I read somewhere recently that today, August 8th is National Garage Sale Day. What organization would want to have it proclaimed National Garage Sale Day, I don’t know. Now, I’ve always disliked garage sales, but they’ve been a necessary evil in my life. You’re moving so you have a garage sale. You’re kids have moved from little kid junk to teen junk so you have a garage sale. (Teen junk is smaller.) I never liked the endless sorting. The people showing up at your house at 5am to get the best deals. Or the worst was people who felt you weren’t following proper garage sale etiquette. One time I didn’t feel like putting prices on anything. If someone wanted something, I asked them how much they were willing to pay for it. I accepted every offer. But some people couldn’t handle it. They yelled at me to give them a price. I thought their heads were going to explode. It was the most fun I’ve had at a garage sale, and frankly, I made the most money at that one – no haggling down to a dime from a quarter. Well now I’ve found something way better than a garage sale, Craigslist.com. I am a total Craigslist convert. Because I’m in my 40s, I had to have Kelsey (in her 20s) in my office show me how to get an account and post things. But now I am a Craigslist expert (granted, it’s not hard). I started a major every-drawer-and-closet-in-the house clean earlier this year and started posting. The first things I found were old walkman am/fm jog radios. I figured these were throw away items, but decided to try Craigslist first. I posted them under free stuff. Within in one hour I had about 50 responses. It was amazing. These people were so excited and it didn’t end up in the landfill. I’ve sold everything from old computers to a bread maker. Now my kids have started cleaning out their rooms and posting on the site. Craigslist is the ultimate recycling site. And I don’t have to get up at 5am to sell anything. (Although I’ve wondered if the authors of a few strange emails I’ve gotten in response to postings are from people who show up at 5am at garage sales. A weirdo is a weirdo whether in person or online.)

http://www.craigslist.com

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