As a follow-up to my epiphany--the financial stuff I did right was the very stuff that was supposed to be wrong--I offer more of the "do the opposite" variety.
USA Today, like lots of other mainstream media outlets, offers advice on how to sell stuff on Ebay and elsewhere. Honestly! I never took economics, but I do remember something about supply and demand. If everyone is trying to sell excess stuff or even valuables, wouldn't it stand to reason that the prices would be lower now? That it would be a buyer's market?
My contrarian advice: be a buyer! If you really need to sell stuff, I guess you have to do it, but now is not the time for "recreational" selling to compensate for the "recreational" shopping of the past few years.
If I see another article by another thrift store-come-lately on the treasures to be found in the realm of the gently used, I will throw up. First of all, most of these writers have never set foot in a thrift store before. They don't know the first thing about the rhythm and karma of thrift stores (people who do will know what I'm talking about here).
From my little corner of the zeitgeist, I would have to say that thrift stores have, of late, offered slim pickings. Could it be that everyone is shopping at the thrifts? The other thing I've noticed is that thrift stores are raising their prices. The Food Bank Thrift Store, now under new management, has dramatically raised its prices. Honestly, is a used Ann Taylor Loft top--a few years old and so unfashionably short--worth $5.00. No. We are in Louisiana, not Beverly Hills.
Luckily, my cupboards are full from the years of over-consumption. I guess I over-consumed at thrift stores! So I'm donating more now.
And, in contrast to the exhortations to be frugal, the more hairshirt the better, I'm going to continue with my planned and eagerly-awaited treats: trips to California and Massachusetts and maybe Montreal. And we're renewing out passports in case a last-minute bargain flight to Paris pops up. That's frugality too!
What contrarian things have you done or are you doing?
No comments:
Post a Comment