Mirror, mirror, on the wall...

3/6/10 Large (and heavy!) mirror, given away on craigslist

I figure giving away a mirror is as good a time as any to examine how downsizing reflects on me, as a person.

Downsizing has certainly forced me to confront -- often publicly -- what I will bluntly call my own greed. Although, to this point, I have given things away on seventy-three of the challenge days, I will admit that there is almost always a devil on my shoulder saying, "Can't you make some money off this thing?"

I've certainly discovered that putting things on craigslist for five or ten dollars almost never works (spoiler alert: except for tomorrow!) but it still pains me to give away something that I feel should sell for five dollars.

Why?

It's obviously not because I need that five dollars. Indeed, by some calculations, it's not worth my time to try to sell things for such small amounts. I read on an online forum one recommendation not to take the time to sell anything on eBay that won't garner at least $25. Holy smoke, if I followed that rule I would have eliminated nine-tenths of my eBay sales. And, yet, even I have to admit that selling something for ninety-nine cents on eBay is worthwhile only if I derive some sort of intrinsic value from the process. Do I? Well, my argument is that if someone is going to pay something for it, at least I can feel that they really wanted it.

Which doesn't seem the case when you're just giving away stuff. It's clear that people will jump at just about anything that's free, often without much thought of why they want it or how they'll use it.

But, then, I think about the folks that come to my door when I offer something for free on craigslist or freecycle. Every one of them -- EVERY ONE -- has been an interesting person with a good story to tell. In the end, giving the item to them has always seemed like a win-win proposition.

Tonight, an energetic woman named Lyn came by for the mirror and seemed pleased as could be about it. "Perfect," was the word she used.

At our yard sale last summer, before the Downsizing Challenge began, we had that mirror marked for sale at thirty-five dollars. It didn't sell, but there's part of my brain that still insists it's worth closer to that than the zero dollars I charged Lyn for it.

Did I lose out? Joanna would say absolutely not, since we now have that huge mirror out of here. Getting rid of clutter is enough payment for her, at least most of the time.

But, when I look in that mirror, I still can't say with absolute conviction that all is well in that reflection. Part of me -- a small part to be sure, but still a part -- feels like a year of giving away things that could be sold will add up to a fair chunk of change, lost.

Would I trade the joy of giving for the cold hard cash of a monetary sale?

Sometimes, sure.