6/30/10 X-Cargo cartop carrier, sold for $50You can make money downsizing, which is as good a reason as any to do it. The Downsizing Challenge is not all about the Benjamins, but I'm also not going to turn away from a chance to collect a few greenbacks. As we near the end of the challenge, I plan to make a tally of how much cold, hard cash I've managed to pull in as a result of selling stuff, but no time for that tonight.
Instead, I shall merely close out Month Eleven with a monetary success story.
Clearly, my best sale to date was the trailer, which I bought for $200 and then sold for $450. However, I can't take credit for that, since it was my Dad who brokered the sale. Nonetheless, ever since he pulled that off, I've had today's downsize in mind.
As we planned our departure from Maine, I knew our cars were going to be packed to the gills. We needed to bring not only our basic clothes and all of the essential baby items, but two cats, their necessities, and my parents' luggage, since they were accompanying us on the drive. Realizing what a tight fit it could be, I started looking on craigslist for cartop carriers. Most of what I found for sale was in the $75-$100 range, but I did find an older carrier for $25, which I quickly snatched up.
It proved to be one of my rare moments of genius.
The wonderfully named X-Cargo (the logo is a snail -- absolutely brilliant!) strapped securely to the roof of the Yoda Mobile, held a tremendous amount of gear, remained watertight even through serious thunder and even hail storms, and only reduced my gas millage by ninety-three percent. Most importantly, it us some breathing room in the cars, making the journey far more pleasant.
Today, I sold that carrier for $50, doubling my money. Not exactly Dad standards, but a sale I'll take at any rate. Certainly an acceptable way to end the penultimate month of the Downsize Challenge.
One month to go. July 31, here I come.
I think you should have kept this one. With a kiddo, a car carrier is almost a necessity for camping trips.
ReplyDeleteAmy,
ReplyDeleteIt took a bit of willpower to downsize the carrier, because I could see many uses for it, including camping. However, I decided it was fine to let go for three reasons:
1) I've survived 38 years (and done a lot of camping) without it, so I should be able to make do.
2) If I desperately need one, I bet I can find one on craigslist in the future for LESS than $50.
3) Hey, this is the Downsizing Challenge. I'm supposed to get rid of stuff that I like and find useful. That's what makes the challenge great!
Thanks as always for being such a loyal reader.