Used tool sellers rant

[Hootbro]

I just filled 4 dumpsters with clothes and books. All usable. A lot of Pulitzer prize winning books. Also some door closers.

Just not worth my time or gas to go to a Goodwill or Salvation Army or the scrap yard.

Metal put on the curb, here in Detroit, disappears before you get back inside. But sometimes you don't want to attract the kind of people who would stop to pick it up and look over what you have elsewhere.

Around here, Goodwill will come and do pickups for large donations like that. Also, there is a few veteran organizations that do pickups for leftover clothes and household goods. Most of the clothing is bulk packed and sold for pennies on the pound and then shipped overseas to dirt poor countries for resale.

 

[cburnscrx]

And here's why I will only meet in public places and NEVER at my house. Period.

http://www.theindychannel.com/news/...n-indianapolis-linked-to-ads-on-craigslistcom

 

[cburnscrx]

Around here, Goodwill will come and do pickups for large donations like that. Also, there is a few veteran organizations that do pickups for leftover clothes and household goods. Most of the clothing is bulk packed and sold for pennies on the pound and then shipped overseas to dirt poor countries for resale.

Well...sort of. Many of them have different policies, so check first. Yes, they'll come get it, but when is a question.

Salvation Army will do pickups, but they try to schedule a decent amount of pickups in the same area. If you live in a large city it might only be a couple of days.

We tried to donate to the "Restore", but they couldn't come for weeks. I was gutting a house at the time and absolutely didn't have the space to store it that long. Trash

Both Goodwill and Salvation Army have drop off locations, so if you're able to box it up to take it to a dumpster, consider taking it there first.

 

[1982fxr]

wow, ummmmm like interesting thread.

I buy and sell regularly on cl so I deal with both ends of it. I've made some of my best buys off of **** ads. I think expecting everyone to know what they are selling just because it is tools and we happen to love tools is a little off.

Sure, it's nice when a seller can tell you history, etc. I buy a lot of stuff that is coming from the ex, a widow, a nephew who got it when his uncle died. Can't expect them to know much.

This is kind of like an antique furniture expert getting pissed because people selling ''old furniture'' are not experts themselves. To us this stuff may be gold, but to many others its just stuff. Sometimes even just **** in their opinions.

Do you really expect the guy in a new 2 million dollar house to take his time doing research and finding everything out they can about the "great big heavy vise" they have? Just because we give a **** doesn't mean they do.

 

[Hootbro]

Well...sort of. Many of them have different policies, so check first. Yes, they'll come get it, but when is a question.

Salvation Army will do pickups, but they try to schedule a decent amount of pickups in the same area. If you live in a large city it might only be a couple of days.

We tried to donate to the "Restore", but they couldn't come for weeks. I was gutting a house at the time and absolutely didn't have the space to store it that long. Trash

Both Goodwill and Salvation Army have drop off locations, so if you're able to box it up to take it to a dumpster, consider taking it there first.

Of course it will vary by location but at some point, people have to make some effort before dumping it into the trash if it can be re-utilized or recycled.

I quoted bczygan because he claims to have thrown out "4 dumpsters" full of clothes and books. That really is a waste that is filling a landfill for no reason and could have been re-purposed for better use.

People take 20-30 years to accumulate all that ****, but then want it gone ASAP when a few moment of their time could have had another source take it off their hands.

 

[cburnscrx]

Of course it will vary by location but at some point, people have to make some effort before dumping it into the trash if it can be re-utilized or recycled.

I quoted bczygan because he claims to have thrown out "4 dumpsters" full of clothes and books. That really is a waste that is filling a landfill for no reason and could have been re-purposed for better use.

People take 20-30 years to accumulate all that ****, but then want it gone ASAP when a few moment of their time could have had another source take it off their hands.

I get it, we're on the same page... My wife works for one of those establishments

I'll say this, if you've been storing it 30 plus years and finally can release it emotionally, sometimes you just want it gone. That's what drop boxes are for.

 

[zkling]

Wow, just wow.

Here's how I see it (stressing the "I" in the statement). "Hey, people here's something I don't want or need anymore and you might have more use for it than I do at this point. Here's where it's located if you're interested and you can help yourself. When it's gone I'll removing the listing. Enjoy"

Entitlement is very interesting too, IMHO.

That's all ********. One doesn't have contempt for another simply because it's not worth their time or effort to handle the situation. Heaven forbid that he wasn't out there with cold lemonade, awaiting folks coming to browse for the freebies.

The guy isn't putting the item out there for his amusement. He sees that others may have a use for it, so he's making an effort of offering it for anyone who may want it, but, ultimately, that's the only effort it's worth to him. If one DID have contempt for folks getting the free stuff, they wouldn't even offer it in the first place.

If you're reading anything like that into the situation, perhaps it's a reflection on yourself? After all, a man always assumes another man is as virtuous as himself.

Armchair psychiatrists always think so.

You can say and think what you want, but your actions speak for themselves. Pick up a book on social work, it covers just this.

The less a seller knows, about anything he is selling, the better.

At times, then I have seen other times where all people do is just type the item into google and pull up a asking price for ebay, not paying attention to condition, age or other.

Thank you I feel good when I go to sleep at night, and have no issues looking myself in the mirror when I wake up every morning.

I am still flabbergasted that giving something away turned into this. We really do live in an entitlement society.

And that is all that really matters, that you are happy with your decisions. Obviously, Lookin' and I share some beliefes that you and kythri don't. That is fine. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and own set of beliefs as they see fit. In the end there is no moral "right" or "wrong" so arguing such is like arguing politics, 99% of the time it only creates friction, as can be seen above.

We also live in a society that in the recent years has turned into a large number of folks thinking their life is actually worth something or more to the random stranger. Sorry to say but it is not. Outside of an emotional relationship, EVERYONE is replaceable, no matter how special one thinks they are. For if they ceased to exist society would not come to a halt. Dang near everyone in this world today has the means to end the life of another and with that I feel there should be a common respect for the fellow man out of, what some may call it fear. Yet there are alot of folks that seem to have an error of arrogance that is highly undeserved IMHO.

Am I saying that I'm better than you, no not in the slightest, yet you go straight to this entitlement spiel. What I am saying though is how certain actions actually break down into human interactions. No different than if we were to look at the idea of reciprocity behind buying someone a drink.

 

[bczygan]

Of course it will vary by location but at some point, people have to make some effort before dumping it into the trash if it can be re-utilized or recycled.

I quoted bczygan because he claims to have thrown out "4 dumpsters" full of clothes and books. That really is a waste that is filling a landfill for no reason and could have been re-purposed for better use.

People take 20-30 years to accumulate all that ****, but then want it gone ASAP when a few moment of their time could have had another source take it off their hands.

I don't mind being an example at all to show how things can be wasted.
I also want to show that for people like me, who are hoarders, it is best to just get rid of things as quickly and effortlessly as possible. I can't hang onto an item for one more second, or it will be with me for another 20 years. Sometimes just putting it on the curb for scrappers is too much. Even having stuff in the dumpster for a few days, until trash day, is a temptation. I have actually gone back in and retrieved things. Sometimes I will put the trash out early, and across the street, to get it gone, and further out of my reach.
As we speak, I have 7 dumpsters and 2 big piles of trash out on the sidewalk. Trash day isn't until Thursday, but I dare not bring it back in the yard. To me it is like having an expensive bottle of wine, and being an alcoholic. Best to smash it and throw it away immediately, rather than taking the time to give it away or sell it. Too tempting to keep it, with each second that I still have it.

 

[aoleg]

Nah, you're supposed to deliver the items for free too.

When we were getting rid of old stuff (an old tube TV in particular), I did deliver... the student who wanted this was fully prepared to carry it, but we had a car and she didn't. No big deal.

 

[Lookin4'67Galaxieconv]

When we were getting rid of old stuff (an old tube TV in particular), I did deliver... the student who wanted this was fully prepared to carry it, but we had a car and she didn't. No big deal.

How dare you treat someone you gave something free to like a normal human being?!

 

[SlowAl]

My favorite ads are the ones without any details, pictures not even a phone number.

It could be like one of Woot's Bags-o-****. There could be treasure waiting for you if you answer the ad!

 

[aoleg]

How dare you treat someone you gave something free to like a normal human being?!

Now when you mentioned it... A few years later, we were living in a fancy apartment complex (in Richmond, Canada). It was the time when flat-screen TVs became affordable for an average folk. At one moment there were no less than four big-screen tube TVs sitting in the garbage room with the "Free! It works!" note attached. Those were much better sets than the one we gave away some years ago.

One month later, no one wanted them, so the apartment complex manager put his own note. "OK, this time around the strata will cover the bill for oversized junk removal. After that, anyone found putting their old tube TVs in our garbage collection room will be fined $x".

Different neighbourhoods, different problems. Apparently, not a single owner of those big TV sets considered giving them away through Craigslist or donating to Goodwil/Big Brothers/whatever (these do exist in Canada, and do come and pick up such items when called).

 

[sselander]

If you need to give something away here in the states, you can post on freecycle.
I have gotten rid of a bunch of working tube tv's that way. (Even helped load them)
Even craigslist has a free section.

There is always someone in need.

http://freecycle.org/

 

[DekeT]

Woody, that's not laziness, that's just ignorance.

First thing I always ask CL sellers is how long was the yellow bus that they took to school. Was it the normal length kinda bus or the ones that were a "little" shorter?

Nothing like an insult to try to get a little information.