
Sell everything - j0ncc
https://medium.com/what-i-learned-today/a27e01e84fac
======
Flavius
How about selling everything and NOT buying it back? Because halfway through
the article he goes:

 _In Victoria, I bought all new furniture — TV, couches, bed, kitchenware, etc
— and still had cash left over from the sale of my old stuff. That’s right, I
made money._

This can only work if you're filthy rich. The article ignores 90%+ of the
world's population who can't sell everything because they own pretty much
nothing. And yeah, these people can be hackers or founders as well. It's hard
to think that somebody just learned _today_ what is the default for most of
the people and he feels like _everyone_ should _profit_ from this amazing
discovery.

A better title for this article would be: How to have more fun with your money
by selling expensive stuff and buy more expensive stuff

~~~
jamesaguilar
Bed, couch, tv and kitchenware isnt exactly the model of decadence, even among
the poor in Canada.

~~~
Flavius
That's true, but selling everything you have just to buy more is not the best
idea regardless of your social position.

If you move to a new city for example you could just rent an apartment that
has most of the stuff you need for a fraction of the cost and effort of buying
your own.

------
revorad
_Please, if you are rich, stop explaining the idea of freedom from stuff as if
it’s a trick that even you have somehow mastered.

The only way to own very little and be safe is to be rich._

[http://vruba.tumblr.com/post/45256059128/wealth-risk-and-
stu...](http://vruba.tumblr.com/post/45256059128/wealth-risk-and-stuff)

~~~
acqq
The article author sees it somehow insightful to sell old things in order to
start buying _anew_ (having sold the old clothes, he is glad he can buy the
new ones _that match_ ). What a discovery!

------
ronilan
Volume reduction works great until you get to the kids Legos and Pillow
Pets... Isabella the purple unicorn is not for sale.

~~~
avalaunch
As a kid my parents would throw a yard sale once a year where we were
encouraged to sell all of our old stuff. My parents would suggest low prices
to make sure everything moved but ultimately it was up to us to set the prices
and we got to keep all of the money. I always thought it was a lot of fun. I
might hold on to a prized toy here and there but for the most part I enjoyed
selling my old toys.

EDIT: I think the trick was letting us own the process. We helped place the ad
in the paper (when we were old enough), we helped design the signs to hang up
in the neighborhood, we helped hang them up, we chose which toys to sell, what
to price them, we haggled with the buyers (very fun), and we spent the money
after (or saved it if you were my brother).

------
easy_rider
I think the point the author is trying to make that having to much emotional
attachment to material objects, with side-effects like hoarding these items,
or being upset when something happens to them can be potentially toxic for
you.

Sorry, I just don't have the convenience of time, money and means of transport
to afford the kind of leisure the author is advocating. For one, I bought a
house pretty much owning some electronics, couple guitars and amps, a full
backpack, a garbage bag of cables and a couple full of clothes. I pay regular
visits to my local thrift store, and they have some really nice mint stuff (or
easy to refurbish) for cheap. You can also get a lot of 'sets' of
items/furniture if you like your possessions to "match". People like the
author sometimes basically dump their entire living room there. Also you won't
feel as bad for reselling it if you end up hating the stuff, as you didn't
have that big money attached to it, which mitigates a good chunk of perceived
emotional value.

------
gbog
Great idea. I'd even say to try to avoid buying a tv, as this is the most
powerful brainwashing machine you can get.

In the same vein, I like to say one's freedom in invert proportional to the
number of keys in the pocket.

~~~
kryten
Spot on.

Another TV-free household here.

I had some of my daughter's friends over for a sleep over last year (ugh) and
we had a 15-year old 26" Sony Trinitron CRT which I was ridiculed for by them
as they all have massive plasma/LCD and 3D units.

For some strange reason I felt slightly guilty about this but after a
discussion with the other half, we decided that this was the symptom of a
problem with society rather than a problem with us and that it needed fixing.

Couple of days later, it went on the street with a sign taped on "Free TV".
Within 10 minutes someone had taken it.

A year later, we all sleep better, we all communicate better and we are all a
lot closer and we're also £150 a year better off (we have to pay TV license in
the UK).

All it does is consume time and divide people.

~~~
UVB-76
Out of interest, what do you do when you want to watch a film?

The way I see it, you either go to the cinema, whereupon you pay some
outrageous sum to see a limited range of new releases (most of which are
appalling in comparison to the body of classic film that exists), watch it on
some cramped computer screen, or go to a friend's house and use their
television.

None of these options appeal to me, and it's one of the main reasons I haven't
acted on the "throw away your television" mantra.

~~~
primitur
Another TV-free household reporting in, here. When my family and I want to
watch a movie, we do indeed cramp around my 17" laptop and watch it. Its quite
comfortable, four of us on the couch, and the screen propped up properly in
front of us. We all see it, we're all quite comfortable.

I feel I must define TV-free, though. We have iPads and other tablets, and
ample computer resources throughout the house, where its not really fair to
say we don't "do the vegetable video brainwash thing", because we do. Its just
that its not _per some broadcast schedule_ and we choose, entirely, what we
want to watch instead of having it imposed upon us by a Programming Director.

We _never_ pay for video, though. Maybe once in a few moons my wife and I
might go to the cinema, but unless the movie is really good, we don't bother.
I have absolutely no problem with the idea of bankrupting "Hollywood", which I
see as a disastrous cult that must be de-funded. Both of us have sort of made
up our mind that mainstream entertainment is mindlessly boring, and so we do
try to get involved a little more in the process of discovering new things. We
do pay for art where _we know the author of it, or have a way to pay them
directly_ without having a Brand engine in the way.

------
Schiphol
The title made me assume this post would be about downshifting. But no, it's
about "refreshing" your looks and furniture by throwing everything away and
buying new stuff. Ehm, OK.

------
staunch
It's easy to get rid of your stuff when you're moving. You're being forced to
do either the chore of moving it or selling it.

I haven't figured out a way to get myself to go through the pain of sorting
things, throwing them away, and selling them when I'm _not_ moving. So, things
pile up.

It really bothers me too. Someone could profit by helping me with this
problem. Maybe a company that comes to your house and takes away everything
you don't want for a base small fee, then make a profit by selling your old
stuff? Maybe they take 50%?

~~~
revorad
This startup is doing exactly that -
[http://usesold.com/](http://usesold.com/)

~~~
VLM
"800 got junk" is a 20 year old franchise operation using more or less the
business model above with hundreds of franchise locations.

A 150 year old non-profit with a nearly identical business model is the
Salvation Army, although they only do donations and don't pay for junk other
than kind of optimistic tax donation forms. They do have the model down WRT
truck rolls up to house and junk disappears to be sold at a resale store,
however no money officially changes hands at junk acquisition time.

There are also innumerable decade or so old ebay resale operations which
frankly are shoveling junk. Yes I'm sure there are some, but not many,
specializing in "non-junk".

------
josscrowcroft
I accidentally left my suitcase on the Gatwick Express airport train this
morning, containing practically everything I now own save for my passport,
ukulele and current Macbook Air, which were all on my person... I only
realised 10 minutes later when I got to the check-in desk.

As I was on the shuttle back to the train, I started laughing. _Everything I
own? That 's everything I own?_

I realised I didn't need any of it. A bit of a cliché, sure, and I'm a
comfortably-off 25-year old single white male, apparently.

When I got to the platform, I found my suitcase sitting on the train, about to
trundle off into the morning. I looked at the case, a full 21kg of junk - the
last 21kg - and suddenly felt weighed down, as if all these things were a
constant restraint. One suitcase.

There is a movement towards casting off our possessions to discover who we
are; it's a tired story, as old as the hills. It points to the moon but it's
not the moon.

The junk we most want to lose, and most deserve to realise our freedom from,
is metaphorical, it's spiritual baggage, attachments to stuff.

My point here: if _one suitcase of stuff_ is enough to be a mental burden,
then when will I be happy? When there's nothing left? What about this body?
Why not shed that also?

You can have a monk in the Himalayas with more 'stuff' than the executive with
a condo full of Ikea furniture. It doesn't matter. Depth and space are created
(no, _discovered_ ) when we lose the attachments, not when we lose the stuff.

Losing the stuff can be helpful and healthy, but it's not the ultimate truth.
In truth, it's even a distraction for many.

So I read this post and my laughter increased. All this stuff: it's all a
joke!

Just some thoughts as they come.

~~~
VLM
"There is a movement towards casting off our possessions to discover who we
are"

That doesn't work if who you authentically are is an artisan, or at least for
some arts.

Some artisans/craftsman/hobbyists/makers/whatever are incredibly lucky WRT
fitting the whole "throw your stuff away" meme. Your ukulele fits in your
arms. Good for you. I need a forklift to move my larger metalworking machines.

If I threw away all my tools, it wouldn't really help me as a tool
creator/user.

"Losing the stuff can be helpful and healthy, but it's not the ultimate
truth."

I'm convinced a lot of the push for it comes from profit seeking
intermediaries. Sell you a hammer every year, so you use it once and throw it
out. I occasionally still use some of my grandfathers inherited tools, which
must put those people into fits.

~~~
josscrowcroft
I'm not sure you read what I wrote regarding the first point. There is this
movement (ukulele or metalworking machines regardless), and this movement does
not inherently imply nor guarantee spiritual growth.

------
atirip
I moved many times. My golden rule is - when packing, give/throw away 50%,
then by unpacking give/throw away another 50%. And try to move once in 5
years. Keeps you sane and fresh. Oh, and because of all that "training" i
really can relaocate to anywhere (like another country) with just a backpack
and smile on my face.

------
mbrock
I appreciate stories like this more when the author just tells their story.
When you like something I guess it's natural to want other people to follow.
But writing that uses this mode of "you should" seems to assume too much about
the audience. We might be in a totally different situation. For example I'm
just settling into my new apartment after living in dorms and collectives all
my life -- it's my first time even owning a couch.

~~~
jamesaguilar
I don't have any problem with the writer assuming the reader can intelligently
apply the article to him or herself.

~~~
mbrock
That's where I'm coming from, too -- which is why I prefer to just hear the
author's own story. But let's not quibble...

------
rokhayakebe
Then, buy the same thing.

------
wyclif
...except your books.

~~~
jacques_chester
I know, intellectually, that some books simply _expire_. They simply aren't
relevant any more. Such books can't be given to a library and can't be
offloaded to a book exchange.

Some even, due to changes in the world they refer to, have taken on a negative
value because they can deceive a trusting reader. In good conscience these
cannot be given to someone else.

I console myself with these thoughts whenever I dispose of a book. Because I
find the disposal of books to be thoroughly traumatic. Giving up my old law
books was heart breaking. So too my teenage copies of _Learn to Teach Yourself
C++ in 21.75 Minutes for Dumb Idiots_.

It all hurt.

Beds? Chairs? Clothes? Meh. I would be OK with starting from a scorched earth.
But my books are sacred. I do not choose them lightly, because I know that
parting will be so painful.

