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A good week.
Picked up 5 items for free during the last days, all within a radius of 20kms from my home. I found all of them on a german platform for local private sales, equivalent to Craigslist.
1st item Saturday: some guy quit his office furniture business and gave away the remainder of his wares. Many people went there. I was a bit late, so the only cool thing I could secure for myself was one of those overly expensive "made in Germany" swivel office chairs. Idiot that I am, not only did I scratch my backbumper while loading that thing into my car, but I also teared the muscles in my back because I totally underestimated the weight of this thing when lifting it up. This little sh*t looks like nothing but weighs more than 20kgs/45lb.
2nd item Sunday: Epson printer/scanner in very good condition. Looked up online what printing cartridges cost: like 10€ for 10 of them. Super cheap. Plus, it's one of those old school devices that don't have "planned obsolescence" or "I can't use these cheap replica cartridges" mumbo jumbo built into them. It should serve me well.
3rd & 4th item Monday: Firstly, a 5kg pack of overly expensive carpet cleaning powder. Fun fact: The pack was produced in 1987. It's 31 years old, vacuum sealed in a bag made of flexible metal. I bet $5 I'm now the owner of the oldest carpet cleaning product in the country. Maybe I should call the manufacturer, which still exists, and sell it back to them so they can put it into their company museum ^^.
Secondly, only like 3 miles away from the first appointment, I picked up one of those transparent chair mats that are supposed to protect the carpet from getting damaged by office chairs. That thing is ..remarkable. I thought you could take it, and roll it up for easy transport. Nope. That thing doesn't roll up. It's a thick, sturdy material, and I was lucky to get this thing into my car. Now I know why some of those mats are relatively cheap, while others, while looking the same, come with horrendous shipping costs :ß
So by yesterday evening, I was already quite pleased with myself, until this happened...
5th item Monday late evening: I was writing some "thank you" messages on that platform and decided to do a last quick look at the "free" section. The newest item, just posted just 2 minutes before I saw it, was a microwave/grill combination oven, allegedly fully working and in pristine condition. The fotos looked like it was actually a brand new item. Guy who wrote the ad said "first come, first serve. you can pick it up right now".
Of course I immediately PMed the guy, and 5 mins later, I was on a 15km journey to his place. And yes, the microwave was in a suspiciously good condition. No signs of use, front or back, inside and out. The donor was even so nice to carry it to my car, because he saw that I was still suffering from the teared muscles in my back. Damn, that thing saved me from spending at least 60€ ($70). Pure luck being the 1st person to see his ad.
I'm on a roll, getting good free shiet. That pleases me greatly.
(BTW: I had picked up a (usually overpriced) glass/metal bathroom cabinet a few days earlier, which I will misappropriate as my "vape stuff cabinet". But since I paid $10 for it, technically it doesn't belong in the "free shiet" list.)
Picked up 5 items for free during the last days, all within a radius of 20kms from my home. I found all of them on a german platform for local private sales, equivalent to Craigslist.
1st item Saturday: some guy quit his office furniture business and gave away the remainder of his wares. Many people went there. I was a bit late, so the only cool thing I could secure for myself was one of those overly expensive "made in Germany" swivel office chairs. Idiot that I am, not only did I scratch my backbumper while loading that thing into my car, but I also teared the muscles in my back because I totally underestimated the weight of this thing when lifting it up. This little sh*t looks like nothing but weighs more than 20kgs/45lb.
2nd item Sunday: Epson printer/scanner in very good condition. Looked up online what printing cartridges cost: like 10€ for 10 of them. Super cheap. Plus, it's one of those old school devices that don't have "planned obsolescence" or "I can't use these cheap replica cartridges" mumbo jumbo built into them. It should serve me well.
3rd & 4th item Monday: Firstly, a 5kg pack of overly expensive carpet cleaning powder. Fun fact: The pack was produced in 1987. It's 31 years old, vacuum sealed in a bag made of flexible metal. I bet $5 I'm now the owner of the oldest carpet cleaning product in the country. Maybe I should call the manufacturer, which still exists, and sell it back to them so they can put it into their company museum ^^.
Secondly, only like 3 miles away from the first appointment, I picked up one of those transparent chair mats that are supposed to protect the carpet from getting damaged by office chairs. That thing is ..remarkable. I thought you could take it, and roll it up for easy transport. Nope. That thing doesn't roll up. It's a thick, sturdy material, and I was lucky to get this thing into my car. Now I know why some of those mats are relatively cheap, while others, while looking the same, come with horrendous shipping costs :ß
So by yesterday evening, I was already quite pleased with myself, until this happened...
5th item Monday late evening: I was writing some "thank you" messages on that platform and decided to do a last quick look at the "free" section. The newest item, just posted just 2 minutes before I saw it, was a microwave/grill combination oven, allegedly fully working and in pristine condition. The fotos looked like it was actually a brand new item. Guy who wrote the ad said "first come, first serve. you can pick it up right now".
Of course I immediately PMed the guy, and 5 mins later, I was on a 15km journey to his place. And yes, the microwave was in a suspiciously good condition. No signs of use, front or back, inside and out. The donor was even so nice to carry it to my car, because he saw that I was still suffering from the teared muscles in my back. Damn, that thing saved me from spending at least 60€ ($70). Pure luck being the 1st person to see his ad.
I'm on a roll, getting good free shiet. That pleases me greatly.
(BTW: I had picked up a (usually overpriced) glass/metal bathroom cabinet a few days earlier, which I will misappropriate as my "vape stuff cabinet". But since I paid $10 for it, technically it doesn't belong in the "free shiet" list.)
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You sound exactly like my kid. He is a "collector" of awesome deals and free stuff. I must've raised him right because one time my mom wanted to buy him something and he was like, "But, it's twenty dollars! That is a LOT of money, are you sure?"
My mom used it as evidence of his deprivation and whatnot, I just told her I was teaching him the value of money. He got like all the gaming consoles a kid could want, I just saved it for birthdays and holidays. But, whenever he really wanted something he would sell his old (but still expensive and valuable stuff) off on Craigslist and trade up. He built his first true gaming computer by doing that and sourcing all the parts inexpensively. I was like, super proud. LOL.
I kind of want to send him your post as inspiration. LOL.
Congrats!
Anna
My mom used it as evidence of his deprivation and whatnot, I just told her I was teaching him the value of money. He got like all the gaming consoles a kid could want, I just saved it for birthdays and holidays. But, whenever he really wanted something he would sell his old (but still expensive and valuable stuff) off on Craigslist and trade up. He built his first true gaming computer by doing that and sourcing all the parts inexpensively. I was like, super proud. LOL.
I kind of want to send him your post as inspiration. LOL.
Congrats!
Anna
It looks like a valuable and reasonable habit, but I'll be honest here:
Once you've learned that you can get certain things for VERY little moneys, you might start viewing this is the rule, and not as the exception it actually is.
I have already experienced this with vape stuff to a severe degree. First kit: Ego AIO Pro C 20€. Normal price. But then I found Ali. Got me a VTwoMini/CubisPro Kit for $18 shipped. Would've cost me around 40€ locally ($45). Then I found other cheap online stores. Got the 1st Espion kit for $39.99. Then another for $24.99. One of these would've cost me about 75€ ($85) in german online shops. Then I got a Cuboid Pro kit for $35; would've cost me about 100€ ($115) here.
You can see where this is going... I've done this with pretty every bit of vaping related hardware I've bought so far = If it's not a super bargain, I'm not buying. And yet I got everything I wanted. 2 Smoks Big Baby Beasts, an OBS Engine Nano, a Coil Master DIY set, a cool 4-bay charger, etc... I'm not sure that this is really healthy. I imagine this can easily skew your perspective of how much certain things are worth.
And browsing the listings on that localised ad site, I was genuinely baffled.
Of course there's lots of crap listed, where you can see that people just want to get rid of their old useless sh*t, BUT there is also lots of really valuable stuff; things you'd normally pay an arm and a leg for, and often enough in really good, even as-good-as-new, condition - everything from completely equipped kitchen setups (oven, microwave, dishwasher, cabinets, etc), to huge multi-couch living room setups, to expensive custom handmade furniture pieces. I couldn't pay $1000 to a cabinet maker to make me a hardwood dining table, but I'm absolutely certain that I could get one on that site for as little as 20€ within a few days. Or even for free. Pleasant, but quite absurd.
Oh BTW: The guy I got that office chair from - he also gave me a huge and heavy bag full of really nice swivel casters. Probably about 100 pieces. Just to get rid of them. I could resell each one of those for 2-3€ on ebay easily; which I will probably do, because I only need 4 out of those 100. Oh, and the lady who gave me the printer - she'll be sending me additional ink cartridges she found later on via mail, also for free.
I guess I really shouldn't complain.
Once you've learned that you can get certain things for VERY little moneys, you might start viewing this is the rule, and not as the exception it actually is.
I have already experienced this with vape stuff to a severe degree. First kit: Ego AIO Pro C 20€. Normal price. But then I found Ali. Got me a VTwoMini/CubisPro Kit for $18 shipped. Would've cost me around 40€ locally ($45). Then I found other cheap online stores. Got the 1st Espion kit for $39.99. Then another for $24.99. One of these would've cost me about 75€ ($85) in german online shops. Then I got a Cuboid Pro kit for $35; would've cost me about 100€ ($115) here.
You can see where this is going... I've done this with pretty every bit of vaping related hardware I've bought so far = If it's not a super bargain, I'm not buying. And yet I got everything I wanted. 2 Smoks Big Baby Beasts, an OBS Engine Nano, a Coil Master DIY set, a cool 4-bay charger, etc... I'm not sure that this is really healthy. I imagine this can easily skew your perspective of how much certain things are worth.
And browsing the listings on that localised ad site, I was genuinely baffled.
Of course there's lots of crap listed, where you can see that people just want to get rid of their old useless sh*t, BUT there is also lots of really valuable stuff; things you'd normally pay an arm and a leg for, and often enough in really good, even as-good-as-new, condition - everything from completely equipped kitchen setups (oven, microwave, dishwasher, cabinets, etc), to huge multi-couch living room setups, to expensive custom handmade furniture pieces. I couldn't pay $1000 to a cabinet maker to make me a hardwood dining table, but I'm absolutely certain that I could get one on that site for as little as 20€ within a few days. Or even for free. Pleasant, but quite absurd.
Oh BTW: The guy I got that office chair from - he also gave me a huge and heavy bag full of really nice swivel casters. Probably about 100 pieces. Just to get rid of them. I could resell each one of those for 2-3€ on ebay easily; which I will probably do, because I only need 4 out of those 100. Oh, and the lady who gave me the printer - she'll be sending me additional ink cartridges she found later on via mail, also for free.
I guess I really shouldn't complain.
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