Why?
- Thread starter RSL'67
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jeremyjustic
Analog
one time i saw an ad for two red bic pens and one blue one. $1 took the lot, all i could think is why would anyone drive to go buy 3 used ink pens, or more importantly why would someone bother with a CL ad to sell 3 used ink pens for a $1, who knows?
RSL'67
Midphile
Yeah, I get that people need money and try to sell stuff for whatever they can - the part that confuses me most here, is that the seller is willing to "deliver to a public place" - I mean, no matter what the method of delivery, wouldn't this process (travel to and from - fuel and/or time and effort) almost make the $4 sale moot?
Seems counter productive to me, but what do I know?
Seems counter productive to me, but what do I know?
knives
Member
I dunno, I just picture a bum pushing around a shopping cart full of junk, and the public meeting place being on a corner downtown, where he was going to be hanging out anyway.
Ad obviously typed up at the computers at the public library.
Learn to buy and sell on Craigslist!!!
Three years ago I was buried in debt and could barely afford to put food on the table. Now, because of the nearly limitless market for Paul Revere LPs on the Internet I have millions of dollars, 3 Ferraris, 4 Rolls Royces and these beautiful bikini models at my side.
You can do it too if you just use my secret system. Bring some money to the alley behind the Walmart and I'll show you how it's done. The more money you bring the more valuable your lesson will be.
Three years ago I was buried in debt and could barely afford to put food on the table. Now, because of the nearly limitless market for Paul Revere LPs on the Internet I have millions of dollars, 3 Ferraris, 4 Rolls Royces and these beautiful bikini models at my side.
You can do it too if you just use my secret system. Bring some money to the alley behind the Walmart and I'll show you how it's done. The more money you bring the more valuable your lesson will be.
RSL'67
Midphile
Ha ha - nice. :thmbsp:
Arkay
Lunatic Member
The higher your income, the more you value your time. It used to be said that if Bill Gates dropped a hundred-dollar bill, it wouldn't be worth his time to bend over and pick it up; that is, he earned money faster than that, and should focus his attention on what creates (or increases) that earning power. But I'd bet if he did drop one, he would pick it up!
For someone living on the edge of poverty, perhaps unemployed, --and yes, perhaps with an addiction problem-- having an extra $4 in the pocket when entering the supermarket can mean eating dinner tonight or breakfast tomorrow...something which that LP cannot help them to do.
To a thirsty man in the desert, a plastic bottle of water may be worth all the gold in the world; it's just a matter of situation and perspective.
Another possibility: some people value things emotionally or intrinsically, and are reluctant to discard things or let things go. This can lead to hoarding and other problems (which no AKer would ever hear about...
), but it could also be a motivation for someone working at clearing out stuff to post a listing like that: by putting a price tag of $4 on the record, he may be hoping to find an "appreciative" owner who would take good care of it.
I watched an auction once in Karachi, Pakistan. There were a few nice things there, carved antique furniture and such... but as the auction wore on, there were also some amazingly pitiful (to my eyes) lots, stuff like a small pile of the odd screws, nuts and bolts that might lie at the bottom of an average American tool chest. But bidders stood around seriously studying them and deliberating over whether to pay ten or eleven or twelve cents for them! When people have little-to-nothing, even very little becomes something.
There are all sorts of reasons why people do things that may look irrational to you or me at first glance... but which seem perfectly rational to them, from their situations and with their way of thinking.
Would I post a listing like that? No way. But am I surprised that someone else did? Not at all.
But if I saw that LP for a buck or two somewhere, I'd buy it, just for the nostalgia. I remember that back at the time (I was quite young), I sort of liked Paul Revere and the Raiders! Not sure if the nostalgia would extend to four bucks, though...
For someone living on the edge of poverty, perhaps unemployed, --and yes, perhaps with an addiction problem-- having an extra $4 in the pocket when entering the supermarket can mean eating dinner tonight or breakfast tomorrow...something which that LP cannot help them to do.
To a thirsty man in the desert, a plastic bottle of water may be worth all the gold in the world; it's just a matter of situation and perspective.
Another possibility: some people value things emotionally or intrinsically, and are reluctant to discard things or let things go. This can lead to hoarding and other problems (which no AKer would ever hear about...
), but it could also be a motivation for someone working at clearing out stuff to post a listing like that: by putting a price tag of $4 on the record, he may be hoping to find an "appreciative" owner who would take good care of it.I watched an auction once in Karachi, Pakistan. There were a few nice things there, carved antique furniture and such... but as the auction wore on, there were also some amazingly pitiful (to my eyes) lots, stuff like a small pile of the odd screws, nuts and bolts that might lie at the bottom of an average American tool chest. But bidders stood around seriously studying them and deliberating over whether to pay ten or eleven or twelve cents for them! When people have little-to-nothing, even very little becomes something.
There are all sorts of reasons why people do things that may look irrational to you or me at first glance... but which seem perfectly rational to them, from their situations and with their way of thinking.
Would I post a listing like that? No way. But am I surprised that someone else did? Not at all.
But if I saw that LP for a buck or two somewhere, I'd buy it, just for the nostalgia. I remember that back at the time (I was quite young), I sort of liked Paul Revere and the Raiders! Not sure if the nostalgia would extend to four bucks, though...
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