if you can't give it away, sell it! (a sad lesson about the weird world)
Things are looking up, from yesterday. Bear has referred to Minute/Minnow/Minette and I as “my girls” several times. He calls her Minna, so there’s yet another name.
I’ve also made myself incredibly annoying–both by taking lots of cellphone pictures of the cat sleeping with her paws over her head (probably in an effort to hide her face from the camera) and by trying to think of common phrases with the word “minute” in them.
“Just a minute!” “It only takes a minute!” “Give me a minute!” “Minute Maid!” “Minute to win it!” Is that a common phrase? It doesn’t sound like one. Whatever. And Minute Maid is orange juice. Whatever again. I’m clearly not very good at this.
Thank you, commenters, for the cat thoughts and advice. You always help me out. And make me less afraid of dying of horrible parasites.
But this is not another cat post. This is a post about a weird thing I learned about the world this week:
It is really hard to give big things away (in NYC).
We moved a little over a month ago, and since then, I have been dragging this giant black Ikea shelving unit from room to room (there are only two rooms, so it’s not as much dragging as I guess it could be). In our last apartment and the one before that, there wasn’t enough space for two dressers, so we got this thing and some cloth bins and put Bear’s clothes in/on it. It’s like six and a half feet tall. And then there’s the pretty almost-oriental rug (what exactly makes something an oriental rug, anyway?) that my uncle, an auctioneer, got at one of his sales and gave my parents who gave it to me. It feels nice, looks nice, and is 8×10. We are using another rug, also from my uncle through my parents, that matches the couch more and there isn’t enough space for two. I’m sorry, that was boring.
So, feeling like it would be the nice thing to do, I called the Salvation Army. I put the phone on speaker and let the tinny yet triumphant patriotic music, interspersed with mostly unintelligible quotes involving Jesus, play as I worked. 45 minutes. I hung up. The next day I tried again. And the next. On the fourth day, I let the music play for an hour and a half. No one ever picked up.
I called Housing Works. It took them several days to get back to me. “Oh, it’s not hardwood?” they said. They gave me a number for another charity. I called them. “Not hardwood?” they said. And then, “I don’t think you’re really the right fit for us.” I felt like I’d failed a test. Like I hadn’t gotten the job. I had a sudden urge to defend my furniture. “Wait a second– hardwood isn’t the only approach to successful shelving. This is an excellent piece of furniture! It’s, um, solid enough! It’s big! It can hold a lot of things! Damn it–Why are you people such elitists?”
But I only said, “Oh, OK. Sorry.” Sorry? What is wrong with me?
And she suggested that I call another number.
I did. “Hmm,” said the woman who answered. “I don’t think we’re in the market for something like what you’re describing.”
The market? What market? The charity market? Maybe someone might need something like what I’m describing! Did you ever think of that! Maybe someone whose apartment is too small to fit two dressers. There MUST be someone else like that in this damn city.
“Have you tried the Salvation Army?” she said.
“Yes– I tried, and I was on hold for almost two hours. Actually, I tried them a bunch of times–”
“I see,” she interrupted, “Well, I’m sorry. Good luck.”
“Good luck to you!” I snapped, after she’d hung up. “Good luck to you, lady.” I was in a really bad mood.
The rug was so nice! It felt like a cool gesture, to give it away. I’d seen a pretty rug at Housing Works, so I knew they took them. I could tell the quality wasn’t as good as mine. Because I’m such a rug expert now. No, but sometimes you can just tell.
We put the shelving unit up on Craigslist for $25. Five people immediately responded. One of them is coming over tonight to collect it.
The rug goes up next. How much should I charge? Or should I list it as free? I’m a little wary, now that I’ve learned that you can’t give things away, you have to sell them.
What a weird world.
(Who could reject such a sweet, elegant rug?)
* * *
Unroast: Today I love the way I look in a cute jacket. When I get it from Buffalo Exchange later today. I hope. I really need a jacket.
Kate on September 21st 2011 in Uncategorized
Jennifer Jo responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 1:11 pm #
I’d take those shelves! We just got a shipload of National Geographics, from 1982 and on, and I need a place for them!
Kate responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 1:14 pm #
How about a rug? The shelves might be gone after tonight.
Laurie S. responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 1:15 pm #
It’s weird how that works, isn’t it!?
Another option you might try, however, is Freecycle.org. It’s like craigslist, but without the cash incentive.
Kate responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 1:16 pm #
@Laurie S
Thank you!! I’ll check it out now.
Gini responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 1:19 pm #
Always let the husband name the pet. “Minna” is a great name for a cat. “My girls” is such a hopeful sign.
jss responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 1:44 pm #
I’m glad to hear that your husband is warming up to the cat. I have been trying to warm my boyfriend up to the idea of adopting a kitten for a while, but he remains fervently opposed on the basis of an overactive “olfactory gift.” A woman a few houses down from us runs a neonatal kitty facility, where she bottle-feeds and socializes stray kittens until a certain age and then tries to get them adopted. I pretty much want to run down there every day, adopt one, and see if my boyfriend will surrender after he meets it. I was raised on a farm and feel utterly bereft without cats.
And furniture is impossible to get rid of. Tried it. Salvation Army didn’t want it. Neither did anyone else. And several antiques ended up in the trash.
jean responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 2:05 pm #
You’re in brooklyn, you can just put stuff out on the street. Someone will take it home within an hour. That’s how I got all my furniture when I first moved to NYC as a poor college grad and how I’ve handed it back to the free furniture pool over the years.
midnightsky responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 2:09 pm #
To jss — you threw away antiques? Surely someone, somewhere, wanted antiques. There are entire boutiques for antiques, and people pay scads of money for them…
Craigslist is where it’s at. As a recent grad, I know college students flock to Craigslist for cheap furniture, especially the poor grad students who don’t have money but have to furnish a place for themselves. Salvation Army not taking stuff is weird — what, charity has gotten picky? — but in the end people feel oddly better about shopping for deals on Craiglist than they do schlepping down to a store that implies they have no money. (I dunno; is it just a phenomenon where I come from, that people feel weird shopping in thrift/charity stores?)
If the rug is good quality, charge for it. Rugs are pricey anyway; as long as you’re under retail, you’ll probably get lots of buyers, and some even if you’re over, so long as your rug is good enough.
jss responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 2:22 pm #
@midnightsky, you are probably right that I could have found a home for the stuff at some antique store, but, after contacting 4 charities and one antique store (that claimed to not be accepting any more bookshelves at the time), I ran out of steam, frankly. I work full-time and was not going to make another full-time job out of unloading furniture. It was a combination of exasperation and laziness, really. Me aculpa.
Beauzeaux responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 2:34 pm #
Jean is correct. For furniture, lots of people do curbside shopping in NYC. Rugs, not so much.
I can’t tell from the picture — but either there’s a shadow or the rug isn’t exactly clean. If it isn’t clean — especially a white rug — no one will buy it. (It’s a nice rug, though.)
Kate responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 3:33 pm #
@Beauzeaux
Not that I really have to defend my rug here, but it’s clean! And it’s not white, but a golden color that’s hard to capture. 🙂
Carolyn responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 4:21 pm #
KATE. I will take your rug. I will even pay for it!
Also, ditto to the comments about putting things on the street. I get a surprising amount of furniture from the sidewalk.
Corny responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 6:27 pm #
Weird, although–can’t you just put it out on the street? That’s what we do where I’m from, and it’s always gone by the next morning (or much faster if it contains metal that people can sell for scrap).
Also, completely off topic, what’s your take on Occupy Wall Street?
Yara responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 6:34 pm #
I can’t believe you couldn’t give away those shelves.
The Salvation Army where we lived before answered immediately & sent someone over the next day to pick up large items we needed to give away (a couch & a dining room table) (I wish I had kept the table, since we moved again & the one we have is now too big).
I love those shelves; I always check the Ikea As Is section to see if they have any. The one I have is from that section : )
bethany actually responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 10:02 pm #
We tried to give away a swingset on a local version of Freecycle once. Four different people inquired about it and asked for photos, but never followed through. Then we had a yard sale and stuck a sign on the swingset that said “$60” figuring after an hour we’d cross that out and write “$40” so someone would think they were getting a deal. It sold for sixty bucks in the first five minutes of the yard sale.
To recap: we tried to give it away, for FREE, no takers. We asked for $20 more than we really wanted and it was snapped up.
Perceived value is weird.
Kate responded on 21 Sep 2011 at 11:04 pm #
@bethany actually
Yes. This is exactly what I’m talking about!
Jessica responded on 22 Sep 2011 at 7:27 am #
Haha I know what you mean. We aren’t even in NYC, but we were trying to get rid of a nice headboard for a bed. Goodwill doesn’t come pick things up and Salvation Army was like, “Well we only pick up on the third Thursday of the month” (seriously) “and we can’t guarantee a pick-up time. Also, we don’t go up stairs.”
Well we live on the second floor and my husband can’t just take a whole day off work for when they decide to show up. His parents ended up taking it back, or I would have tried selling it. It is weird how these things work.