The 20 items I tried to sell at a consignment shop brought me a whopping $56.18. I could look at this two ways:
- That’s pathetic. I could have done better on eBay. I could have gotten more for a tax deduction if I had donated the items to Goodwill.
- That’s $56.18 I didn’t have before, so hey, money is money.
I am choosing to think about #2 because #1 is too sad.
Some lessons learned are:
- Clothes depreciate to almost nothing, overnight. I estimate the 20 items I consigned cost me, retail, about $1,500. (There were several $100+ items in the mix, many items in the $50-70 range and only a few things at $20-$30).
- To be fair, I got a lot of wear out of some of the higher-quality items. And a few things didn’t fit anymore because I have gained weight. So let’s say that I wasted a third of it – about $500 – on cheap junk or trendy things that didn’t fit with my life.
- I should buy less – a lot less – and really love the things I buy.
Every time I am tempted to go shopping to ease boredom, enjoy a retail rush, take advantage of a so-called “sale” or just to be polite when I am out window-shopping, I’ll look up this picture again and take a pass.
