I wish everyone happy buying/selling! Ps Don't be an ass hole about it, people talk and the interweb remembers all!