When we leave on this journey, all of our possessions have a fate.  They are either

1) going with us
2) going into storage or
3) being sold.

We’ve reached the point where we are ready to start selling some of the things that will not be going with us or into storage.  

Items that make the Sell List include:

• His car
• My car
• living room furniture (but not the family room furniture)
• Kids’ furniture
• dining room tables

Most of what we are selling are all things that we will be ready to replace when we come home.  Both of the cars have over 200,000 miles (and no car payments).  The living room furniture sits in the “formal” living room and doesn’t really get used except when we have guests.  The kids’ furniture has been cobbled together, mismatched and passed down over the years.  The dining room tables are not our favorites (one is old, the other is marble and has been a pain to maintain).  For all these reasons, these items made the cut.  We also just simply asked ourselves, “What would we want/need or miss when we come home and unpack our storage unit?”  I was surprised to find that list was rather small.

I started by listing the sofa and loveseat in a generic ad.  The only response was someone who wanted to pay me via PayPal.  (No thanks, I’m not in the mood to be scammed).  Then I listed the dining room table.  No responses.  I listed a hutch and got several responses.  It was the lowest priced item.

The ads were boring and I probably overpriced a few of the items.  So it got me thinking and I decided to take a new approach to the ad for his car.  Here’s the car ad:

2004 Toyota Corolla – the best car I have ever owned – $3200

I’ve owned about 20+ cars in my 44 years of life. I have to tell you, this is the most reliable and toughest car I have ever had. It’s had regular maintenance and oil changes and it’s never had a major problem. The starter was just replaced. It gets amazing gas mileage and just keeps on ticking. Super dependable and reliable and it would make a great first car or economy choice.

I swear I would drive it until the wheels fall off, but alas, we are moving out of the country and I can’t take this with me. I’ll be sad to see it go, but I hope it can make the next owner as happy as it’s made me.

Consumer reviews rate this car a 9.1 out of 10. (Everyone loves it as much as I do!)

Kelley’s Blue Book values the car like this (with the current mileage): If you buy this car from a dealer, expect to pay $5,200+. From a private seller, expect to pay $3,400. If you look around on Craigslist the cheapest Corolla is $4,500.

KBB wants me to ask for more, but I’m in the mood to make a deal! So I’ll cut to the negotiations right away and let this sweet baby sell for $3,200. I promise not to kiss it before you drive it away, but I won’t promise not to cry.

I sent the ad to Romeo to see if he wanted to offer any feedback or make any changes.  I wasn’t intending on publishing the ad just yet.  But he clicked a link and accidentally published it.  The ad went up at 3:29pm.

At 4:30 the car was sold for asking price.  The phone rang off the hook for the rest of the night.  Everyone wanted the car.  A dealership even called and complimented the ad by saying I could come down there and sell cars for them.

I find it fascinating that my boring generic ads received no responses but my creative ad sold the car right away.  I anticipated a much slower response and taking at least 2 weeks to sell the car.  So much for that!  I guess we are down to one car now.