#i bought a car on facebook marketplace but now i’ve been left £4
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Wait something weird appears to be happening in tags hang on. Testing.
#i’ve grown the world’s heaviest cucumber – it weighs 30lbs and is so big because of my secret formula#i bought a car on facebook marketplace but now i’ve been left £4#i scooped $30million lotto jackpot but won’t stop playing – i’ve got long list of purchases i’m going to blow cash on#i’ve been kicked out of my home despite being promised it would be mine – now i’m facing massive bill after court battle#i shot to fame on my big fat gypsy wedding & made £10k a time as page 3 girl – but i’ve quit it for a very normal job#apollonia llewellyn risks instagram ban flashing bum on bed as fans say ‘you’re the most beautiful woman i’ve ever seen’#i bought an ev and regret it – i’ve lost so much money… the price of my motor is falling and no one wants to insure it#okay. test over. where the fuck are these tags coming from???#i typed in ‘i’ve’ and all of these just. came up#it doesn’t appear to be happening with any other words that i’m testing. wtf#they look like they’re weird clickbaity article titles????
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I bought a car on Facebook Marketplace but now I’ve been left £4,000 out of pocket – don’t make same mistake | In Trend Today
I bought a car on Facebook Marketplace but now I’ve been left £4,000 out of pocket – don’t make same mistake
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Long copy still sells
I posted the following on Facebook Marketplace:
20 lb Solid Metal Weight — How The Rock Got To Be The Rock
Sliding the bars back and forth on your elliptical is NOT going to get you incredible biceps. And your elliptical is out in the garage anyway, under some empty Trader Joe’s bags and last week’s junk mail, amirite?
The biggest, biceppy-est stars in the world use weights JUST LIKE THIS ONE to bulk up and transform their lives.
To get biceps that turn heads, you need heavy metal like this. And grit. And determination. And discipline. I can get you the 20 pounds of iron. But YOU'LL HAVE TO PROVIDE THE REST!
Is there a PAIR of weights? NO. Just one weight. So you can sit on a workout bench turned toward a full-length mirror to check that your technique is just right.
Another great feature of this particular 20 lb weight is AGE and PATINA. If you get some shiny new 20 lb cast iron weight from Dick’s, everyone will know you’re just starting out. This one is broken in. This one shouts, “Hey, Bucko, I'VE BEEN COMMITTED TO TONING MY MUSCLES A LONG, LONG TIME!
I don't know its manufacturer, its age, or its origin. For all I know, JOE LOUIS COULD HAVE USED THIS EXACT BARBELL TO TRAIN.
Now, if you can’t currently lift one 20 lb. weight, you’ll find no judgement here. All of us muscular hunks once couldn’t lift 20 lbs. We may have been 4 years old, but still. You can use both hands at first since there’s just one weight. Or ask a friend to come help you lift it into your car. Maybe start with lifting a Costco rotisserie chicken and work you way up to the barbell.
While I’m offering this 20 lb. cast iron weight for $10, let me warn you that IT COULD END UP COSTING YOU A LOT MORE. Use it properly and you’ll need to buy new shirts and new suits and pretty soon you’ll need a new car to go with those new shirts and new suits.
Oh, and by the way, the $10 isn’t for me. I’ll let you have this hunk of fitness history with your commitment to give at least $10 to the charity of your choice. I like helping the homeless through the East Bay Rescue Mission, but you make the call.
If you really think you're ready for this, message me.
I posted this at 11pm at night. I had 4 inquiries within an hour, and a total of 15 inquiries within 12 hours. All for a rusty, heavy piece of junk that was left behind in a shed when we bought our house.
I had some fun responses. One said, “Help a round brother out.” Another said, “My wife would love to use it so she can go get a totally NEW wardrobe. LOL.” My favorite was, “Let me take this off your hand.”
I gave it to the man who offered to volunteer an afternoon at the Contra Costa Food Bank in exchange for the weight.
Oh, and you just further reinforced my point, because you just read long copy, too.
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My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds
I take pride in some very strange things. Being able to cartwheel into a pool for example. Or knowing every single word to old commercial jingles and 90’s rap songs. Or the fact that John and I, two righties, somehow made two lefties, which clearly means they’re brilliant (not sure how I can even take credit for this phenomenon, but I do, as well as the fact that our kids are super tall, which is amazing to me as a 5’2″ lady).
But one thing I don’t really think about much is my secondhand furniture hunting mojo. I don’t think I have any magic luck or special searching skills. I would generally describe the key to my process as frequency. In other words: looking often. I regularly look at thrift stores and on Craigslist and on Facebook Marketplace. Most of the time I don’t find anything good at all, but every once in a while I find something awesome. Like this insanely beautiful inlay dresser that’s made by Restoration Hardware and sells for $1800 that I found on Craigslist for $400 (you can read the full story of that here).
So instead of demonstrating that I know every last word to the Left Eye rap in TLC’s Waterfalls, I figured I’d round up my best tips for secondhand shopping success, all of which have nothing to do with dumb luck, and everything to do with actionable things that you can implement to hopefully score some great finds of your own.
Lesson #1: Show Your Interest & Be Persistent
If I stop an analyze how that inlay dresser coup came to be, there’s just one simple thing that made it all happen: I was determined with a capital D. I saw this listing go up months before I bought it. And I loved it. But it was $600 and that was still over my beach house dresser budget – no matter how gorgeous and expensive the dresser originally was. So I waited. And the listing sat there. And it sat there.
Knowing she might be having trouble selling it, I decided to let the seller know that an interested party existed. Even though I wasn’t ready to shell out the $600, I wanted to make myself an option and discourage her from just deleting the listing out of frustration (I know as a seller I’ve definitely done that before). I emailed her saying “I am SO INTERESTED in your dresser but the top of my budget is $400. If that works for you, I’ll gladly come right over with $400 cash and grab it.” And she very kindly emailed me back and said “Thanks, I’m not planning to lower the price just yet but I’ll let you know if I do later.”
Now here’s where the whole determined thing really came into play. The listing sat there for a few more weeks (and I continued to watch it), but then one day it disappeared. And I noticed. And I gasped. It could’ve sold or just expired, but since I already had an email chain started, I decided to reach out to her one last time, just to say “hi, it’s me again! I noticed the listing is gone so I’m sure my dream dresser sold, but if it hasn’t and you’re interested in that $400 cash I can come right over! Just say the word!” And you know what? She said “You’ve got a deal.”
And that’s how this amazing dresser ended up at the beach house. It didn’t fall into my lap. It didn’t happen in a day or even a week – but over the course of months as I kept an eye on it. And if I hadn’t pinged her that first time I never could have followed up that second time because I wouldn’t have had her contact info – and I’m pretty sure this dresser wouldn’t be ours today. So let that be Lesson #1. Have patience and go out on a limb (maybe even multiple times) for something you love.
Lesson #2: Be Vigilant & Ready To Pounce
Ok, now let’s move on to the next one. I really really love this marble topped dresser that I bought on Facebook Marketplace from the sweetest local lady whose entire house was so amazing I wanted to buy everything in there. The entire top is a gorgeous slab of marble and the drawers have little key latches and it’s perfect for storing board games in the foyer of the beach house. I forget how much this was but I think it was around $100 which is an awesome deal since it would be hard to find a slab of marble as big as the one on top of this dresser for $100 alone.
Let’s talk about my hunting routine. I like to sit on the couch at the end of a long day and just scroll through Facebook Marketplace. It takes less than five minutes, and I’d say I do it maybe five times a week if I remember. And thanks to my habit of checking pretty frequently, I happened to see the listing for this dresser within an hour of it being posted. So I was first in line when I pinged her, I got cash FAST, and I got to her house within about an hour, meaning nobody could snatch it out from under me. So upon reflecting how I scored this dresser, it really comes down to being SO READY to make this thing mine (and not wavering, waffling, or taking too much time to get the cash and get to her house).
The thing is, you never know when something is going to be listed, and you certainly can’t be on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace every hour. But I realized that back before I checked Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist with any regularity that I was greatly lowering my chances of finding good stuff. Of course I couldn’t expect to pop on every few months and immediately find something I wanted! I had to up my frequency – even if it just means devoting five minutes a night to it a few times a week. This obviously gives me better chances of seeing more items, and catching them earlier.
Also, get cash and get thee to the person’s house fast! Sellers often observe a “first come, first served” rule and I can’t tell you how many times as a seller that the second or third person who contacted me actually got the item because the first person took too long to come pick it up & pay. So there you go. Lesson #2 is spend a little more time looking for something cool if you actually want to find something cool, and then descend like Cheetah with the cash. Fast, fast, fast.
Lesson #3: Recruit Spies
Ok, let’s move on to the rug in our bedroom. Whenever I see it my brain sings: “I’ve. Had. The rug of my li-i-ife. And I never felt this way before.” Yes it’s the song from Dirty Dancing with a rug worked into it, and yes, weirdly altering song lyrics is also something I take great pride in. The story of this guy is that I bought it locally from a consignment shop. YES! I know! It feels like an extremely lucky find. And it was… but it also clearly has a lesson attached when I look in the ol’ rearview mirror of life.
See, my friend actually texted me a picture of this rug along with some others that she had seen at a local consignment shop. So the first lesson is: befriend an army of people who will text you all the pretty things they find. Ha. Kidding. But really, if you have an interest or a need for something, it never hurts to let your design-loving friends know! They might see whatever it is you’re looking for (secondhand or beyond!) and be able to tell you where it is. Heck they might even text you a picture or send you a link.
The fact that my friend, who is a decorator, knew that I love these big colorful wool rugs definitely worked in my favor in this case (had I not been “linked” to this thing in her mind, she never would have texted it to me). And you can offer to keep an eye out for things for them in return – it really is a nice mutually beneficial thing to do with someone else who loves home stuff.
My accompanying tip for this rug victory harkens back to the second half of my last lesson, which is DO NOT HESITATE. The second she sent it I called the shop, asked the price, got the cash, and John and I rushed over there to smell it (always smell secondhand things guys – it’s a non-negotiable!) and it was in our car about 20 minutes later. There’s way more about this whole rug discovery and our bedroom’s evolution in this post, which also has a ton of sources for things.
Lesson #4: Be Nosy & Remember It Never Hurts To Ask
These chairs are a more recent score that I chatted about a little bit on the podcast (in this episode) and they hail from Facebook Marketplace. One thing I like about Facebook Marketplace over Craigslist (don’t get me wrong, I still like Sir Craig & His List) is that Facebook Marketplace learns what you click. So, much like Pinterest, it can curate a more customized experience every time you browse. Which is also why it’s super fast to check every time I drop in (less than 5 minutes).
Mine has learned that I click on furniture and home stuff, so it shows me all of that stuff first in my feed, even if a weird ceramic babydoll that stares into your soul was uploaded more recently. AND I SO APPRECIATE THAT.
But back to these chairs. I mentioned on that podcast that this listing was funny because it was actually for a large piece of driftwood, but I saw these chairs in the background – yes, BEHIND THE DRIFTWOOD. And I basically messaged her and said “about those chairs – are they for sale?!” And she said yes! The seller even had a large car and offered to drive them to my house since they’re HUGE and it would have been impossible to get both of them into our SUV at the same time.
So the lesson here is: anything in the picture is something you can ask about! The worst they can say is “no, my cute dog in the background is not for sale you psycho” and the best thing they can say is essentially what happened with these chairs, which was: “Sure! I’ll sell them AND DRIVE THEM TO YOUR HOUSE FOR YOU!”
Also, sub tip: whenever something is large we ask if they would accept an extra fee (like $20) to drive it over. It often saves us time/gas/money spent renting a larger vehicle, so it can be very worthwhile in many cases.
This chair story also has sort of an epilogue of sorts. When we posted photos of them in the show notes of that podcast where we mentioned them, a very kind and knowledgeable design enthusiast essentially said “OMG I THINK THOSE ARE RUSSELL WOODARD CHAIRS!” and thanks to the rabbit hole of google I learned he’s an amazing 50’s designer, sort of like Eames (we all know about his chairs! can’t Russell catch a break?!) and THEY SELL FOR THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on places like 1st Dibs and Chairish. In fact, here’s a set of four currently listed for $3,750 (and here’s another one). HOW INSANE IS THAT?!?!
By comparison, we spent $140 for both chairs (which also included delivery!). So they might be the biggest secondhand score we’ve had yet. Honestly for me it’s way less about what something’s worth or who made it and a lot more about filling your house up with stuff you love. So my advice would just be to sniff around in secondhand spots (in person and online) often if you actually hope to find something amazing – and if you do it regularly enough I’m confident it’ll happen for you! Happy hunting!
P.S. Six years ago we wrote this post about 25 tips for buying on Craigslist, and a ton of them still apply – so check it out for even more ideas for scoring some pretty great stuff. Happy thrifting to one and all!
P.P.S. And if you saw something in the photos above from our beach house or our house here in Richmond that has you saying “where’s that from?” we have source lists for both of those: here’s the one full of beach house info, and here’s one for our Richmond house.
The post My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds appeared first on Young House Love.
My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds published first on https://bakerskitchenslimited.tumblr.com/
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Text
My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds
I take pride in some very strange things. Being able to cartwheel into a pool for example. Or knowing every single word to old commercial jingles and 90’s rap songs. Or the fact that John and I, two righties, somehow made two lefties, which clearly means they’re brilliant (not sure how I can even take credit for this phenomenon, but I do, as well as the fact that our kids are super tall, which is amazing to me as a 5’2″ lady).
But one thing I don’t really think about much is my secondhand furniture hunting mojo. I don’t think I have any magic luck or special searching skills. I would generally describe the key to my process as frequency. In other words: looking often. I regularly look at thrift stores and on Craigslist and on Facebook Marketplace. Most of the time I don’t find anything good at all, but every once in a while I find something awesome. Like this insanely beautiful inlay dresser that’s made by Restoration Hardware and sells for $1800 that I found on Craigslist for $400 (you can read the full story of that here).
So instead of demonstrating that I know every last word to the Left Eye rap in TLC’s Waterfalls, I figured I’d round up my best tips for secondhand shopping success, all of which have nothing to do with dumb luck, and everything to do with actionable things that you can implement to hopefully score some great finds of your own.
Lesson #1: Show Your Interest & Be Persistent
If I stop an analyze how that inlay dresser coup came to be, there’s just one simple thing that made it all happen: I was determined with a capital D. I saw this listing go up months before I bought it. And I loved it. But it was $600 and that was still over my beach house dresser budget – no matter how gorgeous and expensive the dresser originally was. So I waited. And the listing sat there. And it sat there.
Knowing she might be having trouble selling it, I decided to let the seller know that an interested party existed. Even though I wasn’t ready to shell out the $600, I wanted to make myself an option and discourage her from just deleting the listing out of frustration (I know as a seller I’ve definitely done that before). I emailed her saying “I am SO INTERESTED in your dresser but the top of my budget is $400. If that works for you, I’ll gladly come right over with $400 cash and grab it.” And she very kindly emailed me back and said “Thanks, I’m not planning to lower the price just yet but I’ll let you know if I do later.”
Now here’s where the whole determined thing really came into play. The listing sat there for a few more weeks (and I continued to watch it), but then one day it disappeared. And I noticed. And I gasped. It could’ve sold or just expired, but since I already had an email chain started, I decided to reach out to her one last time, just to say “hi, it’s me again! I noticed the listing is gone so I’m sure my dream dresser sold, but if it hasn’t and you’re interested in that $400 cash I can come right over! Just say the word!” And you know what? She said “You’ve got a deal.”
And that’s how this amazing dresser ended up at the beach house. It didn’t fall into my lap. It didn’t happen in a day or even a week – but over the course of months as I kept an eye on it. And if I hadn’t pinged her that first time I never could have followed up that second time because I wouldn’t have had her contact info – and I’m pretty sure this dresser wouldn’t be ours today. So let that be Lesson #1. Have patience and go out on a limb (maybe even multiple times) for something you love.
Lesson #2: Be Vigilant & Ready To Pounce
Ok, now let’s move on to the next one. I really really love this marble topped dresser that I bought on Facebook Marketplace from the sweetest local lady whose entire house was so amazing I wanted to buy everything in there. The entire top is a gorgeous slab of marble and the drawers have little key latches and it’s perfect for storing board games in the foyer of the beach house. I forget how much this was but I think it was around $100 which is an awesome deal since it would be hard to find a slab of marble as big as the one on top of this dresser for $100 alone.
Let’s talk about my hunting routine. I like to sit on the couch at the end of a long day and just scroll through Facebook Marketplace. It takes less than five minutes, and I’d say I do it maybe five times a week if I remember. And thanks to my habit of checking pretty frequently, I happened to see the listing for this dresser within an hour of it being posted. So I was first in line when I pinged her, I got cash FAST, and I got to her house within about an hour, meaning nobody could snatch it out from under me. So upon reflecting how I scored this dresser, it really comes down to being SO READY to make this thing mine (and not wavering, waffling, or taking too much time to get the cash and get to her house).
The thing is, you never know when something is going to be listed, and you certainly can’t be on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace every hour. But I realized that back before I checked Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist with any regularity that I was greatly lowering my chances of finding good stuff. Of course I couldn’t expect to pop on every few months and immediately find something I wanted! I had to up my frequency – even if it just means devoting five minutes a night to it a few times a week. This obviously gives me better chances of seeing more items, and catching them earlier.
Also, get cash and get thee to the person’s house fast! Sellers often observe a “first come, first served” rule and I can’t tell you how many times as a seller that the second or third person who contacted me actually got the item because the first person took too long to come pick it up & pay. So there you go. Lesson #2 is spend a little more time looking for something cool if you actually want to find something cool, and then descend like Cheetah with the cash. Fast, fast, fast.
Lesson #3: Recruit Spies
Ok, let’s move on to the rug in our bedroom. Whenever I see it my brain sings: “I’ve. Had. The rug of my li-i-ife. And I never felt this way before.” Yes it’s the song from Dirty Dancing with a rug worked into it, and yes, weirdly altering song lyrics is also something I take great pride in. The story of this guy is that I bought it locally from a consignment shop. YES! I know! It feels like an extremely lucky find. And it was… but it also clearly has a lesson attached when I look in the ol’ rearview mirror of life.
See, my friend actually texted me a picture of this rug along with some others that she had seen at a local consignment shop. So the first lesson is: befriend an army of people who will text you all the pretty things they find. Ha. Kidding. But really, if you have an interest or a need for something, it never hurts to let your design-loving friends know! They might see whatever it is you’re looking for (secondhand or beyond!) and be able to tell you where it is. Heck they might even text you a picture or send you a link.
The fact that my friend, who is a decorator, knew that I love these big colorful wool rugs definitely worked in my favor in this case (had I not been “linked” to this thing in her mind, she never would have texted it to me). And you can offer to keep an eye out for things for them in return – it really is a nice mutually beneficial thing to do with someone else who loves home stuff.
My accompanying tip for this rug victory harkens back to the second half of my last lesson, which is DO NOT HESITATE. The second she sent it I called the shop, asked the price, got the cash, and John and I rushed over there to smell it (always smell secondhand things guys – it’s a non-negotiable!) and it was in our car about 20 minutes later. There’s way more about this whole rug discovery and our bedroom’s evolution in this post, which also has a ton of sources for things.
Lesson #4: Be Nosy & Remember It Never Hurts To Ask
These chairs are a more recent score that I chatted about a little bit on the podcast (in this episode) and they hail from Facebook Marketplace. One thing I like about Facebook Marketplace over Craigslist (don’t get me wrong, I still like Sir Craig & His List) is that Facebook Marketplace learns what you click. So, much like Pinterest, it can curate a more customized experience every time you browse. Which is also why it’s super fast to check every time I drop in (less than 5 minutes).
Mine has learned that I click on furniture and home stuff, so it shows me all of that stuff first in my feed, even if a weird ceramic babydoll that stares into your soul was uploaded more recently. AND I SO APPRECIATE THAT.
But back to these chairs. I mentioned on that podcast that this listing was funny because it was actually for a large piece of driftwood, but I saw these chairs in the background – yes, BEHIND THE DRIFTWOOD. And I basically messaged her and said “about those chairs – are they for sale?!” And she said yes! The seller even had a large car and offered to drive them to my house since they’re HUGE and it would have been impossible to get both of them into our SUV at the same time.
So the lesson here is: anything in the picture is something you can ask about! The worst they can say is “no, my cute dog in the background is not for sale you psycho” and the best thing they can say is essentially what happened with these chairs, which was: “Sure! I’ll sell them AND DRIVE THEM TO YOUR HOUSE FOR YOU!”
Also, sub tip: whenever something is large we ask if they would accept an extra fee (like $20) to drive it over. It often saves us time/gas/money spent renting a larger vehicle, so it can be very worthwhile in many cases.
This chair story also has sort of an epilogue of sorts. When we posted photos of them in the show notes of that podcast where we mentioned them, a very kind and knowledgeable design enthusiast essentially said “OMG I THINK THOSE ARE RUSSELL WOODARD CHAIRS!” and thanks to the rabbit hole of google I learned he’s an amazing 50’s designer, sort of like Eames (we all know about his chairs! can’t Russell catch a break?!) and THEY SELL FOR THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on places like 1st Dibs and Chairish. In fact, here’s a set of four currently listed for $3,750 (and here’s another one). HOW INSANE IS THAT?!?!
By comparison, we spent $140 for both chairs (which also included delivery!). So they might be the biggest secondhand score we’ve had yet. Honestly for me it’s way less about what something’s worth or who made it and a lot more about filling your house up with stuff you love. So my advice would just be to sniff around in secondhand spots (in person and online) often if you actually hope to find something amazing – and if you do it regularly enough I’m confident it’ll happen for you! Happy hunting!
P.S. Six years ago we wrote this post about 25 tips for buying on Craigslist, and a ton of them still apply – so check it out for even more ideas for scoring some pretty great stuff. Happy thrifting to one and all!
P.P.S. And if you saw something in the photos above from our beach house or our house here in Richmond that has you saying “where’s that from?” we have source lists for both of those: here’s the one full of beach house info, and here’s one for our Richmond house.
The post My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds appeared first on Young House Love.
My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds published first on https://ssmattress.tumblr.com/
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Text
My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds
I take pride in some very strange things. Being able to cartwheel into a pool for example. Or knowing every single word to old commercial jingles and 90’s rap songs. Or the fact that John and I, two righties, somehow made two lefties, which clearly means they’re brilliant (not sure how I can even take credit for this phenomenon, but I do, as well as the fact that our kids are super tall, which is amazing to me as a 5’2″ lady).
But one thing I don’t really think about much is my secondhand furniture hunting mojo. I don’t think I have any magic luck or special searching skills. I would generally describe the key to my process as frequency. In other words: looking often. I regularly look at thrift stores and on Craigslist and on Facebook Marketplace. Most of the time I don’t find anything good at all, but every once in a while I find something awesome. Like this insanely beautiful inlay dresser that’s made by Restoration Hardware and sells for $1800 that I found on Craigslist for $400 (you can read the full story of that here).
So instead of demonstrating that I know every last word to the Left Eye rap in TLC’s Waterfalls, I figured I’d round up my best tips for secondhand shopping success, all of which have nothing to do with dumb luck, and everything to do with actionable things that you can implement to hopefully score some great finds of your own.
Lesson #1: Show Your Interest & Be Persistent
If I stop an analyze how that inlay dresser coup came to be, there’s just one simple thing that made it all happen: I was determined with a capital D. I saw this listing go up months before I bought it. And I loved it. But it was $600 and that was still over my beach house dresser budget – no matter how gorgeous and expensive the dresser originally was. So I waited. And the listing sat there. And it sat there.
Knowing she might be having trouble selling it, I decided to let the seller know that an interested party existed. Even though I wasn’t ready to shell out the $600, I wanted to make myself an option and discourage her from just deleting the listing out of frustration (I know as a seller I’ve definitely done that before). I emailed her saying “I am SO INTERESTED in your dresser but the top of my budget is $400. If that works for you, I’ll gladly come right over with $400 cash and grab it.” And she very kindly emailed me back and said “Thanks, I’m not planning to lower the price just yet but I’ll let you know if I do later.”
Now here’s where the whole determined thing really came into play. The listing sat there for a few more weeks (and I continued to watch it), but then one day it disappeared. And I noticed. And I gasped. It could’ve sold or just expired, but since I already had an email chain started, I decided to reach out to her one last time, just to say “hi, it’s me again! I noticed the listing is gone so I’m sure my dream dresser sold, but if it hasn’t and you’re interested in that $400 cash I can come right over! Just say the word!” And you know what? She said “You’ve got a deal.”
And that’s how this amazing dresser ended up at the beach house. It didn’t fall into my lap. It didn’t happen in a day or even a week – but over the course of months as I kept an eye on it. And if I hadn’t pinged her that first time I never could have followed up that second time because I wouldn’t have had her contact info – and I’m pretty sure this dresser wouldn’t be ours today. So let that be Lesson #1. Have patience and go out on a limb (maybe even multiple times) for something you love.
Lesson #2: Be Vigilant & Ready To Pounce
Ok, now let’s move on to the next one. I really really love this marble topped dresser that I bought on Facebook Marketplace from the sweetest local lady whose entire house was so amazing I wanted to buy everything in there. The entire top is a gorgeous slab of marble and the drawers have little key latches and it’s perfect for storing board games in the foyer of the beach house. I forget how much this was but I think it was around $100 which is an awesome deal since it would be hard to find a slab of marble as big as the one on top of this dresser for $100 alone.
Let’s talk about my hunting routine. I like to sit on the couch at the end of a long day and just scroll through Facebook Marketplace. It takes less than five minutes, and I’d say I do it maybe five times a week if I remember. And thanks to my habit of checking pretty frequently, I happened to see the listing for this dresser within an hour of it being posted. So I was first in line when I pinged her, I got cash FAST, and I got to her house within about an hour, meaning nobody could snatch it out from under me. So upon reflecting how I scored this dresser, it really comes down to being SO READY to make this thing mine (and not wavering, waffling, or taking too much time to get the cash and get to her house).
The thing is, you never know when something is going to be listed, and you certainly can’t be on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace every hour. But I realized that back before I checked Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist with any regularity that I was greatly lowering my chances of finding good stuff. Of course I couldn’t expect to pop on every few months and immediately find something I wanted! I had to up my frequency – even if it just means devoting five minutes a night to it a few times a week. This obviously gives me better chances of seeing more items, and catching them earlier.
Also, get cash and get thee to the person’s house fast! Sellers often observe a “first come, first served” rule and I can’t tell you how many times as a seller that the second or third person who contacted me actually got the item because the first person took too long to come pick it up & pay. So there you go. Lesson #2 is spend a little more time looking for something cool if you actually want to find something cool, and then descend like Cheetah with the cash. Fast, fast, fast.
Lesson #3: Recruit Spies
Ok, let’s move on to the rug in our bedroom. Whenever I see it my brain sings: “I’ve. Had. The rug of my li-i-ife. And I never felt this way before.” Yes it’s the song from Dirty Dancing with a rug worked into it, and yes, weirdly altering song lyrics is also something I take great pride in. The story of this guy is that I bought it locally from a consignment shop. YES! I know! It feels like an extremely lucky find. And it was… but it also clearly has a lesson attached when I look in the ol’ rearview mirror of life.
See, my friend actually texted me a picture of this rug along with some others that she had seen at a local consignment shop. So the first lesson is: befriend an army of people who will text you all the pretty things they find. Ha. Kidding. But really, if you have an interest or a need for something, it never hurts to let your design-loving friends know! They might see whatever it is you’re looking for (secondhand or beyond!) and be able to tell you where it is. Heck they might even text you a picture or send you a link.
The fact that my friend, who is a decorator, knew that I love these big colorful wool rugs definitely worked in my favor in this case (had I not been “linked” to this thing in her mind, she never would have texted it to me). And you can offer to keep an eye out for things for them in return – it really is a nice mutually beneficial thing to do with someone else who loves home stuff.
My accompanying tip for this rug victory harkens back to the second half of my last lesson, which is DO NOT HESITATE. The second she sent it I called the shop, asked the price, got the cash, and John and I rushed over there to smell it (always smell secondhand things guys – it’s a non-negotiable!) and it was in our car about 20 minutes later. There’s way more about this whole rug discovery and our bedroom’s evolution in this post, which also has a ton of sources for things.
Lesson #4: Be Nosy & Remember It Never Hurts To Ask
These chairs are a more recent score that I chatted about a little bit on the podcast (in this episode) and they hail from Facebook Marketplace. One thing I like about Facebook Marketplace over Craigslist (don’t get me wrong, I still like Sir Craig & His List) is that Facebook Marketplace learns what you click. So, much like Pinterest, it can curate a more customized experience every time you browse. Which is also why it’s super fast to check every time I drop in (less than 5 minutes).
Mine has learned that I click on furniture and home stuff, so it shows me all of that stuff first in my feed, even if a weird ceramic babydoll that stares into your soul was uploaded more recently. AND I SO APPRECIATE THAT.
But back to these chairs. I mentioned on that podcast that this listing was funny because it was actually for a large piece of driftwood, but I saw these chairs in the background – yes, BEHIND THE DRIFTWOOD. And I basically messaged her and said “about those chairs – are they for sale?!” And she said yes! The seller even had a large car and offered to drive them to my house since they’re HUGE and it would have been impossible to get both of them into our SUV at the same time.
So the lesson here is: anything in the picture is something you can ask about! The worst they can say is “no, my cute dog in the background is not for sale you psycho” and the best thing they can say is essentially what happened with these chairs, which was: “Sure! I’ll sell them AND DRIVE THEM TO YOUR HOUSE FOR YOU!”
Also, sub tip: whenever something is large we ask if they would accept an extra fee (like $20) to drive it over. It often saves us time/gas/money spent renting a larger vehicle, so it can be very worthwhile in many cases.
This chair story also has sort of an epilogue of sorts. When we posted photos of them in the show notes of that podcast where we mentioned them, a very kind and knowledgeable design enthusiast essentially said “OMG I THINK THOSE ARE RUSSELL WOODARD CHAIRS!” and thanks to the rabbit hole of google I learned he’s an amazing 50’s designer, sort of like Eames (we all know about his chairs! can’t Russell catch a break?!) and THEY SELL FOR THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on places like 1st Dibs and Chairish. In fact, here’s a set of four currently listed for $3,750 (and here’s another one). HOW INSANE IS THAT?!?!
By comparison, we spent $140 for both chairs (which also included delivery!). So they might be the biggest secondhand score we’ve had yet. Honestly for me it’s way less about what something’s worth or who made it and a lot more about filling your house up with stuff you love. So my advice would just be to sniff around in secondhand spots (in person and online) often if you actually hope to find something amazing – and if you do it regularly enough I’m confident it’ll happen for you! Happy hunting!
P.S. Six years ago we wrote this post about 25 tips for buying on Craigslist, and a ton of them still apply – so check it out for even more ideas for scoring some pretty great stuff. Happy thrifting to one and all!
P.P.S. And if you saw something in the photos above from our beach house or our house here in Richmond that has you saying “where’s that from?” we have source lists for both of those: here’s the one full of beach house info, and here’s one for our Richmond house.
The post My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds appeared first on Young House Love.
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My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds
I take pride in some very strange things. Being able to cartwheel into a pool for example. Or knowing every single word to old commercial jingles and 90’s rap songs. Or the fact that John and I, two righties, somehow made two lefties, which clearly means they’re brilliant (not sure how I can even take credit for this phenomenon, but I do, as well as the fact that our kids are super tall, which is amazing to me as a 5’2″ lady).
But one thing I don’t really think about much is my secondhand furniture hunting mojo. I don’t think I have any magic luck or special searching skills. I would generally describe the key to my process as frequency. In other words: looking often. I regularly look at thrift stores and on Craigslist and on Facebook Marketplace. Most of the time I don’t find anything good at all, but every once in a while I find something awesome. Like this insanely beautiful inlay dresser that’s made by Restoration Hardware and sells for $1800 that I found on Craigslist for $400 (you can read the full story of that here).
So instead of demonstrating that I know every last word to the Left Eye rap in TLC’s Waterfalls, I figured I’d round up my best tips for secondhand shopping success, all of which have nothing to do with dumb luck, and everything to do with actionable things that you can implement to hopefully score some great finds of your own.
Lesson #1: Show Your Interest & Be Persistent
If I stop an analyze how that inlay dresser coup came to be, there’s just one simple thing that made it all happen: I was determined with a capital D. I saw this listing go up months before I bought it. And I loved it. But it was $600 and that was still over my beach house dresser budget – no matter how gorgeous and expensive the dresser originally was. So I waited. And the listing sat there. And it sat there.
Knowing she might be having trouble selling it, I decided to let the seller know that an interested party existed. Even though I wasn’t ready to shell out the $600, I wanted to make myself an option and discourage her from just deleting the listing out of frustration (I know as a seller I’ve definitely done that before). I emailed her saying “I am SO INTERESTED in your dresser but the top of my budget is $400. If that works for you, I’ll gladly come right over with $400 cash and grab it.” And she very kindly emailed me back and said “Thanks, I’m not planning to lower the price just yet but I’ll let you know if I do later.”
Now here’s where the whole determined thing really came into play. The listing sat there for a few more weeks (and I continued to watch it), but then one day it disappeared. And I noticed. And I gasped. It could’ve sold or just expired, but since I already had an email chain started, I decided to reach out to her one last time, just to say “hi, it’s me again! I noticed the listing is gone so I’m sure my dream dresser sold, but if it hasn’t and you’re interested in that $400 cash I can come right over! Just say the word!” And you know what? She said “You’ve got a deal.”
And that’s how this amazing dresser ended up at the beach house. It didn’t fall into my lap. It didn’t happen in a day or even a week – but over the course of months as I kept an eye on it. And if I hadn’t pinged her that first time I never could have followed up that second time because I wouldn’t have had her contact info – and I’m pretty sure this dresser wouldn’t be ours today. So let that be Lesson #1. Have patience and go out on a limb (maybe even multiple times) for something you love.
Lesson #2: Be Vigilant & Ready To Pounce
Ok, now let’s move on to the next one. I really really love this marble topped dresser that I bought on Facebook Marketplace from the sweetest local lady whose entire house was so amazing I wanted to buy everything in there. The entire top is a gorgeous slab of marble and the drawers have little key latches and it’s perfect for storing board games in the foyer of the beach house. I forget how much this was but I think it was around $100 which is an awesome deal since it would be hard to find a slab of marble as big as the one on top of this dresser for $100 alone.
Let’s talk about my hunting routine. I like to sit on the couch at the end of a long day and just scroll through Facebook Marketplace. It takes less than five minutes, and I’d say I do it maybe five times a week if I remember. And thanks to my habit of checking pretty frequently, I happened to see the listing for this dresser within an hour of it being posted. So I was first in line when I pinged her, I got cash FAST, and I got to her house within about an hour, meaning nobody could snatch it out from under me. So upon reflecting how I scored this dresser, it really comes down to being SO READY to make this thing mine (and not wavering, waffling, or taking too much time to get the cash and get to her house).
The thing is, you never know when something is going to be listed, and you certainly can’t be on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace every hour. But I realized that back before I checked Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist with any regularity that I was greatly lowering my chances of finding good stuff. Of course I couldn’t expect to pop on every few months and immediately find something I wanted! I had to up my frequency – even if it just means devoting five minutes a night to it a few times a week. This obviously gives me better chances of seeing more items, and catching them earlier.
Also, get cash and get thee to the person’s house fast! Sellers often observe a “first come, first served” rule and I can’t tell you how many times as a seller that the second or third person who contacted me actually got the item because the first person took too long to come pick it up & pay. So there you go. Lesson #2 is spend a little more time looking for something cool if you actually want to find something cool, and then descend like Cheetah with the cash. Fast, fast, fast.
Lesson #3: Recruit Spies
Ok, let’s move on to the rug in our bedroom. Whenever I see it my brain sings: “I’ve. Had. The rug of my li-i-ife. And I never felt this way before.” Yes it’s the song from Dirty Dancing with a rug worked into it, and yes, weirdly altering song lyrics is also something I take great pride in. The story of this guy is that I bought it locally from a consignment shop. YES! I know! It feels like an extremely lucky find. And it was… but it also clearly has a lesson attached when I look in the ol’ rearview mirror of life.
See, my friend actually texted me a picture of this rug along with some others that she had seen at a local consignment shop. So the first lesson is: befriend an army of people who will text you all the pretty things they find. Ha. Kidding. But really, if you have an interest or a need for something, it never hurts to let your design-loving friends know! They might see whatever it is you’re looking for (secondhand or beyond!) and be able to tell you where it is. Heck they might even text you a picture or send you a link.
The fact that my friend, who is a decorator, knew that I love these big colorful wool rugs definitely worked in my favor in this case (had I not been “linked” to this thing in her mind, she never would have texted it to me). And you can offer to keep an eye out for things for them in return – it really is a nice mutually beneficial thing to do with someone else who loves home stuff.
My accompanying tip for this rug victory harkens back to the second half of my last lesson, which is DO NOT HESITATE. The second she sent it I called the shop, asked the price, got the cash, and John and I rushed over there to smell it (always smell secondhand things guys – it’s a non-negotiable!) and it was in our car about 20 minutes later. There’s way more about this whole rug discovery and our bedroom’s evolution in this post, which also has a ton of sources for things.
Lesson #4: Be Nosy & Remember It Never Hurts To Ask
These chairs are a more recent score that I chatted about a little bit on the podcast (in this episode) and they hail from Facebook Marketplace. One thing I like about Facebook Marketplace over Craigslist (don’t get me wrong, I still like Sir Craig & His List) is that Facebook Marketplace learns what you click. So, much like Pinterest, it can curate a more customized experience every time you browse. Which is also why it’s super fast to check every time I drop in (less than 5 minutes).
Mine has learned that I click on furniture and home stuff, so it shows me all of that stuff first in my feed, even if a weird ceramic babydoll that stares into your soul was uploaded more recently. AND I SO APPRECIATE THAT.
But back to these chairs. I mentioned on that podcast that this listing was funny because it was actually for a large piece of driftwood, but I saw these chairs in the background – yes, BEHIND THE DRIFTWOOD. And I basically messaged her and said “about those chairs – are they for sale?!” And she said yes! The seller even had a large car and offered to drive them to my house since they’re HUGE and it would have been impossible to get both of them into our SUV at the same time.
So the lesson here is: anything in the picture is something you can ask about! The worst they can say is “no, my cute dog in the background is not for sale you psycho” and the best thing they can say is essentially what happened with these chairs, which was: “Sure! I’ll sell them AND DRIVE THEM TO YOUR HOUSE FOR YOU!”
Also, sub tip: whenever something is large we ask if they would accept an extra fee (like $20) to drive it over. It often saves us time/gas/money spent renting a larger vehicle, so it can be very worthwhile in many cases.
This chair story also has sort of an epilogue of sorts. When we posted photos of them in the show notes of that podcast where we mentioned them, a very kind and knowledgeable design enthusiast essentially said “OMG I THINK THOSE ARE RUSSELL WOODARD CHAIRS!” and thanks to the rabbit hole of google I learned he’s an amazing 50’s designer, sort of like Eames (we all know about his chairs! can’t Russell catch a break?!) and THEY SELL FOR THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on places like 1st Dibs and Chairish. In fact, here’s a set of four currently listed for $3,750 (and here’s another one). HOW INSANE IS THAT?!?!
By comparison, we spent $140 for both chairs (which also included delivery!). So they might be the biggest secondhand score we’ve had yet. Honestly for me it’s way less about what something’s worth or who made it and a lot more about filling your house up with stuff you love. So my advice would just be to sniff around in secondhand spots (in person and online) often if you actually hope to find something amazing – and if you do it regularly enough I’m confident it’ll happen for you! Happy hunting!
P.S. Six years ago we wrote this post about 25 tips for buying on Craigslist, and a ton of them still apply – so check it out for even more ideas for scoring some pretty great stuff. Happy thrifting to one and all!
P.P.S. And if you saw something in the photos above from our beach house or our house here in Richmond that has you saying “where’s that from?” we have source lists for both of those: here’s the one full of beach house info, and here’s one for our Richmond house.
The post My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds appeared first on Young House Love.
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My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds https://ift.tt/2vtMElj
I take pride in some very strange things. Being able to cartwheel into a pool for example. Or knowing every single word to old commercial jingles and 90’s rap songs. Or the fact that John and I, two righties, somehow made two lefties, which clearly means they’re brilliant (not sure how I can even take credit for this phenomenon, but I do, as well as the fact that our kids are super tall, which is amazing to me as a 5’2″ lady).
But one thing I don’t really think about much is my secondhand furniture hunting mojo. I don’t think I have any magic luck or special searching skills. I would generally describe the key to my process as frequency. In other words: looking often. I regularly look at thrift stores and on Craigslist and on Facebook Marketplace. Most of the time I don’t find anything good at all, but every once in a while I find something awesome. Like this insanely beautiful inlay dresser that’s made by Restoration Hardware and sells for $1800 that I found on Craigslist for $400 (you can read the full story of that here).
So instead of demonstrating that I know every last word to the Left Eye rap in TLC’s Waterfalls, I figured I’d round up my best tips for secondhand shopping success, all of which have nothing to do with dumb luck, and everything to do with actionable things that you can implement to hopefully score some great finds of your own.
Lesson #1: Show Your Interest & Be Persistent
If I stop an analyze how that inlay dresser coup came to be, there’s just one simple thing that made it all happen: I was determined with a capital D. I saw this listing go up months before I bought it. And I loved it. But it was $600 and that was still over my beach house dresser budget – no matter how gorgeous and expensive the dresser originally was. So I waited. And the listing sat there. And it sat there.
Knowing she might be having trouble selling it, I decided to let the seller know that an interested party existed. Even though I wasn’t ready to shell out the $600, I wanted to make myself an option and discourage her from just deleting the listing out of frustration (I know as a seller I’ve definitely done that before). I emailed her saying “I am SO INTERESTED in your dresser but the top of my budget is $400. If that works for you, I’ll gladly come right over with $400 cash and grab it.” And she very kindly emailed me back and said “Thanks, I’m not planning to lower the price just yet but I’ll let you know if I do later.”
Now here’s where the whole determined thing really came into play. The listing sat there for a few more weeks (and I continued to watch it), but then one day it disappeared. And I noticed. And I gasped. It could’ve sold or just expired, but since I already had an email chain started, I decided to reach out to her one last time, just to say “hi, it’s me again! I noticed the listing is gone so I’m sure my dream dresser sold, but if it hasn’t and you’re interested in that $400 cash I can come right over! Just say the word!” And you know what? She said “You’ve got a deal.”
And that’s how this amazing dresser ended up at the beach house. It didn’t fall into my lap. It didn’t happen in a day or even a week – but over the course of months as I kept an eye on it. And if I hadn’t pinged her that first time I never could have followed up that second time because I wouldn’t have had her contact info – and I’m pretty sure this dresser wouldn’t be ours today. So let that be Lesson #1. Have patience and go out on a limb (maybe even multiple times) for something you love.
Lesson #2: Be Vigilant & Ready To Pounce
Ok, now let’s move on to the next one. I really really love this marble topped dresser that I bought on Facebook Marketplace from the sweetest local lady whose entire house was so amazing I wanted to buy everything in there. The entire top is a gorgeous slab of marble and the drawers have little key latches and it’s perfect for storing board games in the foyer of the beach house. I forget how much this was but I think it was around $100 which is an awesome deal since it would be hard to find a slab of marble as big as the one on top of this dresser for $100 alone.
Let’s talk about my hunting routine. I like to sit on the couch at the end of a long day and just scroll through Facebook Marketplace. It takes less than five minutes, and I’d say I do it maybe five times a week if I remember. And thanks to my habit of checking pretty frequently, I happened to see the listing for this dresser within an hour of it being posted. So I was first in line when I pinged her, I got cash FAST, and I got to her house within about an hour, meaning nobody could snatch it out from under me. So upon reflecting how I scored this dresser, it really comes down to being SO READY to make this thing mine (and not wavering, waffling, or taking too much time to get the cash and get to her house).
The thing is, you never know when something is going to be listed, and you certainly can’t be on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace every hour. But I realized that back before I checked Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist with any regularity that I was greatly lowering my chances of finding good stuff. Of course I couldn’t expect to pop on every few months and immediately find something I wanted! I had to up my frequency – even if it just means devoting five minutes a night to it a few times a week. This obviously gives me better chances of seeing more items, and catching them earlier.
Also, get cash and get thee to the person’s house fast! Sellers often observe a “first come, first served” rule and I can’t tell you how many times as a seller that the second or third person who contacted me actually got the item because the first person took too long to come pick it up & pay. So there you go. Lesson #2 is spend a little more time looking for something cool if you actually want to find something cool, and then descend like Cheetah with the cash. Fast, fast, fast.
Lesson #3: Recruit Spies
Ok, let’s move on to the rug in our bedroom. Whenever I see it my brain sings: “I’ve. Had. The rug of my li-i-ife. And I never felt this way before.” Yes it’s the song from Dirty Dancing with a rug worked into it, and yes, weirdly altering song lyrics is also something I take great pride in. The story of this guy is that I bought it locally from a consignment shop. YES! I know! It feels like an extremely lucky find. And it was… but it also clearly has a lesson attached when I look in the ol’ rearview mirror of life.
See, my friend actually texted me a picture of this rug along with some others that she had seen at a local consignment shop. So the first lesson is: befriend an army of people who will text you all the pretty things they find. Ha. Kidding. But really, if you have an interest or a need for something, it never hurts to let your design-loving friends know! They might see whatever it is you’re looking for (secondhand or beyond!) and be able to tell you where it is. Heck they might even text you a picture or send you a link.
The fact that my friend, who is a decorator, knew that I love these big colorful wool rugs definitely worked in my favor in this case (had I not been “linked” to this thing in her mind, she never would have texted it to me). And you can offer to keep an eye out for things for them in return – it really is a nice mutually beneficial thing to do with someone else who loves home stuff.
My accompanying tip for this rug victory harkens back to the second half of my last lesson, which is DO NOT HESITATE. The second she sent it I called the shop, asked the price, got the cash, and John and I rushed over there to smell it (always smell secondhand things guys – it’s a non-negotiable!) and it was in our car about 20 minutes later. There’s way more about this whole rug discovery and our bedroom’s evolution in this post, which also has a ton of sources for things.
Lesson #4: Be Nosy & Remember It Never Hurts To Ask
These chairs are a more recent score that I chatted about a little bit on the podcast (in this episode) and they hail from Facebook Marketplace. One thing I like about Facebook Marketplace over Craigslist (don’t get me wrong, I still like Sir Craig & His List) is that Facebook Marketplace learns what you click. So, much like Pinterest, it can curate a more customized experience every time you browse. Which is also why it’s super fast to check every time I drop in (less than 5 minutes).
Mine has learned that I click on furniture and home stuff, so it shows me all of that stuff first in my feed, even if a weird ceramic babydoll that stares into your soul was uploaded more recently. AND I SO APPRECIATE THAT.
But back to these chairs. I mentioned on that podcast that this listing was funny because it was actually for a large piece of driftwood, but I saw these chairs in the background – yes, BEHIND THE DRIFTWOOD. And I basically messaged her and said “about those chairs – are they for sale?!” And she said yes! The seller even had a large car and offered to drive them to my house since they’re HUGE and it would have been impossible to get both of them into our SUV at the same time.
So the lesson here is: anything in the picture is something you can ask about! The worst they can say is “no, my cute dog in the background is not for sale you psycho” and the best thing they can say is essentially what happened with these chairs, which was: “Sure! I’ll sell them AND DRIVE THEM TO YOUR HOUSE FOR YOU!”
Also, sub tip: whenever something is large we ask if they would accept an extra fee (like $20) to drive it over. It often saves us time/gas/money spent renting a larger vehicle, so it can be very worthwhile in many cases.
This chair story also has sort of an epilogue of sorts. When we posted photos of them in the show notes of that podcast where we mentioned them, a very kind and knowledgeable design enthusiast essentially said “OMG I THINK THOSE ARE RUSSELL WOODARD CHAIRS!” and thanks to the rabbit hole of google I learned he’s an amazing 50’s designer, sort of like Eames (we all know about his chairs! can’t Russell catch a break?!) and THEY SELL FOR THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on places like 1st Dibs and Chairish. In fact, here’s a set of four currently listed for $3,750 (and here’s another one). HOW INSANE IS THAT?!?!
By comparison, we spent $140 for both chairs (which also included delivery!). So they might be the biggest secondhand score we’ve had yet. Honestly for me it’s way less about what something’s worth or who made it and a lot more about filling your house up with stuff you love. So my advice would just be to sniff around in secondhand spots (in person and online) often if you actually hope to find something amazing – and if you do it regularly enough I’m confident it’ll happen for you! Happy hunting!
P.S. Six years ago we wrote this post about 25 tips for buying on Craigslist, and a ton of them still apply – so check it out for even more ideas for scoring some pretty great stuff. Happy thrifting to one and all!
P.P.S. And if you saw something in the photos above from our beach house or our house here in Richmond that has you saying “where’s that from?” we have source lists for both of those: here’s the one full of beach house info, and here’s one for our Richmond house.
The post My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds appeared first on Young House Love.
0 notes
Text
My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds
I take pride in some very strange things. Being able to cartwheel into a pool for example. Or knowing every single word to old commercial jingles and 90’s rap songs. Or the fact that John and I, two righties, somehow made two lefties, which clearly means they’re brilliant (not sure how I can even take credit for this phenomenon, but I do, as well as the fact that our kids are super tall, which is amazing to me as a 5’2″ lady).
But one thing I don’t really think about much is my secondhand furniture hunting mojo. I don’t think I have any magic luck or special searching skills. I would generally describe the key to my process as frequency. In other words: looking often. I regularly look at thrift stores and on Craigslist and on Facebook Marketplace. Most of the time I don’t find anything good at all, but every once in a while I find something awesome. Like this insanely beautiful inlay dresser that’s made by Restoration Hardware and sells for $1800 that I found on Craigslist for $400 (you can read the full story of that here).
So instead of demonstrating that I know every last word to the Left Eye rap in TLC’s Waterfalls, I figured I’d round up my best tips for secondhand shopping success, all of which have nothing to do with dumb luck, and everything to do with actionable things that you can implement to hopefully score some great finds of your own.
Lesson #1: Show Your Interest & Be Persistent
If I stop an analyze how that inlay dresser coup came to be, there’s just one simple thing that made it all happen: I was determined with a capital D. I saw this listing go up months before I bought it. And I loved it. But it was $600 and that was still over my beach house dresser budget – no matter how gorgeous and expensive the dresser originally was. So I waited. And the listing sat there. And it sat there.
Knowing she might be having trouble selling it, I decided to let the seller know that an interested party existed. Even though I wasn’t ready to shell out the $600, I wanted to make myself an option and discourage her from just deleting the listing out of frustration (I know as a seller I’ve definitely done that before). I emailed her saying “I am SO INTERESTED in your dresser but the top of my budget is $400. If that works for you, I’ll gladly come right over with $400 cash and grab it.” And she very kindly emailed me back and said “Thanks, I’m not planning to lower the price just yet but I’ll let you know if I do later.”
Now here’s where the whole determined thing really came into play. The listing sat there for a few more weeks (and I continued to watch it), but then one day it disappeared. And I noticed. And I gasped. It could’ve sold or just expired, but since I already had an email chain started, I decided to reach out to her one last time, just to say “hi, it’s me again! I noticed the listing is gone so I’m sure my dream dresser sold, but if it hasn’t and you’re interested in that $400 cash I can come right over! Just say the word!” And you know what? She said “You’ve got a deal.”
And that’s how this amazing dresser ended up at the beach house. It didn’t fall into my lap. It didn’t happen in a day or even a week – but over the course of months as I kept an eye on it. And if I hadn’t pinged her that first time I never could have followed up that second time because I wouldn’t have had her contact info – and I’m pretty sure this dresser wouldn’t be ours today. So let that be Lesson #1. Have patience and go out on a limb (maybe even multiple times) for something you love.
Lesson #2: Be Vigilant & Ready To Pounce
Ok, now let’s move on to the next one. I really really love this marble topped dresser that I bought on Facebook Marketplace from the sweetest local lady whose entire house was so amazing I wanted to buy everything in there. The entire top is a gorgeous slab of marble and the drawers have little key latches and it’s perfect for storing board games in the foyer of the beach house. I forget how much this was but I think it was around $100 which is an awesome deal since it would be hard to find a slab of marble as big as the one on top of this dresser for $100 alone.
Let’s talk about my hunting routine. I like to sit on the couch at the end of a long day and just scroll through Facebook Marketplace. It takes less than five minutes, and I’d say I do it maybe five times a week if I remember. And thanks to my habit of checking pretty frequently, I happened to see the listing for this dresser within an hour of it being posted. So I was first in line when I pinged her, I got cash FAST, and I got to her house within about an hour, meaning nobody could snatch it out from under me. So upon reflecting how I scored this dresser, it really comes down to being SO READY to make this thing mine (and not wavering, waffling, or taking too much time to get the cash and get to her house).
The thing is, you never know when something is going to be listed, and you certainly can’t be on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace every hour. But I realized that back before I checked Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist with any regularity that I was greatly lowering my chances of finding good stuff. Of course I couldn’t expect to pop on every few months and immediately find something I wanted! I had to up my frequency – even if it just means devoting five minutes a night to it a few times a week. This obviously gives me better chances of seeing more items, and catching them earlier.
Also, get cash and get thee to the person’s house fast! Sellers often observe a “first come, first served” rule and I can’t tell you how many times as a seller that the second or third person who contacted me actually got the item because the first person took too long to come pick it up & pay. So there you go. Lesson #2 is spend a little more time looking for something cool if you actually want to find something cool, and then descend like Cheetah with the cash. Fast, fast, fast.
Lesson #3: Recruit Spies
Ok, let’s move on to the rug in our bedroom. Whenever I see it my brain sings: “I’ve. Had. The rug of my li-i-ife. And I never felt this way before.” Yes it’s the song from Dirty Dancing with a rug worked into it, and yes, weirdly altering song lyrics is also something I take great pride in. The story of this guy is that I bought it locally from a consignment shop. YES! I know! It feels like an extremely lucky find. And it was… but it also clearly has a lesson attached when I look in the ol’ rearview mirror of life.
See, my friend actually texted me a picture of this rug along with some others that she had seen at a local consignment shop. So the first lesson is: befriend an army of people who will text you all the pretty things they find. Ha. Kidding. But really, if you have an interest or a need for something, it never hurts to let your design-loving friends know! They might see whatever it is you’re looking for (secondhand or beyond!) and be able to tell you where it is. Heck they might even text you a picture or send you a link.
The fact that my friend, who is a decorator, knew that I love these big colorful wool rugs definitely worked in my favor in this case (had I not been “linked” to this thing in her mind, she never would have texted it to me). And you can offer to keep an eye out for things for them in return – it really is a nice mutually beneficial thing to do with someone else who loves home stuff.
My accompanying tip for this rug victory harkens back to the second half of my last lesson, which is DO NOT HESITATE. The second she sent it I called the shop, asked the price, got the cash, and John and I rushed over there to smell it (always smell secondhand things guys – it’s a non-negotiable!) and it was in our car about 20 minutes later. There’s way more about this whole rug discovery and our bedroom’s evolution in this post, which also has a ton of sources for things.
Lesson #4: Be Nosy & Remember It Never Hurts To Ask
These chairs are a more recent score that I chatted about a little bit on the podcast (in this episode) and they hail from Facebook Marketplace. One thing I like about Facebook Marketplace over Craigslist (don’t get me wrong, I still like Sir Craig & His List) is that Facebook Marketplace learns what you click. So, much like Pinterest, it can curate a more customized experience every time you browse. Which is also why it’s super fast to check every time I drop in (less than 5 minutes).
Mine has learned that I click on furniture and home stuff, so it shows me all of that stuff first in my feed, even if a weird ceramic babydoll that stares into your soul was uploaded more recently. AND I SO APPRECIATE THAT.
But back to these chairs. I mentioned on that podcast that this listing was funny because it was actually for a large piece of driftwood, but I saw these chairs in the background – yes, BEHIND THE DRIFTWOOD. And I basically messaged her and said “about those chairs – are they for sale?!” And she said yes! The seller even had a large car and offered to drive them to my house since they’re HUGE and it would have been impossible to get both of them into our SUV at the same time.
So the lesson here is: anything in the picture is something you can ask about! The worst they can say is “no, my cute dog in the background is not for sale you psycho” and the best thing they can say is essentially what happened with these chairs, which was: “Sure! I’ll sell them AND DRIVE THEM TO YOUR HOUSE FOR YOU!”
Also, sub tip: whenever something is large we ask if they would accept an extra fee (like $20) to drive it over. It often saves us time/gas/money spent renting a larger vehicle, so it can be very worthwhile in many cases.
This chair story also has sort of an epilogue of sorts. When we posted photos of them in the show notes of that podcast where we mentioned them, a very kind and knowledgeable design enthusiast essentially said “OMG I THINK THOSE ARE RUSSELL WOODARD CHAIRS!” and thanks to the rabbit hole of google I learned he’s an amazing 50’s designer, sort of like Eames (we all know about his chairs! can’t Russell catch a break?!) and THEY SELL FOR THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on places like 1st Dibs and Chairish. In fact, here’s a set of four currently listed for $3,750 (and here’s another one). HOW INSANE IS THAT?!?!
By comparison, we spent $140 for both chairs (which also included delivery!). So they might be the biggest secondhand score we’ve had yet. Honestly for me it’s way less about what something’s worth or who made it and a lot more about filling your house up with stuff you love. So my advice would just be to sniff around in secondhand spots (in person and online) often if you actually hope to find something amazing – and if you do it regularly enough I’m confident it’ll happen for you! Happy hunting!
P.S. Six years ago we wrote this post about 25 tips for buying on Craigslist, and a ton of them still apply – so check it out for even more ideas for scoring some pretty great stuff. Happy thrifting to one and all!
P.P.S. And if you saw something in the photos above from our beach house or our house here in Richmond that has you saying “where’s that from?” we have source lists for both of those: here’s the one full of beach house info, and here’s one for our Richmond house.
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My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds published first on https://aireloomreview.tumblr.com/
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My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds
I take pride in some very strange things. Being able to cartwheel into a pool for example. Or knowing every single word to old commercial jingles and 90’s rap songs. Or the fact that John and I, two righties, somehow made two lefties, which clearly means they’re brilliant (not sure how I can even take credit for this phenomenon, but I do, as well as the fact that our kids are super tall, which is amazing to me as a 5’2″ lady).
But one thing I don’t really think about much is my secondhand furniture hunting mojo. I don’t think I have any magic luck or special searching skills. I would generally describe the key to my process as frequency. In other words: looking often. I regularly look at thrift stores and on Craigslist and on Facebook Marketplace. Most of the time I don’t find anything good at all, but every once in a while I find something awesome. Like this insanely beautiful inlay dresser that’s made by Restoration Hardware and sells for $1800 that I found on Craigslist for $400 (you can read the full story of that here).
So instead of demonstrating that I know every last word to the Left Eye rap in TLC’s Waterfalls, I figured I’d round up my best tips for secondhand shopping success, all of which have nothing to do with dumb luck, and everything to do with actionable things that you can implement to hopefully score some great finds of your own.
Lesson #1: Show Your Interest & Be Persistent
If I stop an analyze how that inlay dresser coup came to be, there’s just one simple thing that made it all happen: I was determined with a capital D. I saw this listing go up months before I bought it. And I loved it. But it was $600 and that was still over my beach house dresser budget – no matter how gorgeous and expensive the dresser originally was. So I waited. And the listing sat there. And it sat there.
Knowing she might be having trouble selling it, I decided to let the seller know that an interested party existed. Even though I wasn’t ready to shell out the $600, I wanted to make myself an option and discourage her from just deleting the listing out of frustration (I know as a seller I’ve definitely done that before). I emailed her saying “I am SO INTERESTED in your dresser but the top of my budget is $400. If that works for you, I’ll gladly come right over with $400 cash and grab it.” And she very kindly emailed me back and said “Thanks, I’m not planning to lower the price just yet but I’ll let you know if I do later.”
Now here’s where the whole determined thing really came into play. The listing sat there for a few more weeks (and I continued to watch it), but then one day it disappeared. And I noticed. And I gasped. It could’ve sold or just expired, but since I already had an email chain started, I decided to reach out to her one last time, just to say “hi, it’s me again! I noticed the listing is gone so I’m sure my dream dresser sold, but if it hasn’t and you’re interested in that $400 cash I can come right over! Just say the word!” And you know what? She said “You’ve got a deal.”
And that’s how this amazing dresser ended up at the beach house. It didn’t fall into my lap. It didn’t happen in a day or even a week – but over the course of months as I kept an eye on it. And if I hadn’t pinged her that first time I never could have followed up that second time because I wouldn’t have had her contact info – and I’m pretty sure this dresser wouldn’t be ours today. So let that be Lesson #1. Have patience and go out on a limb (maybe even multiple times) for something you love.
Lesson #2: Be Vigilant & Ready To Pounce
Ok, now let’s move on to the next one. I really really love this marble topped dresser that I bought on Facebook Marketplace from the sweetest local lady whose entire house was so amazing I wanted to buy everything in there. The entire top is a gorgeous slab of marble and the drawers have little key latches and it’s perfect for storing board games in the foyer of the beach house. I forget how much this was but I think it was around $100 which is an awesome deal since it would be hard to find a slab of marble as big as the one on top of this dresser for $100 alone.
Let’s talk about my hunting routine. I like to sit on the couch at the end of a long day and just scroll through Facebook Marketplace. It takes less than five minutes, and I’d say I do it maybe five times a week if I remember. And thanks to my habit of checking pretty frequently, I happened to see the listing for this dresser within an hour of it being posted. So I was first in line when I pinged her, I got cash FAST, and I got to her house within about an hour, meaning nobody could snatch it out from under me. So upon reflecting how I scored this dresser, it really comes down to being SO READY to make this thing mine (and not wavering, waffling, or taking too much time to get the cash and get to her house).
The thing is, you never know when something is going to be listed, and you certainly can’t be on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace every hour. But I realized that back before I checked Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist with any regularity that I was greatly lowering my chances of finding good stuff. Of course I couldn’t expect to pop on every few months and immediately find something I wanted! I had to up my frequency – even if it just means devoting five minutes a night to it a few times a week. Upping my frequency obviously gives me better chances of seeing more items, and catching them earlier.
Also, get cash and get thee to the person’s house fast! Sellers often observe a “first come, first served” rule and I can’t tell you how many times as a seller that the second or third person who contacted me actually got the item because the first person took too long to come pick it up & pay. So there you go. Lesson #2 is spend a little more time looking for something cool if you actually want to find something cool, and then descend like Cheetah with the cash. Fast, fast, fast.
Lesson #3: Recruit Spies
Ok, let’s move on to the rug in our bedroom. Whenever I see it my brain sings: “I’ve. Had. The rug of my li-i-ife. And I never felt this way before.” Yes it’s the song from Dirty Dancing with a rug worked into it, and yes, weirdly altering song lyrics is also something I take great pride in. The story of this guy is that I bought it locally from a consignment shop. YES! I know! It feels like an extremely lucky find. And it was… but it also clearly has a lesson attached when I look in the ol’ rearview mirror of life.
See, my friend actually texted me a picture of this rug along with some others that she had seen at a local consignment shop. So the first lesson is: befriend an army of people who will text you all the pretty things they find. Ha. Kidding. But really, if you have an interest or a need for something, it never hurts to let your design-loving friends know! They might see whatever it is you’re looking for (secondhand or beyond!) and be able to tell you where it is. Heck they might even text you a picture or send you a link.
The fact that my friend, who is a decorator, knew that I love these big colorful wool rugs definitely worked in my favor in this case (had I not been “linked” to this thing in her mind, she never would have texted it to me). And you can offer to keep an eye out for things for them in return – it really is a nice mutually beneficial thing to do with someone else who loves home stuff.
My accompanying tip for this rug victory harkens back to the second half of my last lesson, which is DO NOT HESITATE. The second she sent it I called the shop, asked the price, got the cash, and John and I rushed over there to smell it (always smell secondhand things guys – it’s a non-negotiable!) and it was in our car about 20 minutes later. There’s way more about this whole rug discovery and our bedroom’s evolution here in this post, which also has a ton of sources for things.
Lesson #4: Be Nosy & Remember It Never Hurts To Ask
These chairs are a more recent score that I chatted about a little bit on the podcast (in this episode) and they hail from Facebook Marketplace. One thing I like about Facebook Marketplace over Craigslist (don’t get me wrong, I still like Sir Craig & His List) is that Facebook Marketplace learns what you click. So, much like Pinterest, it can curate a more customized experience every time you browse. Which is also why it’s super fast to check every time I drop in (less than 5 minutes).
Mine has learned that I click on furniture and home stuff, so it shows me all of that stuff first in my feed, even if a weird ceramic babydoll that stares into your soul was uploaded more recently. AND I SO APPRECIATE THAT.
But back to these chairs. I mentioned on that podcast that this listing was funny because it was actually for a large piece of driftwood, but I saw these chairs in the background – yes, BEHIND THE DRIFTWOOD. And I basically messaged her and said “about those chairs – are they for sale?!” And she said yes! The seller even had a large car and offered to drive them to my house since they’re HUGE and it would have been impossible to get both of them into our SUV at the same time.
So the lesson here is: anything in the picture is something you can ask about! The worst they can say is “no, my cute dog in the background is not for sale you psycho” and the best thing they can say is essentially what happened with these chairs, which was: “Sure! I’ll sell them AND DRIVE THEM TO YOUR HOUSE FOR YOU!”
Also, sub tip: whenever something is large we ask if they would accept an extra fee (like $20) to drive it over. It often saves us time/gas/money spent renting a larger vehicle, so it can be very worthwhile in most cases.
This chair story also has sort of an epilogue of sorts. When we posted photos of them in the show notes of that podcast where we mentioned them, a very kind and knowledgeable design enthusiast essentially said “OMG I THINK THOSE ARE RUSSELL WOODARD CHAIRS!” and thanks to the rabbit hole of google I learned he’s an amazing 50’s designer, sort of like Eames (we all know about his chairs! can’t Russell catch a break?!) and THEY SELL FOR THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on places like 1st Dibs and Chairish. In fact, here’s a set of four currently listed for $3,750 (and here’s another one). HOW INSANE IS THAT?!?!
By comparison, we spent $140 for both chairs (which also included delivery!). So they might be the biggest secondhand score we’ve had yet. Honestly for me it’s way less about what something’s worth or who made it and a lot more about filling your house up with stuff you love. So my advice would just be to sniff around in secondhand spots (in person and online) often if you actually hope to find something amazing – and if you do it regularly enough I’m confident it’ll happen for you! Happy hunting!
P.S. Six years ago we wrote this post about 25 tips for buying on Craigslist, and a ton of them still apply – so check it out for even more ideas for scoring some pretty great stuff. Happy thrifting to one and all!
The post My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds appeared first on Young House Love.
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Pickup Post #5 - Sony Weeks II
Alright, I apologize to any hardcore Nintendo fans that are reading, if you follow me specifically for Nintendo content. However, this is ultimately a Game Hunting blog, and sometimes you do have to take the deals that come along. As you may have guessed from the title, this is another Sony find. Playstation 2 to be exact. Couldn’t pass it up. You’ll see why as we go through it. I’ll tell you how the deal transpired.
I peruse Facebook Marketplace, OfferUp and LetGo regularly. I have been doing several searches every other day or so. Including but not limited to “GameCube”, “SNES”, “Super Nintendo”, “Wii”, and “Nintendo 64″. Of course just “Nintendo” as well. With the latest pickup of Gran Turismo and Hotshots Golf 3 I’ve thrown in “Playstation 2″ as well. I just wanted to get a feel for what they cost, and I have come to see that people, on average, want somewhere in the neighborhood of about $30 for the Fat model, and around $40 to $50 for the slims. This is generally with no games, and one controller. If you add games, memory cards or extra controllers, the prices go up from there.
A Yard Sale ad appeared in my search results for “Playstation 2″ on Facebook Marketplace the other day. I thought, that is odd, I didn’t search for yard sales, they must have a Playstation 2 listed in the listing for it to match. I read the description, and sure enough there it was. I was looking at this on a Tuesday, and the listing said “3 Days Ago”, which would have put it about the morning of the Sunday in the weekend before. So I figured the listing had to be for the upcoming weekend. Which means the swap meet reseller vultures hadn’t gotten a crack at it yet, I need to see what there is, let’s check pictures to see if they included any of the video games. You have no idea how many listings for Yard Sales will list video games, and then include 30 pictures of the stuff they are selling, but not even show the games. The one thing I want to see to gauge what they have, and they overlook it completely. This one though, had the pictures, so I could see a lot of what they had.
There’s the first one. Right off the bat my jaw hit the floor, TWO PS2 systems. The fat model, but still, two of them! The fact that they have two leads me to believe one of them might not work. Why else would they have two? What do you do when one breaks? You buy another one.
I see controllers sitting there too, three of them, and just from the pic I can tell it is two Dual Shock 2′s and one Dual Shock. They only want a buck a piece for the controllers too, which is a good sign. That is already a solid yard sale price for the controllers. At this point I laugh to myself for getting that Dual Shock from Goodwill last week for $4 by itself.
The pic is too small to read the price on the PS2s. I need to ask them how much those are to ascertain if I should try and get to this sale when they open.
Popped off a quick message asking what they were looking to get out of the PS2s. Half not expecting to even get a response. But, to my surprise, she replied pretty quickly. She said one PS2 had no power cord so they were looking for $8, and the other had the expansion on the back, and had all cords, so they had it at $10.
$18 for both?
That is less than most people are asking for just one, with no games and like, one controller. Throw in the controllers here and it’s $21. At this point I figure I might as well try to get both, to improve the odds of getting a working one. Just in case. Even the cost of both is less than most people are asking for even one. By almost half. So, no brainer.
Flipped back to the pictures to look at them further, maybe they have games for it too.
Looks like a stack of 10 or so on the back right hand side of that table. Just from this pic though I can’t really see titles, hmmm, let me zoom in, maybe...
Nope. Still just too grainy/blurry, I can’t see what they are. No matter, let me see if she would be willing to meet me before the sale and be willing to sell them before it starts this weekend. This is kind of a long shot, I’m sure she was not expecting to get a message about this, let alone be asked to sell something before the sale even starts.
I pop off another message: “Would you be opposed to selling them before the sale? Or at least one? I’m kind of starting a PS2 collection and this would be a perfect little jump start without breaking the bank. I will be too busy to come to the sale on Saturday.” She comes right back with “Well, our garage sale was last weekend so I have no problem selling them now.”
Wait. What?
Garage sale was last weekend?! They didn’t sell?! In this town where swap meet and flea market resellers are out in front of people’s houses an hour before the sale starts for video games? Even when the listing says no early birds?! Well, maybe that makes sense, if she only listed it on Facebook, and not on Craigslist, and listed it basically day of, since it was Sunday when she put it up...
No one saw it.
Good for me.
So she’s on board to sell them. I let her know I’m available to meet that same day around the lunch hour. She agrees, and asks if I want the games too. I said sure, depending on price and titles. Within 15 minutes she goes “Here are the games. We were looking for $1 each” and I had this on my screen:
Wow! a nice, high resolution picture where I can read all titles. I’m really liking this seller! So I start looking them up immediately on eBay to see what kind of value we have here. I am completely unfamiliar with the PS2 library of games. Not only is it HUGE, I know nothing about values. I start with the Kingdom Hearts games, since I recognize the title, and while not one I care to play, they go for about $20 as a pair shipped.
So about $15 in value there already. Good start. What else?
Dawn of Mana looked to be going anywhere from $13 shipped, to $20 shipped. So another solid $10 value there. Lets keep going...
Innocent Life, after looking this up it appears to be a Harvest Moon title, and is going for between $8 and $15 shipped. So another solid $10 value there. Already we are up to $35 in value and I still haven’t checked all the games. One more...
Steambot Chronicles. Never heard of this in my life.
Wait.
WHAT!?
FIFTY SIX DOLLARS?
Granted this is one of the highest ones, but this was a SHOCK. Some are $35 to $40 average. Pricecharting shows this one at $50 CIB. This auction was CIB and in great condition so it clearly went for more than the others, but at this point there was no way I wasn’t getting this deal. I immediately asked where I should be headed. Either an address, or a location if she would rather me not come to her house. She just gave me her address. I told her thank you and about when I would be there. I said I would take both systems, and all the games, $10 + $8 + $9 = $27, I asked if twenty five even would cover it. She said yes. I hit the road.
On the way she asks if I want the controllers too? No extra charge. I said sure.
This deal keeps getting better. I just bought a Dual Shock at Goodwill for $4 and thought it was a good deal and you want to give me THREE for free? Let me think about that one for about 0.0382 seconds. Yep, I’ll take them.
So I arrive, we exchange greetings, I give the stuff a quick once over, and check a couple of the more valuable games (Kingdom Hearts II, Steambot Chronicles and Innocent Life), yep all in there, complete and in good shape. I didn’t want to linger, she had everything stacked up neatly, and she said she was on maternity leave, so there was probably a sleeping baby somewhere. I gave her the $25 and she helped me out to the car with everything. I did inquire how it was they didn’t sell at the sale, and she said they only had two people show up. TWO. Ouch. As I guessed earlier, probably not advertised well. If she was on Craigslist I guarantee someone would have cleaned this out in four point two seconds.
So here it is now that I’ve picked it up and brought it home.
Now, after doing this for a couple three months, and getting a few finds, especially the one where Monkey ball 2 wouldn’t boot up, I’m used to there being bad news. I’ve come to expect something to be off with alost every deal, that’s why I look for prices this cheap. Buying like this gets you good deals, but you are also doing all the work, travelling to the seller, taking all the risk if something isn’t right. This one was only slightly disappointing, but probably because it was not unexpected. The PS2 on the left, the $10 one, doesn’t read discs. Not a single game would boot in it, even the absolutely flawless Gran Turismo 4 I got in the last post. It does turn on, controller works, I can manipulate the files on the memory card, just no disc action. This is not a huge surprise, I said that I suspected going in that there was a chance at least one didn’t work if they had two. The $8 one reads discs and plays fine, though I noticed a bit of a video issue, if I would wiggle or move the video cable, the picture would scramble and jump on the TV screen. I tried the second cable and it did the same thing. So I tried the other PS2. Same issue. I find it highly unlikely that both PS2s have the same issue, but it also seems just as unlikely that both cables have the same issue. I do hope it is just the cables.
I will probably order a component cable for one of them since I do intend to keep one, and try it again. It is only about $6 or $7. Hopefully the problem will go away with a new cable. I’ll update on that later when I have a chance to try it.
One of the Dual Shock 2 controllers has a little chunk of the rubber missing from the start button. Minor issue.
Finally, ATV Offroad Fury, is actually a Rugrats game instead. The funny thing is, Rugrats is worth more disc only, than ATV Offroad Fury complete. HA! Battlefront II and Dawn of Mana are also not complete, they are missing manuals. That devalues Dawn of Mana slightly, yes, but at least Steambot is complete, and boy is it ever complete. It is near mint condition. I’m hoping this one will fetch near $50 or more like the other very good condition one did.
In any case, I’m still very happy with the find, down to $25 from the asking price of $30, and there is a lot more value than that in this find. Especially with just one game at $40+ on eBay right now. I estimate this find at
$30 for PS2 Fat model with cables and one controller, another $10 each for the two additional controllers. Another $3 or so for the Memory Card. Add in a conservative $35 for Steambot, and another $25 total for Kingdom Hearts and Innocent Life. That comes to $103. I’ll throw $5 on the non working PS2 and maybe $10 total for the rest of the games as a lot. Grand total $118 for $25.
Winning.
As I mentioned before, I do plan on keeping at least one of the PS2s. Probably with a component cable. I dug up an old PATA hard drive that’s 200GB, and will see if I can hack one of these things to load ISO files. Would be cool to have a permanent PS2 in the collection that can store my games without needing to keep swapping them out over and over.
I do plan on looking at the one that won’t read, it could be fixable, who knows.
Official business:
$54.36 - $25 = $29.36
$29.36 game hunting money remaining. I will be selling something soon, probably my old copy of PaRappa the Rapper.
I was never a big fan, and now that I have a PS2 and it tested good, I can sell it as working, instead of untested.
I will be posting the results of the tinkering on the non-working one as soon as I know whats up with it and if it can be resurrected.
Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there. Talk to you all soon.
2017.06.18
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My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds
I take pride in some very strange things. Being able to cartwheel into a pool for example. Or knowing every single word to old commercial jingles and 90’s rap songs. Or the fact that John and I, two righties, somehow made two lefties, which clearly means they’re brilliant (not sure how I can even take credit for this phenomenon, but I do, as well as the fact that our kids are super tall, which is amazing to me as a 5’2″ lady).
But one thing I don’t really think about much is my secondhand furniture hunting mojo. I don’t think I have any magic luck or special searching skills. I would generally describe the key to my process as frequency. In other words: looking often. I regularly look at thrift stores and on Craigslist and on Facebook Marketplace. Most of the time I don’t find anything good at all, but every once in a while I find something awesome. Like this insanely beautiful inlay dresser that’s made by Restoration Hardware and sells for $1800 that I found on Craigslist for $400 (you can read the full story of that here).
So instead of demonstrating that I know every last word to the Left Eye rap in TLC’s Waterfalls, I figured I’d round up my best tips for secondhand shopping success, all of which have nothing to do with dumb luck, and everything to do with actionable things that you can implement to hopefully score some great finds of your own.
Lesson #1: Show Your Interest & Be Persistent
If I stop an analyze how that inlay dresser coup came to be, there’s just one simple thing that made it all happen: I was determined with a capital D. I saw this listing go up months before I bought it. And I loved it. But it was $600 and that was still over my beach house dresser budget – no matter how gorgeous and expensive the dresser originally was. So I waited. And the listing sat there. And it sat there.
Knowing she might be having trouble selling it, I decided to let the seller know that an interested party existed. Even though I wasn’t ready to shell out the $600, I wanted to make myself an option and discourage her from just deleting the listing out of frustration (I know as a seller I’ve definitely done that before). I emailed her saying “I am SO INTERESTED in your dresser but the top of my budget is $400. If that works for you, I’ll gladly come right over with $400 cash and grab it.” And she very kindly emailed me back and said “Thanks, I’m not planning to lower the price just yet but I’ll let you know if I do later.”
Now here’s where the whole determined thing really came into play. The listing sat there for a few more weeks (and I continued to watch it), but then one day it disappeared. And I noticed. And I gasped. It could’ve sold or just expired, but since I already had an email chain started, I decided to reach out to her one last time, just to say “hi, it’s me again! I noticed the listing is gone so I’m sure my dream dresser sold, but if it hasn’t and you’re interested in that $400 cash I can come right over! Just say the word!” And you know what? She said “You’ve got a deal.”
And that’s how this amazing dresser ended up at the beach house. It didn’t fall into my lap. It didn’t happen in a day or even a week – but over the course of months as I kept an eye on it. And if I hadn’t pinged her that first time I never could have followed up that second time because I wouldn’t have had her contact info – and I’m pretty sure this dresser wouldn’t be ours today. So let that be Lesson #1. Have patience and go out on a limb (maybe even multiple times) for something you love.
Lesson #2: Be Vigilant & Ready To Pounce
Ok, now let’s move on to the next one. I really really love this marble topped dresser that I bought on Facebook Marketplace from the sweetest local lady whose entire house was so amazing I wanted to buy everything in there. The entire top is a gorgeous slab of marble and the drawers have little key latches and it’s perfect for storing board games in the foyer of the beach house. I forget how much this was but I think it was around $100 which is an awesome deal since it would be hard to find a slab of marble as big as the one on top of this dresser for $100 alone.
Let’s talk about my hunting routine. I like to sit on the couch at the end of a long day and just scroll through Facebook Marketplace. It takes less than five minutes, and I’d say I do it maybe five times a week if I remember. And thanks to my habit of checking pretty frequently, I happened to see the listing for this dresser within an hour of it being posted. So I was first in line when I pinged her, I got cash FAST, and I got to her house within about an hour, meaning nobody could snatch it out from under me. So upon reflecting how I scored this dresser, it really comes down to being SO READY to make this thing mine (and not wavering, waffling, or taking too much time to get the cash and get to her house).
The thing is, you never know when something is going to be listed, and you certainly can’t be on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace every hour. But I realized that back before I checked Facebook Marketplace or Craigslist with any regularity that I was greatly lowering my chances of finding good stuff. Of course I couldn’t expect to pop on every few months and immediately find something I wanted! I had to up my frequency – even if it just means devoting five minutes a night to it a few times a week. This obviously gives me better chances of seeing more items, and catching them earlier.
Also, get cash and get thee to the person’s house fast! Sellers often observe a “first come, first served” rule and I can’t tell you how many times as a seller that the second or third person who contacted me actually got the item because the first person took too long to come pick it up & pay. So there you go. Lesson #2 is spend a little more time looking for something cool if you actually want to find something cool, and then descend like Cheetah with the cash. Fast, fast, fast.
Lesson #3: Recruit Spies
Ok, let’s move on to the rug in our bedroom. Whenever I see it my brain sings: “I’ve. Had. The rug of my li-i-ife. And I never felt this way before.” Yes it’s the song from Dirty Dancing with a rug worked into it, and yes, weirdly altering song lyrics is also something I take great pride in. The story of this guy is that I bought it locally from a consignment shop. YES! I know! It feels like an extremely lucky find. And it was… but it also clearly has a lesson attached when I look in the ol’ rearview mirror of life.
See, my friend actually texted me a picture of this rug along with some others that she had seen at a local consignment shop. So the first lesson is: befriend an army of people who will text you all the pretty things they find. Ha. Kidding. But really, if you have an interest or a need for something, it never hurts to let your design-loving friends know! They might see whatever it is you’re looking for (secondhand or beyond!) and be able to tell you where it is. Heck they might even text you a picture or send you a link.
The fact that my friend, who is a decorator, knew that I love these big colorful wool rugs definitely worked in my favor in this case (had I not been “linked” to this thing in her mind, she never would have texted it to me). And you can offer to keep an eye out for things for them in return – it really is a nice mutually beneficial thing to do with someone else who loves home stuff.
My accompanying tip for this rug victory harkens back to the second half of my last lesson, which is DO NOT HESITATE. The second she sent it I called the shop, asked the price, got the cash, and John and I rushed over there to smell it (always smell secondhand things guys – it’s a non-negotiable!) and it was in our car about 20 minutes later. There’s way more about this whole rug discovery and our bedroom’s evolution in this post, which also has a ton of sources for things.
Lesson #4: Be Nosy & Remember It Never Hurts To Ask
These chairs are a more recent score that I chatted about a little bit on the podcast (in this episode) and they hail from Facebook Marketplace. One thing I like about Facebook Marketplace over Craigslist (don’t get me wrong, I still like Sir Craig & His List) is that Facebook Marketplace learns what you click. So, much like Pinterest, it can curate a more customized experience every time you browse. Which is also why it’s super fast to check every time I drop in (less than 5 minutes).
Mine has learned that I click on furniture and home stuff, so it shows me all of that stuff first in my feed, even if a weird ceramic babydoll that stares into your soul was uploaded more recently. AND I SO APPRECIATE THAT.
But back to these chairs. I mentioned on that podcast that this listing was funny because it was actually for a large piece of driftwood, but I saw these chairs in the background – yes, BEHIND THE DRIFTWOOD. And I basically messaged her and said “about those chairs – are they for sale?!” And she said yes! The seller even had a large car and offered to drive them to my house since they’re HUGE and it would have been impossible to get both of them into our SUV at the same time.
So the lesson here is: anything in the picture is something you can ask about! The worst they can say is “no, my cute dog in the background is not for sale you psycho” and the best thing they can say is essentially what happened with these chairs, which was: “Sure! I’ll sell them AND DRIVE THEM TO YOUR HOUSE FOR YOU!”
Also, sub tip: whenever something is large we ask if they would accept an extra fee (like $20) to drive it over. It often saves us time/gas/money spent renting a larger vehicle, so it can be very worthwhile in many cases.
This chair story also has sort of an epilogue of sorts. When we posted photos of them in the show notes of that podcast where we mentioned them, a very kind and knowledgeable design enthusiast essentially said “OMG I THINK THOSE ARE RUSSELL WOODARD CHAIRS!” and thanks to the rabbit hole of google I learned he’s an amazing 50’s designer, sort of like Eames (we all know about his chairs! can’t Russell catch a break?!) and THEY SELL FOR THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS on places like 1st Dibs and Chairish. In fact, here’s a set of four currently listed for $3,750 (and here’s another one). HOW INSANE IS THAT?!?!
By comparison, we spent $140 for both chairs (which also included delivery!). So they might be the biggest secondhand score we’ve had yet. Honestly for me it’s way less about what something’s worth or who made it and a lot more about filling your house up with stuff you love. So my advice would just be to sniff around in secondhand spots (in person and online) often if you actually hope to find something amazing – and if you do it regularly enough I’m confident it’ll happen for you! Happy hunting!
P.S. Six years ago we wrote this post about 25 tips for buying on Craigslist, and a ton of them still apply – so check it out for even more ideas for scoring some pretty great stuff. Happy thrifting to one and all!
P.P.S. And if you saw something in the photos above from our beach house or our house here in Richmond that has you saying “where’s that from?” we have source lists for both of those: here’s the one full of beach house info, and here’s one for our Richmond house.
The post My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds appeared first on Young House Love.
My Top Four Tips For Scoring The Best Secondhand Finds published first on https://ssmattress.tumblr.com/
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