To Sell or Not to Sell…

In the grand scheme of things, this is tiny. It’s not even worth the time it will take to organize my thoughts and write them down. But as a novelist, I’m insanely curious about human nature and why people behave the way they do. Or should I say, misbehave? If you can help me out here, please do. Because I can’t think of a single good reason that people would do something so pointless.

A few weeks ago I was listening to the radio program of a popular finance guru. He made some good suggestions for ways of paying down debt. One suggestion was to sell some of the things that take up space in your home without paying “rent,” things you don’t have a use for, and put the money toward a car or credit card payment. It made sense, because I have tenants like that. We all do.

I went through the house and came up with my first two items: a gas grill that I obtained used and never once grilled anything on,

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and a large dog crate that Emma outgrew months ago.

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I dusted off the cobwebs, took pictures, and posted the items on a local Buy-Sell-Trade page. Within a day, my inbox blew up with responses, dozens of messages all asking the same question:  Is this item still available? I typed yes, and hit send. Again. And again. And again. And then… nothing. But that’s not even the annoying part.

After a few days with no real takers I reduced my already low prices. No less than five people contacted me to arrange for pickup. The dog crate is big and bulky, but I dutifully folded it up and carted it to the Big Lots parking lot to meet the prospective buyer. He never showed up. I carted it back home. The next day, I wheeled the grill up from the basement for a woman who had to have it. She never showed up. This scenario played out four times, twice for each item, before a woman finally came and bought the crate. I haven’t been stood up that many times since I was in high school