How to get rid of a bunch of cool stuff???

[mdd0127]

This is not a sale thread. I'm just looking for advice from members that may have been in my position at one time or another.

Here's the deal. I am ready to move on with my life. I've literally poured every resource I had into this ebike thing for the last three years and drastically need a long vacation and a much simpler life.

The problem is, I have all kinds of stuff that's really weighing me down and I need to get rid of it all so I can move on. These things include a big insulated box truck with a bunch of solar and a big generator, awesome electric bike, machine tools and tooling, tig/plasma/stick welder and accessories, awesome bike parts, bulk aluminum stock, polychain gt pulley stock, random tools, etc. I've been trying to sell it all but am not having much luck at all, even at giveaway prices. Every few weeks I'm able to sell something small but then I have to spend the money on dog food or something. I really need to get rid of everything all at once, and soon, even if the money from it comes in stages. Listing everything on the forums and craigslist has been a huge waste of time so far and I could have made more money by putting everything in storage and just working for the time I've spent attempting to sell things.

I do not and will not have an ebay or paypal account so that's not going to work. I'm looking for other alternatives. I've been thinking along the lines of dropping the big stuff off at an auction house or consignment store and donating everything else to folks that will put the stuff to use.

I've been searching the internet for a company that sells off unique inventory but haven't had any luck and it's very confusing. I can't express how much I'd like for all of this stuff to go away so I can move on but I really need to recover at least some portion of my investment out of it because I haven't been able to find work that pays a living wage in a few years and am suffering from some medical issues that pretty much make a 9-5 job impossible.

Has anyone on here recently liquidated a business?? If so, how did you go about it? What companies did you use?

Any info would be greatly appreciated!

[marty]

People will sell your stuff on eBay for you.

Find a Trading Assistant to sell for you

http://ebaytradingassistant.com/directory/

Go to local metal fabricator or machine shop and ask who sells used machinery in your area.

Sell big stuff to local people with Craigslist. Ebay is best for small easy to ship stuff and hard to find motor vehicles.

Pictures are real important.

[zombiess]

I'll give it to you brutally honest. I've never had to luiqidate a business but i have had to liquidate my life before. If you really need to do it and get money you need to drop you prices and start accepting other payment types so you can start moving it. Some of your older for sale threads are not as great a deal as you might think. moving things fast means 66 cents to 50 cents on the dollar, it sucks but it's how it goes and I've had to suffer through it but later recovered stronger than before. I had to liquidate so fast I only got 25 cents on the dollar for lots of my stuff.

[mdd0127]

Did I mention that I had been trying craigslist for months and was sick of people wasting my time through it......and that I don't/won't do business with ebay/paypal because they're thieves and liars?

I'm looking for a real alternative to those suggestions. I know there are business out there that will take people's crap, sell it, and send them some of the money. I'm just looking for input on good ones that won't rip me off and are actually successful at selling stuff.

And to zombiess, the prices that I have set on my older threads are way less than 66 cents on the dollar, unless the item was completely brand new. Even then, I invited interested parties to make offers and didn't get any interest at all.

[SamTexas]

I'll give it to you brutally honest.

Here's one more brutally realistic observation: Everything can be sold quickly when priced right. When something lingers around a long long time, there is only one explanation: It's priced too high.

[neptronix]

I'll give it to you brutally honest.

Here's one more brutally realistic observation: Everything can be sold quickly when priced right. When something lingers around a long long time, there is only one explanation: It's priced too high.

Yup.. sorry mdd; but your prices are a bit high on things. You have good stuff, but you're gonna have to take a hit on it.

[mdd0127]

The only thing that's high is you guys. I have everything priced for WAAAAY less than it can be bought for new.

Anyone want an Astro 3220? How about $50??? Is that what you expect??? This is frustrating the hell out of me. How can $35 for a brand new $180 fork be too high? Or $75 for a brand new CA??? Or $7500 for a truck that cost $30K to build?????

Seriously, you guys are blowing my mind!

[neptronix]

This forum consists mostly of cheap people.. myself included.

where's your thread for the fork? i might be interested.

[Kin]

In many cases, you'll be better off selling the big things but otherwise keeping the small things. I would append that to say sell the big things + the small things that are electronics which will devalue quickly.

Things in the $0-35 dollar range might not sell for much more than how much you work at. Plus, they might be things you eventually need (at least in the category of tools).

[mdd0127]

You're too cheap to give fellow forum members fair prices for anything but will gladly spend thousands of dollars buying garbage from china and keeping assholes like astro motors busy?????

I deleted a few threads out of utter disgust. The fork was probably in one of them. Once you pay for shipping though, it will probably be too expensive for you.


Anything under $50 is going to be donated to Amberwolf. He's already used a bunch of stuff I've given to him and I have full confidence that he can use most of the random small things that apparently aren't worth selling.

I can't keep anything extra. I'm moving into my camper van, which I also can't sell, and am going to try to find a community where I fit in and my skills are appreciated. If I can't, as soon as my dogs go to the other side, I'm planning on joining them. I've always hated the hell out of this stupid planet and really do not enjoy doing what it takes to be here. I've been struggling and in pain for long enough. If it can't fit in the van, it's going!

[bigmoose]

mdd you are between a rock and a very hard place. I have had to liquidate two households in the last 5 years as an appointed executor. It was a very rough time for me. What I learned has helped me in my business. There are some guidelines that deal with these types of situations, and they are not "pretty" and they DO NOT optimize your return.

What I did was focus on the highest value items first. They got my personal attention. Real estate with mineral rights, then rolling stock (cars/trucks), then selling two houses built in the depression era in this market. The real estate with oil wells next door ended up in a bidding war between the neighbors, and sold for 4X the going in estimate. One of the houses sold for 38K and the other 78K. The 78K house was worth 125K 4 years ago. ... but both were vacant, and no insurer would cover them. A house 200 feet from the 38K house had all the copper plumbing and wiring stolen and "no body saw anything..." When that happened I knew I had less than 45 days to move the house. It had to go. I made the sale to the real estate broker. He fixed the house up and sold it for 66K 18 months later. To me it was still a deal. To get the junk cleaned out of both houses, I let the antique brokers take everything, as long as the houses were dumpster dived and left clean. The cars sold for about market price.

Why the long story? To show that there are bidders at a certain price. It won't be your price however. Focus your energy on the high value stuff that has a chance of moving. Package it into big "lots." Drop your moral reservation with paypal and eBay. They are the right place for you to sell a lot of your stuff. The machine tools won't ship, so you have to sell them local.

Drive the van to some weekend flea market that sells tools. Put a sign on it "Everything for sale, including the solar arrays, the inverters and the truck, and make an offer." Start taking the offers. You can't move on with your life until all this stuff goes (from your description.) So this "stuff" is now ballast, holding back your life. You may not be able to recapitalize from the sale of this part of your journey. You may end up netting cents on the dollar or less.

I bid auctions sometimes, and that is what things go for, or less. It is what it is. To get high value YOU have to package it and market it to the right buyer. You have to pretty it up, document it, and make a sales pitch. With the type of stuff you have, you have NO exposure without eBay.

I am sorry that this has happened to you. You seem like a great guy, with ideas. This one didn't work out... move on. My life is filled with things I broke, I miscalculated on, lost investments in... you get the idea. What you try to do is shoot for the "integral under the curve". That is make your life work over a lot of years, and don't let a dead end path ruin the overall course of it.

Remember the "Joy is in the Journey"... You are on the verge of your next Great Adventure and it is time to get on with it.

Good luck and God's speed in your journey!

EDIT: Just read the posts you wrote when I was writing mine. Don't let the darkness get to you. Life is too good, too much of a joy. Today the sun was bright, the flowers blooming, a great day to be alive.

With your skills I was thinking of one of those artist communities out west. Now my info is dated, from the days of my youth... over 35 years ago, a time I was more like Luke than "me." There was a community out in the desert called Acrosanti I think... wonder what ever happened to it?

[mdd0127]

Thanks for the advice Bigmoose.

My main problem is that I've literally worked my body to shambles and have nothing but this stuff to show for it. I have blown out shoulders, exploded knees, and an upper cervical spine issue that gives me headaches that four tramadols can't tame and extremely high blood pressure, and to top it all of, I have this damn brain that sees how things are going in the world, knows how to fix a lot of it, but just doesn't have the influence(read money) to do anything about anything. Being in extreme pain daily and having to do manual labor to survive at the most basic level is just overwhelming. Having the ideas that I do is really a hindrance. If I had an 80 IQ, I could accept Jesus, live with the pain and endure another 30-50 years on this earth but the way it stands, I just want it to be over soon and to relax and play music with friends until it is.

There might have been cool communities in the past but I've been looking for one for years and have come across nothing but kooks and wingnuts that really have no survival skills whatsoever. Usually those communities have some arbitrary rule that disqualifies me from living with them too, like no vehicles (I live in my vehicle), no dogs(my dogs are my best and only friends), or a minimum amount of hard labor hours worked each week (which is impossible for me to guarantee with my medical issues). I've tried like hell to contribute to this world and to get into a position where a few of my ideas can be implemented, possibly making the world a better place and my life tolerable but I've tried too hard and wrecked myself doing it so giving up is the only thing that makes sense. I wanted to be around to see this BS world come crashing down on everyone so I can laugh as the zombies overtake me but I don't think that I can just shut up and put up with everything for that long.

I've drastically lowered the prices on everything I have and will either be taking the first offers I get, donating the stuff, or throwing it away. Amberwolf is about to make out like a bandit!!!

[mdd0127]

Acrosanti is kook central! Take a look at their website and prepare to be disappointed. They have more rules and fees than you can shake a stick at and no common sense or survival skills whatsoever. It's really sad.

[bigmoose]

That's a shame how it changed. It was a hoot back in the early 70's...

On another note, I am thinking that there is going to be something similar to the old gold rush as this country turns on oil/gas drilling on steroids over the next 10 years. Wonder what a person could sell in those "company towns"/settlements that are going to spring up in the middle of nowhere(s)?

Always keep a place in your noggin for your "dream." Never let the current reality remove all presence of your dream. That will result in bad things happening. As long as the dream is there, you are moving forward... and towards it.

Hang in there mdd, you are a good man.

[mdd0127]

The dream is long dead. My dream was for a sustainable society that's above the need for armies, cops, taxes, oil, and laws. The ultimate e-bike and non-profit for the promotion of sustainable manufacturing that I wanted to start were just small parts of a bigger picture. I honestly don't see any of it happening with our species.

[bigmoose]

Ah, now I see. Dream is too big. Results are not under your control. You will always be disappointed by the wingnuts in the world and the manipulations of the gummit.

Got to down size the dream to manageable proportions and stop reading the news. This world and the north american continent is a dream world once you remove what the programmers are trying to put in our heads. Hey no one is hunting me down with a gun, and that was going on with my Grandpa in the "old country"... I am still free to come and go, etc... the list goes on.

Get a smaller dream and make sure some of it does good for you, and not just 100% for other people. Some of my greatest joy is serving other people, but no one on this earth can do that exclusively. Everyone needs some time fishing, or painting, or playing with the dogs...

Take tonight to put together your dream for you. It's worth the time.

[neptronix]

The dream is long dead. My dream was for a sustainable society that's above the need for armies, cops, taxes, oil, and laws. The ultimate e-bike and non-profit for the promotion of sustainable manufacturing that I wanted to start were just small parts of a bigger picture. I honestly don't see any of it happening with our species.

Sounds like my dream
There are communities out there a plenty who are similarly minded. But you are still bound within the confines of this country.
The older i get, the more libertarian minded i become. I am also very tired of the rigged system we live in. It would be a lot easier if i could conform, but unfortunately i think for myself... like many of us here.

Having the majority of humanity disappoint you is quite a burden. Add some other problems on top of that and you've got a cocktail for serious depression.

I hope you find your bliss. Finding specks of it here and there have kept me going over the years, and off the 'self medication' i was once involved with. Hang in there MDD. I wish i could help you get rid of some of your stuff.

[neptronix]

stop reading the news.

^-- best snippet of advice i ever heard.

For whatever reason, i can't stop paying attention and take in the poison every time. What an awful addiction that produces no high.. just a low!

[hydro-one]

Thats how i feel alot of the time about "the dream". Idealism is like a curse sometimes. . Have you looked into yoga as a treatment for your health problems? It has cured me. Keep on keepin on bro, theres reward for you!!
Have you looked at medicinal hemp as a mood regulator, does me wonders when i get "mad", or the broken back(t11+t12 fell off cliff in banff MTB)

Edit: This should be obvious to most here but i thought id mention the best medicine is EBIKE RIDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |BY FAR THE BEST MEDICINE OUT THERE !!!!!!! HYDRO POWER AND EBIKE RIDING!!!!!

[Trackman417]

You watch this youtube video of something called "The Secret"
I know you said something about not believing in Jesus.... (or maybe I misread what you said, in that case sorry). You should watch the video. The first twenty minutes are really all you need to help turn your life around. I believe in this kind of hocus pocus. And it makes sense once you think about it. I would not recommend someone something I do not believe in or have interest in.
Just skip the first two minutes or so to get right down to it. [youtube][/url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_b1GKGWJbE8[/youtube]
I hope this helps
Rob

[neptronix]

Do not listen to trackman, for he speaks of false gods! Get out of here, heathen!



Flying spaghetti monster will bring peace to your soul. If you like tomato sauce, that is a bonus.

[emoped]

mdd ... feel your pain. Big Moose has good advice ... I dont know why but I just wrote a paragragh and when i hit send it went away ? Let me know about the forks and etc. ... I am trying to complete a build. Wish I could help you but am fighting forclosure and eviction myself. I cannot afford the shop truck but have to say I was impressed. Enjoyed your thread. Concentrate on YOU for awhile like Big Moose says. U are a good man and can contribute much. Eat well ,Be well ... emoped

[mdd0127]

If I didn't have my dogs and couldn't find beauty in what's left of nature, I would have been gone long ago. I can't seem to dream "little". I thought my ultimate e-bike was pretty small but in the end, it cost me my marriage and apparently, what was left of my sanity. I have all of the parts and tools and most of the drawings to complete the e-bike but just can't find the time or motivation to put it all together. With working to buy food taking up most of my time and already feeling like I don't get enough rest or free time, there's just no more e-bike time and even if there was, I can't imagine how let down I'd be if I poured even more of myself into the project only to be disappointed by an ignorant market and unethical suppliers in the end. From the reaction to the test bike that I did get done, the whole endeavor has been a giant waste of time and resources so it's time to call it quits.

As far as the medical issues go, I can't do Yoga to repair torn ligaments and cartilage. It's just not an option. I need a few very expensive surgeries to have any hope for a normal life and in a country where a 71 year old devil that's caused the massacre of thousands of innocent people can get a new heart, I can't even get an x-ray. I try not to watch the news. I don't own a TV and don't go to news sites but people talk about it and unless I lived in a cave, which actually sounds nice, I'm going to hear about all of the ignorant crap that our species is letting happen and buying into. I was in a restaurant last week and every table around me was full of elderly people talking about politics and religion and I almost threw up, or went around beating their heads in, or something horrible because they were ALL so ignorant and brainwashed and it literally ruined my day. I ended up choking down my lunch as quickly as possible and getting the hell out of there before I blew up and did something stupid but all day, I heard little snippets of their conversations in my head and just wanted to blow my brains out. These are the people that are voting and also the people that are running the show, and my tax dollars, that I'll literally killing myself to make, are keeping them alive. It's just intolerable. The ignorance and entitlement is everywhere. There's no hiding from it or rationalizing it. I would have hugged the guy that threw a grenade in that restaurant in appreciation for his service to mankind. That's not a "healthy" thought but it's a real one.

About MMJ, I smoked pot daily from age 13 until last christmas when I left my wife. It helped me put up with the pain, and with my brain, but it was also constantly keeping me down. It's expensive. It's illegal to grow unless you sign up on a government list....and have a dedicated place to grow it. Not much room for a grow op in the van. So now it's just one of those things that could be positive and helpful that this society we live in turns into a negative, enslaving thing. It never took the pain away anyway. It just made not care about it very much. I miss it in some ways but I think I appreciate the clarity and lack or paranoia more than I miss it.

About your grandpa being hunted down with a gun, it's here again. With the passing of the NDAA and the fact that it's legal for drones to fly around in our airspace, I literally worry every day that some asshole with a gun is going to come imprison or assassinate me because of the things I've said online and in public. I've been speaking out against the corruption for quite some time and I'm sure the IRS is after me too so that sucks. This country is turning right into Nazi Germany one lock step at a time and those that disagree no longer have the right to speak their minds. Only a violent revolution or total economic crash will slow it down or stop it and I just don't see the backbone necessary for a decent revolution. This post right here probably just got added to my file.

I'd love to ride my e-bike but it just hurts now. I ride it and see how cool of a thing it is and think of all of the resistance I've encountered in bring the same feeling to the masses. It sucks to know what could be but will never be. It also physically hurts me. I've hurt my neck more than a few times and the acceleration whiplash and bouncing really irritates those injuries. I gave my downhill bike away so I wouldn't be tempted to injure myself on it again and will basically be giving the e-bike away or parting it out any day now. Pretty much the only times of joy I experience anymore are watching my dogs play and playing my guitar, which, due to the way I've been feeling, hasn't been happening much lately.

The secret sure sounds good but once you've actually tried to live it for a while, it's just another smack in the face. Other people are trying to use the secret too and if it conflicts with yours, neither dream becomes reality.

I went through all of my craigslist ads and dropped all of the prices in half and am planning on offering my boss a package deal on all of the big tools tomorrow so hopefully something positive will come because of it. I might list a few more things that are really e-bike specific on here over the next few days too but am not sure it's even worth the effort. Anyway, sorry to bum anyone out. I really started this thread to find out about consignment/auction company options but nothing made sense without the back story and all of the gory details.

[E-racer]

Sorry I cant help you with the societal issues. I would have bought your large screen cycle analyst already if I had a case for it. Is your truck a mobile bicycle/e-bike shop? sounds like a cool concept. Maybe moving to a more bicycle/e-bike populated area will help you increase your sales. Also a move could make you feel refreshed.

[hydro-one]

MOVE| TO CANADA!!!! WEre smarter up here. we have Doc bass and Justin. We got Mad Rhino, Ypedal, North shore, Kokanees and surprisingly this year winter didnt even happen!!!!!! We got clean electricity and no US governemnt. no CIA , free surgury if you need it and lots of grow ops/tolerance.

Seriously i know a guy that might be interested in any rc drive you might still have for sale ...can you pm me the price/detail or point me to it?
mike