Thursday, September 11, 2008




I hope everyone's Ramadan has been going well. I have been pretty busy, so not much time to post.

I have moved a lot in my life. Starting off as an "Air Force Brat" born overseas to parents who were both officers started it, and I have lived and worked abroad as an adult. I have probably moved some twenty times in my life.

I really HATE moving. It might sound funny for someone to say who has moved so much, but it is true. I have learned over the years to not accumulate too much stuff. I am the "anti packrat". In my travels I never collected a lot of junk. I'd pick up a few bits and pieces and leave it at that.

This hatred of clutter and excess stuff has caused me to be a big fan of E-Bay. My motto is if you dont use it, or wont use it anytime soon, you shouldnt keep it.

Since I have been here in Virginia from Alaska I have sold some 500 CDs on E-Bay and probably about $1,000 worth of horse equipment. It made me much more money than I'd have gotten selling the stuff on consignment at some store where they take a cut of the proceeds.

Sometimes you get more money than you thought for an item. I had one CD, a Mike Ness CD, that ended up selling for $45. Not bad when I paid $12 for it. Sometimes you get less. I find that some things that used to be collector's items are now going for much cheaper because anyone can sell them when they find them in their homes. Some of my silver dollars were like that.

Ramadan is a good time for this as we are required to pay zakat (charity) for certain items that you have. We have gotten rid of some jewelry which stuck around forever and non of us used.

Anyway, hope things are going tell. I'll be back soon to talk about the Republican VP pick and the life of a special needs parent, which the Republican VP pick happens to be.

10 comments:

otowi said...

asalaam alaaykum
I hope your Ramadhan is going well.
I've gotten rid of tons of stuff using Freecycle or used book stores, etc. I think I still have too much stuff, but I use most of what I have right now - I try to periodically get rid of what isn't being used.

fairuza said...

Salaams Brother,

Ummm,you SOLD 500 cds?! Is that your own personal stash or do you run your own online store on Ebay? That's alot of music!

I always wanted to try selling stuff on EBay, seems like a good way to make some cash for a stay-at-home mom.

Susie of Arabia said...

You are so right about not accumulating stuff. I just emptied out our home in Florida this past summer, and I will NEVER EVER accumulate stuff again!!! It's such a pain. Good for you getting some money out of it all on EBAY. I didn't have a computer to do that or the time, so I had to just give a lot away for free. Sad!
Ramadan Kareem to you and your family.

أبو سنان said...

Fairuza,

Yeah, some 500 CDs. My collection at that time was around 1,500 CDs. I am not a pack rat, but books, music and outdoor equipment was always something I had and was willing to spend money on.

I had the entire Mozart collection and the Beethoven collection. Between the two of them I think they amounted to over 350 CDs.

When I sold the Mozart collection I sold it whole for about $800. Not bad, but I picked it up when I lived in the UK and prices were higher and had VAT. I probably paid $3000 for it.

Susie,

What I didnt sell on E-Bay I gave away.

Scribbler said...

assalamu alaikom,

eBay truly is a phenomenon... I've used it myself in the past.

-Scribbler

Suburban said...

First time commenter, long time lurker. Am really enjoying the blog.

I Hadn't picked you for a Mike Ness / Social D fan. I Love, love, love, mike ness. I'm wondering how much I could make if I put my collection up on Ebay now...

Great post.

parallelsidewalk said...

I know exactly what you mean. Truthfully, if I wasn't married I'd probably just live in a tent and/or small cabin with a backpack worth of stuff, cooking implements, sleeping stuff, a few changes of clothes, a sleeping bag, an ipod, and a library card for whatever the nearest town was. Moving and accumulating shit bug me no end even though I've also lived in 4 countries and ten or so US cities. Glad everything is going well!

American Muslima Writer said...

Awesome advice, I always love hearing about people slimming down and getting rid of all that unnessisary stuff in their lives. Toys are my biggest problem. When scattered across the small galaxy of my house they fill four or five laundry baskets and I'm liek that is just too much junk, what if i had to move tomorrow?!
E-bay rocks for sure!

Alexandra said...

Hi! I just found your Blog and can't stop reading it. Also wanted to say Hi to someone who was born in Wiesbaden. I was born there as well.

Anthrogeek10 said...

Salaams,

I think I will follow your advice. I have an UNOPENED Steve Irwin movie to sell...I think I will check and see how much it really is going for on the "E list".

Anthrogeek10