So we have been getting ready to pack up our lives and move them to the emerald isle over the last couple of weeks. This is a very confusing task really. We don't have a home in Ireland so we really don't know what exactly to pack and what to sell. We have made the decision to not take very much with us and just take the basics. Well this seems like a good idea, when you involve 3 kids under the age of 8 and a mother who wants to being most of the kids stuff it becomes a struggle.
I love my wife and kids, but the reality is that we have become willing participants in the commercialization that is North American life. We have too much stuff! It is so easy to do here in North America; we live in very large houses and have shopping centers surrounding our communities. It really doesn't hit home until you need to pack it up as to how much stuff you really own. Moving to a country with much smaller homes has given me an appreciation for less is more and as a result we needed to revisit all of the stuff we have and decide what really was important and what was not. This process leads to the ever popular "Garage Sale". We had one on the weekend and it was soooo much fun.
I hate garage sales! There, I said it. These events bring people I would never invite to my house to my house to route through my stuff and make comments on its worth. Why is it people cannot walk up to a box of items marked as 25 cents each and expect to pay 25 cents for them. This is not Tijuana, where bartering is expected and built into the price. Why is it people expect some type of warranty on used items and question how you could charge $10 for a slow cooker that was just removed from your kitchen as they are available in a store for between $30 and $60. Do you have the box it came in or the instructions? People, it is a slightly used slow cooker, there are 3 power settings, OFF, Low and High....you should be able to figure it out. Don't be a bitch in asking these questions and I will not respond as if you were being a bitch. Like it is not hard enough to sell of all of your belongings, but add to that people giving you attitude like they are doing me a favor by buying my ridiculously discounted items.
This leads me to the alternatives; Online listing services. Ebay is the king of this service and one I use regularly for my shopping needs and occasionally to sell some stuff. There is also a growing market of "local" online garage sale type sites. In Regina, the most popular is usedregina.com. An old school bulletin board with some of the web 2.0 features. This has proved to be a much more civil manner to sell items. List a description, a price, and some contact information and those interested will call or email. Now this is progress! This is so much better than a garage sale as I don’t need to interact with people unless they are serious about an item.So lessons learned, own less stuff so that you can avoid the garage sale but if you need to get rid of stuff go the digital way and avoid the people. As you can tell I am a people person!
That is it for this installment in “As the Craddock’s Move”
-Will
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