Win Win

The weekend I got back from Hong Kong I tackled something long overdue: putting my "retired", but theoretically functional photo printer complete with spare cartridges on the classifieds platform of my choice and while I was at it, also added the old little tube TV from my spare bedroom that had been sitting there unused for years. I did not want any money for them, so I marked the ads as "for free". Within minutes I was bombarded by e-mails (see the screenshot above for a small portion of them), the printer being particularly popular, and that same evening the ad went live a nice lady who lives in my district came to pick it up. A few days later, a friendly young gentlemen whom I had prioritised as he actually wrote a very polite e-mail complete with correct grammar (unlike the monosyllabic e-mails of the majority of interested people) came to pick up the TV.

As always when I give away things for free (in the past: furniture, old cassette tapes, random things I won in prize draw...) I feel this immense sense of gratification: with minimal effort I managed to declutter and rid myself of objects I did not have use for and made someone else really happy. I'm now motivated to continue on this decluttering mission. If not online, I will just get rid of things via our building's unofficial "flea market corner" by the entrance, where everyone just puts the things they don't want anymore and is free to pick up somebody else's stuff if they like any of it. So far, I have only ever been on the contributing, not the receiving end, but I love the convenience and simplicity of it.