You seriously didn’t think that I would let the New Year pass us by without you getting one more snippet of my ahem… “wisdom”, did you???
Today I’m going to teach you how to get sucked into the bowels of “pack-rat-itis”, or more correctly “How to become a true hoarder”!
You all KNOW that I usually practice what I preach, but alas, in this story I did NOT and sadly, it doesn’t have a happy ending.
It is my HOPE that after reading this you will not make the same mistake Christmas morning when you gleefully rip into all the wonderful goodies that Santa left for you ….
And…if you fail to heed my advice, your “happy holiday” may turn into a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas….
Before I begin, always remember the closet hoarder’s creed:
THROW AWAY NOTHING!!!!!
So here’s the story…
It’s an electronics bonanza at the Henry household this year, and hubby & I both hate to wait. I got hubby a Warp Android Smartphone and he got me an HP Touchpad.
I LOVE my Touchpad, it is AWESOME and meets my needs exactly!
Anyway, I digress…
The very first thing I noticed about the HP Touchpad (and the HP accessories that go with it) is the absolutely beautiful & functional packaging. I’ve NEVER noticed packaging before, but MAN these boxes are just amazing pieces of engineering.
I am DULY impressed!
Since I fell in LOVE with the BOX my Touchpad came in, it just makes me more depressed to relate the rest of this sad accounting of my story to you.
Anyway, about two weeks after I had opened up my Touchpad and adopted it into my family of electronic “toys”, I was surfing on eBay as I had tweeted about HP selling Touchpads on eBay for $99.
Just to be clear, my “tweets” are automagically generated by several RSS feeds that match a set of search criteria I put together. So some of them are pretty wacky, some seem spammy, and then there are a few that I actually send out ON PURPOSE.
Anyway, lo and behold I came across this ended auction below:
Click on the screenshot to open a larger version in a new window.
WOW, can you believe it??? Some smart seller sold their Touchpad BOX for $25!!!
My first thought was “Holy Cow!!! I can do that!”
Well, that was a good THOUGHT.
The next problem, find that stupid box. You know me, I throw away NOTHING.
My house is a total wreck, there are empty boxes, packaging, games with half the pieces missing, rusty old crap, broken stuff and just plain old trash… Not to mention piles of Bed Bath & Beyond junk mail sitting in huge stacks waiting to be listed!
You just KNOW that I turned this place upside down, don’t-cha?
And you also know that I was cussing the WHOLE DAMN TIME!
So, in the end, I NEVER DID find my box. I am CERTAIN it went into the recycling bin, so at least it didn’t end up in the landfill.
But I DID throw out money, cold hard cash.
I might as well have thrown a $20 bill into the bin…. Sigh.
Now that you have heard my sad, but true tale of woe, I will explain WHY my empty box was worth $25 in the first place….
Many people have bought Touchpads since their initial release. However, many people did not save their beautiful box (bad, bad consumers!)
Now that the price of larger pads have come down (or maybe they just need some extra cash!) those same people have decided to SELL their Touchpad.
What is the ONE extra accessory in EVERY eBay auction that can double, triple, and even get 10 to 100 times HIGHER ending auction rates?
The ORIGINAL box.
Since the USED Touchpad ending prices are still in the mid $200s, having the ORIGINAL box does make a HUGE difference in the final ending price.
Now, don’t go all weird on me and start saving the original packaging of the Silly Bandz you bought for your daughter or the box that the Rose Art markers came in…. BE SMART.
I don’t want Niecy Nash (“Clean House”) coming over to MY house and blaming ME for your piles of trash!
That said, when YOU are opening up your gifts under the tree, think about this, and KEEP your packaging for those high ticket or collectible items, at least until you have ascertained that there is no interest in it whatsoever on eBay.
Happy Holidays!
Enjoy & I’ll see you in the New Year!!
I just recently put an original Wii System box with inserts up for auction. It was taken down by eBay because it was a violation.
They said that they do not allow the sale of empty branded boxes.
Too bad, I thought that was such a great idea.
Hi Debs,
Happy New Year to you and yours. I can be a hoarder. We’re moving house again shortly after being in our current home just over 4 years. There are boxes in the cellar that haven’t been opened since that move. At least they’re packed ready to go..lol. I have some boxes that I have been taking from work thta were not required and after asking permission, I flat packed them and now they will come in useful… brills.
Kind Regards
Donald
I Debbie – I am quite the box horder as well. My husband purchased a set of Christmas dishes for me several years ago – each piece tells the story of the night before Christmas – I love them. I have the boxes piled up – to use for shipping, but I just cannot seem to part with them. I will have to check to see if they are worth anything!
Wishing you and your family a HAPPY, HEALTY AND PEACEFUL NEW YEAR!!!
Sue
I usually keep boxes for things like the touchpad for about 30 days or so in case they need returned. Many manufacturers/retailers have a clause about returns being in the original package. But, I never would have thought about it increasing the value of an item on E-Bay! Thamk’s Deb.
Great post Deb. I have been keeping a variety of boxes and packaging to use for my Ebay customers to send their purchases in. Now I have this perspective I will never look at boxes the same way again. Thanks a bunch! And Merry Christmas. I am at the tail end of my lovely Christmas Day here in Australia.
First of all may I wish you and yours a very Happy Christmas Debbie.
Following this post I was prompted to look on eBay, as I have a brand new ipad 2 box in perfect condition. I have not thrown this away as I thought it might come in handy to send off a book in from one of my Amazon sales.
Well I couldn’t believe it, within about 10 seconds searching eBay I found a box selling for £17.00 and the seller has already sold 8 more. He must be collecting them from his/ her friends having realized their value.
Or maybe he reads your blog.
Any way as it stands maybe I’ll try to sell the box and include a free book as a bonus.
Whatever, here is the latest ebay item number, 320811157046
Last updated on 11 Dec, 2011 19:35:22 GMT View all revisions.
All the very best for the New Year,
Dave Robus.
I also hoard,I have a couple of hundred item’s I have purchased over the last few years that I had intended to sell. But after looking at it after it arrived I thought who the hell would buy this crap, so it’s all on shelves in the basement. I really enjoy your articles and right now you are the only one I follow.
Have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and please stay in good health.
L. Petersen