Wednesday, April 21, 2010

One Man's Trash is Another Man's...Rock?

Do you see anything significant about this picture?

Me neither.

But let me tell you. This morning this picture could have won a popularity contest.

Brian and I are in the midst of a huge yard project. We're removing all of our existing landscaping material, mostly rock of all shapes and sizes, and replacing it with sod.

The project has been months in planning and in our research we were shocked to find out that the cost to dispose of everything will be higher than the cost to buy and lay black dirt and sod.

The disposal portion of the project will take place this weekend. Brian has ordered a skid loader and two large dumpsters. And we've tricked bribed begged politely asked some of our friends if we could use their muscle power.

But before we throw our money and all these materials away a thought lingered in my mind. I knew all this stuff seemed like garbage in our minds but what if someone else coveted the way our yard currently looks. What if they had a burning desire to use all this rock that we so desperately want to do away with? To each their own, right?

So I put an ad on Craig's List. I'm a Craig's List virgin in both the selling and buying department. To me it's too cluttered and I can never find what I'm looking for in an efficient manner. But I remember a good friend once telling me that there's always somebody willing to take anything especially if it's for free.

So I posted that picture with some ground rules:

1. Transport on your own.
2. First come, first serve.
3. Must be taken by Saturday morning.

I posted that ad at 9:30 a.m. Within 15 minutes I had seven emails requesting the location for pickup. By 10:30 every single rock was gone. After 10:30 I had to turn away 12 additional interested emailers. For rocks. Rocks that, previously, we were going to have to pay to get rid of.

Craig's List, I think you have a new fan.

6 comments:

  1. LOVE it Jenny. That's Craigslist for ya.

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  2. Woo-hoo! That is AWESOME! I love Craigslist for selling off the big, bulky baby/toddler stuff.

    For getting rid of things, I also recommend Freecycle (if you have one in your area). You don't get the tax write off that you would if you took things to Goodwill, but sometimes (like when you're dealing with rocks!) it's worth it to just not have to deal.


    Have fun landscaping! (One of my favorite things to do)

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love Cragslist too. One mans trash is another mans treasure. And I say by all means I'll buy yours and someone can buy mine!

    God Bless
    http://thewaywehomeschool.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. WE LOVE CRAIGSLIST!! I lied, Casey loves Craigslist. Our humble abode has needed several home improvements that Casey had to surrender to an outside source. He has wheeled and dealed and gotten some GREAT deals on sprinklers, countertops, plumbing, a new air cond, curbing, you name it! Welcome, dear Craig's Lister!

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  5. Craigslist = AWESOME. We've sold more than we've bought, but we have done both.

    stephanie@metropolitanmama.net

    ReplyDelete
  6. We are huge fans of Craig's List! Got Ashley's PB bed and desk on there for a steal! And we sold a ton of stuff when we moved too...!

    ReplyDelete

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