Regular Non-Consumer Advocate readers already know that I’m a big fan of selling unwanted household items on Craigslist, but what you may not know is that my husband is a closet addict as well. And while I was busy birthin’ babies at work yesterday, my husband sold a monstrous $35 P.G.E surplus store desk for the lovely inflated price of $150. Although I respected the classic industrial lines of this midcentury desk, it weighed more than an elephant on a brownie bender, was completely inflexible as to where it could be located, and made furniture arrangement awkward in our spare bedroom.
It had to go.
So bye-bye, behemoth of a desk. You were useful in my husband’s 1997 commercial photo studio, less so in our 2011 spare bedroom. Say hello to your new home in a real estate office.
A little info on the desk:
“The Modernaire was introduced in 1948 from the Invincible Metal Furniture Company. It became the signature product line of the company for the next 50 years and is still produced today as the “M-Line desk”, which retails for $1200. The patent numbers place the desk in the 1950 and 1959 range.”
Do you have any cluttersome and potentially profitable objects in your home? Give someone else the opportunity to find use for them, while plumping up your bank account. Seriously, it’s a no brainer.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”
{ 23 comments… read them below or add one }
Oooh, what a profit! Yay Mr. NCA!
He was giddy, I tell you giddy with the experience!
Katy
And well he should be. He needs a frugal high five or something.
I have been listing stuff on eBay, a new experience for me. It gives me a thrill when something sells for as much or more than what we paid for it. Granted, most items do not, but just getting things that we don’t use out of the house and to someone that wants them feels so good.
I have yet to use Craigslist. My husband does not want strangers coming to the house.
I use eBay sporadically, but it’s such a pain in the tuchus that I tend to put it off.
Katy
I am inspired to list some unneeded dust-gathering bits at my home by the post…I’ve been putting it off. Like that damn ink guzzling photo printer, goodbye!
I’ve used ebay before to clear out inventory from a former at home business that I couldn’t keep up (or choose not to) with after the kiddos started coming. We also have a local consignment shop that I use. While I don’t make the full profit I also don’t have to do ALOT of the work. And anything they don’t take on consignment I decide needs to go straight to goodwill on the way home….wasn’t good night for the consignment store, b/c of being too old or out of style…sounds like something Goodwill might LOVE!
Yeah on the sale and new space in your spare room!
That is EXACTLY the same desk I had for many years. Having that typing stand on the side was a huge improvement for us clerk/typists. And not being wood meant no splinters, and fewer nylons ruined. It was easy to keep clean, too. Eventually, my company had all the furniture and metal file cabinets spray painted yellow (they thought it would cheer us up). The paint would flake off and looked horrible.
Good for you getting so much money for it! In those days, $150 was more than a week’s pay.
Elaine
Yellow? Yikes!
Katy
Seriously great profit! And you get additional space in your house. Sweet deal all the way around, if you ask me.
nice going!!!
I luv to sell stuff on craigslist! Great job!
I would be so excited with that profit. I LOVE Craigslist. I recently did a household sweep and sold quite a bit on CL. It is the first place I check when we have a need/want as well.
I would definitely believe that the desk is made by a company called “Invincible Metal Furniture.” It looks so hefty!
Good deal on getting it sold 🙂
I’ve always been a loyal Craigslister, but now I’m turning to cleaning out my closet and eBay is definitely the place to do it! I’ve been listing shirts and dresses that I haven’t worn in years for .99 auction style, and getting bidding wars going! Who knew that shirt I wore twice and hated could start such a frenzy. With the stack of clothes I need to get rid of, even if they all sold for .99 I’d still have about $50 more than if I just donated them to Goodwill, so call me an eBay convert!
I assume someone local bought it? Can’t imagine shipping this monster.
That’s the best thing about Craigslist, how immediate and easy it is. Someone comes to the house, hands you cash and takes your crap away.
No shipping, no commission, no nuthin’. 😉
Katy
Hooray! I’ve got a behemoth desk that looks an awful lot like this one but without the side addition. I can attest to its weight. We had to take it apart to get it into our (previous) office (now a walk in closet). Then I had to hold it up while my husband crawled underneath to reassemble it. If we ever decide to move, I’ve decided that it and our old sleeper sofa will remain in the house.
I’ve got the same desk (minus the typist stand) in seafoam green. The best thing was my husband found it for free–someone in the huge building where he works was getting rid of it. We just had to haul it! Nice to know we could convert it to cash if we no longer have need of it!
Wow! Had similar desk (minus the typing return) at my late father’s house and I could not give it away! Tried all the area Freecycle lists and no takers. We ultimately sold the house with the desk staying in the workshop.
I had one, too, Elle, also without the typing return! Someone gave it to me free when I moved to a rental home years ago, before I was a homeowner. When I moved out, I was relying on the generosity of friends with pickup trucks and really had no extra room, so I left it in the house. When I lived in my next house, I was given an enormous 1960s walnut executive desk (like something you’d see on Mad Men) that my place of work, a newspaper, was going to pitch. When I sold that house and moved in with my now-husband, he was already in shock from all the STUFF that was entering his house, and I ended up leaving THAT desk in place, too. I think that one would have been worth something. This was before I had a Craigslist account or a digital camera, so …
Nice desk and nice profit. We’ve been looking for one like that for my husbands office.
wow, well done!!