I have forgotten the power of free. Free is indeed a good price for many, even if nothing is ever truly free (you usually have to put stuff somewhere). With my recent move we’ve been putting a lot of stuff on the curb with a "FREE" sign beautifully scribbled with a failing unnamed pharmaceutical (yeah, I had to use spell check on that one) company ball point pen on ripped up moving boxes. It’s super classy and I’d use a picture of it here, but people seem not even able to resist a FREE sign itself. I’ve had to make two signs so far, they’re that classy.
Sure consideration was given to having a moving sale, or carting all the stuff down to the thrift store and donating it, but man, those things take more work than I’m willing to give right now. There’s enough stuff that has to be carted around from one house to the other. Kristi’s bed frame needs to be returned. The other Christy’s mattress and box spring needs to be returned. And everything seems heavy. Sooooo, out to the curb it goes. And zowie does it ever disappear quickly! I’m talking middle of the morning on a weekday and the stuff just gets sucked up. One artist took a cabinet for her brushes. A mom and daughter loved a bookshelf. And these people took stuff BEFORE there was a free sign on them! Without telling people stuff is free, they still come up and ask. The neighborhood curb is a wonderful thing.
There’s also another option if you have stuff to get rid of and don’t care to move it yourself. It’s called Freecycle.org. I first used this site 5 years ago or so back when I really liked getting stuff (especially free stuff). The concept is simple; list your free stuff. That’s about it. Craig’s List also has a free section. Both work well for getting and giving free stuff.
But for me I had two reasons to use the old curb (or grassy area as is the case here) instead of the internet. 1) Time. Most of the stuff put out on the curb is gone within an hour. 2) Not having to schedule or hassle with pickups. People see the stuff and if they want it, they take it. No hemming and hawing. Just…..gone in 60 minutes.
I’m going to give it the ultimate test later today with a full size glass doored Ikea bookshelf. Someone with the right vehicle will have to spot it. I give it 2 hours tops though. People just can’t resist other people’s free stuff. And I can’t resist being free of the stuff I no longer want.