Just Not Worth It?
As part of our ongoing "downsizing" efforts, I have been going through a lot of "stuff" from various sources... some being our own old "junque" and much coming from our late parents' homes.
Part of the idea is to sell as much as possible via eBay and through local want ads, and such.
The process brings back memories of my mother and her eternal insistence that "things are valuable" even when it seemed patently obvious that they were none of the sort.
Valuable, perhaps, but to whom?
As I go through these boxes and research some of the items, it amazes me how much ostensibly expensive stuff is actually pretty close to worthless when it comes down to genuinely selling it.
Part of it is simply changing public tastes. There are collectibles hidden away in this mess that I might have gotten $100 for on eBay just 15 years ago... but today I'd be lucky to get $10, because they are simply not "the thing" anymore.
So much for the hope of being able to fund our taxes...
Also makes me realize that I must be slightly "weird" in that I am still interested in the same things I got interested in, as a teenager. Not that new things haven't entered the scene along the way, but the old ones are still there.
My friend Diana — many years ago — told it was just because I "have no interests in trends and fashions," instead only caring whether I find something interest-worthy as a determination that comes purely from within. Meaning that I view things I like for my benefit, not for anyone else's.
What's a little depressing though — getting back to the current downsizing project — is that we have been hanging onto lots of stuff that once upon a time was valuable but in 2025 barely will fetch $5-10. Needless to say, there will likely be a lot of trips to the 2nd hand shops!
I suppose — if there is a lesson to be learned here — that this all serves as a reminder that you can actually count on pretty much nothing, because life is an infinitely changeable experience.
If there wasn't such an outright financial need, I'd likely not be going to all this trouble to sort and sell stuff; I'd likely just give it away to someone in need. Sadly, doing so is a bit of a luxury we can't afford, at this stage of the game. Even those $5-10 items count, no matter whether getting those few dollars is a lot of work.
The even scarier thing about it is the increasing number of scammers cruising for sale listings these days.
"I'll actually pay you more if you'll sell it to me "off eBay", but my brother has to pick it up today because he's in the area. He'll bring a check, is that OK?"
Hails to the no, it's not OK!
But I guess there are people who fall for it. Even Cashier's checks are easily forged, nowadays.
Be careful, folks! It's a scary world out there!
Thanks for stopping by, and have a great remainder of your weekend!
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Created at 2025.03.18 14:35 PDT
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I saw this video just the other day of this lady that owns a cleaning company. She was cleaning out a house of an elderly person that had just passed away.
The video hit me, you know. But, because it was a contrast of values. The little place was full of stuff: Trinkets, pictures, furniture. The family of the lady who lived there wanted none of it- to them nothing had value.
As she cleaned up and threw everything into black plastic bags, I felt as if death itself was mocking us from the other side. Why collect these things? For who? For what? What do I take with me?
But listen, I'm not judging anyone who collects trinkets and assigns value to old pictures- all of us do this. I'm just saying its a good idea to remember that they are as temporary as us.
Absolutely true.
I find myself stepping back and reviewing regularly... and remembering that I was raised in an environment were "the family stuff" was held in great esteem, but when I break it down into my personal values — and remembering that all those who subscribed to that doctrine are long dead — the only "family stuff" I actually care about is carried as memories, not as physical things.
Which is also a sobering reminder that much of my family placed higher value on "things" than on "people."
Which doesn't really match up with what I believe in.
Still, if I can sell the stuff to someone who cares — rather than see it ending up in the landfill — then that feels like a right and proper thing...
Life is brief and fragile... and shrouds have no pockets.
Like when you see that McDonald's Beanie Baby worth $10,000, you rush up into the attic, toss through fifty boxes to find the one you put them all in, sort through them all only to realize it was just one of those beanies you just couldn't get your hands on. Lol. (true story) Lol again.
You are right though, ten here, fifteen there, it all adds up. I was just telling my step dad a week or so ago that the picture frames he bought at a second hand store that he found hidden pictures/prints behind, weren't worth a ton of money but ran about thirty to seventy bucks a piece. I told him that's the way it goes sometimes, I've kept a few things and if I sold them all I could rake in four, five hundred bucks. I just toss them into a box and think maybe as time goes by they'll be of more value to who ever finds them when I am gone.
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STOPSeveral years ago, both of my older sisters sold their 1960s troll dolls on ebay and made quite a wad of money. I wasn't ready to sell mine. As the youngest, I played with mine a lot more than they ever did, and it felt like selling my children. I still have those trolls in a box. I'd like to put them on display somewhere in the house, but haven't ever figured out a good place to do that. I've ended up with stuff that belonged to my parents and grandparents, most of it small items that probably aren't worth much any more. I need to thin it out.