Americans unload prized belongings to make ends meet (at alarming rates)

[Liberal_in_LA]

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jmVfjiFvKMMmnD72pAgqzkLBW4CwD90BO5EO0

Americans unload prized belongings to make ends meet
By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO – 24 minutes ago

NEW YORK (AP) — The for-sale listings on the online hub Craigslist come with plaintive notices, like the one from the teenager in Georgia who said her mother lost her job and pleaded, "Please buy anything you can to help out."

**
Struggling with mounting debt and rising prices, faced with the toughest economic times since the early 1990s, Americans are selling prized possessions online and at flea markets at alarming rates.

***
Craigslist CEO Jeff Buckmaster acknowledged the increasing popularity of selling all sort of items on the Web, but said the rate of growth is "moving above the usual trend line." He said he was amazed at the desperate tone in some ads.

***
On Craigslist, Buckmaster said, three of the four fastest-growing for-sale categories are tied to gas — recreational vehicles like campers and trailers, cars and trucks, and boats.

[izquierdista]

1. Now they find out

The true worth of all that crap they bought at the mall for 40% off. If they get 30 cents on the dollar, they will be doing very well, indeed.

[acmavm]

2. And the predator class will be there to scarf up anything of value for

pennies.

[BigDaddy44]

9. The predator class?

Who is that exactly? Anyone who buys stuff from someone else?

Trust me, when you need money for something fast and someone's willing to pay for it then you're grateful for the "predator class"

[Festivito]

13. The ones creating economic retraction, then profiting from it.

Jefferson wrote that if we, that is the US, did not own our own banks, our country would go through booms and busts until our descendants would no longer own the land their forefathers had fought and died to win.

That statement is starting to become prophetic.

Google: Money Masters
Take and hour and listen to the videos presented. I suggest it will be worth the time spent.

[acmavm]

14. Where are you people coming from? What is wrong with you?

The predator class is exactly what it sounds like. Those who have the most but stick those with the least with the tab. Those that can pick the bones off the middle and lower classes while sitting in their McMansions plotting and planning how to keep all of what they have and getting what little bit the 'common folks' have managed to accrue.

Then there's those with very little smarts.

[Donnachaidh]

18. you've been reading far too many Dickens novels of late

pick the bones? :rofl:

Those of us who DO use Craigslist are the ones who HAVE been frugal, who HAVE NOT been buying things with a piece of plastic with a 30 percent charge rate. And now WE'RE hammered by the self-righteous who are pitying those who bought the toys they couldn't afford in the first place?

Oh please....:rofl: :eyes: :rofl:

[acmavm]

20. Another idiot heard from. You see yourself as being better? Or are you

one of the vultures?

edit: I had to run an errand and the whole time all I could think of was your brain-dead cold hearted misplaced arrogance. Who the fuck are you to talk about people who are losing everything they ever worked for like that? Who the fuck are you to pretend to be this holier-than-thou frugal little penny pincher who is better than someone who's used their credit cards simply for survival. Now, there is nothing personal here because all I have is a debit card for my checking account. And I haven't lost anything but hours out of my paycheck because of an economy that's been manipulated and destroyed by the people I am talking about. But some people are suffering and losing simply because of this economy. They aren't all maxing out credit cards. Which just goes to show how limited you are in the thought processing area.

Every time some preachy idiot with poor reasoning skills comes along and pronounces judgement and uses yourself as a paragon of virtue that everyone should all look up to, I could just gag.

I've seen people taking you to task before for something truly ignorant that you've posted. Obviously you've learned nothing from the experience.

[acmavm]

27. See if Craigslist has an intellect that you can buy. You sure don't have

one now.

edit: Your main claim to fame (in your own eyes) is that you can shop on the internet? Or do you do everything on the internet? Do you get outside in the world? Do you talk to people in the flesh? Craigslist is the cure-all for all the ills that people are suffering today? You are a laugh riot. In a very bad way though.

If we all shop on Craigslist the economy will straighten up? People will all become employed? What's wrong with the world will all be made better because of CRAIGSLIST!!

You could use a good dose of Dickens. And Sinclair. And Zola. And a good psychiatrist I suspect. Because you're crazier than a bedbug if you think that your lack of empathy for those who are losing everything they value is funny. Or could have been prevented if they just went to CRAIGSLIST.

[Caretha]

29. Yep, there is a book

called the Bone Pickers. Its about the "carpet baggers" that went South in the 20's & 30's during the Great Depression. They went in and bought land from the farmers who were going belly up. Btw, they were paying 5 cents an acre.

[slackmaster]

19. How about those of us who are simply lucky to still have a job?

Does that make me a predator?

[acmavm]

23. OMG, this place is full of 'em tonight. NO, you're not one of those I'm talking

about. Apparently you are not familiar with the term or logic for that matter.

[slackmaster]

25. It sounds pretty nebulous, and you're not being very clear about who you are referring to

Is there a specific set of criteria I could look up somewhere?

[acmavm]

26. Try looking up the people who exported jobs overseas and then import

goods made by people who now have those jobs to sell to their 'fellow' countrymen, the ones they put out of work.

Try reading up on this guy:



Exxon is giving Lee Raymond one of the most generous retirement packages in history, nearly $400 million, including pension, stock options and other perks, such as a $1 million consulting deal, two years of home security, personal security, a car and driver, and use of a corporate jet for professional purposes.

http://thinkprogress.org/2006/04/14/exxon-ceo-190k-day/

Try thinking. Seriously you cannot be this dense.

[slackmaster]

30. Are you capable of conversing without stooping to personal attacks?

Just wondering.

[acmavm]

28. Yeah, I'll bet they're soooooooo happy to see their prized possessions

having to be put up for sale.

[Donnachaidh]

16. wow -- let's back away from the punchbowl

predator class? Craigslist has been on the net for years. And those of us who DO buy things from it are FAR from anywhere NEAR being predators.

Get angry at the bankers and the hedge fund operators. Getting shrill over a service that has been on the net probably longer than you have makes you sound decidedly freepish in attitude. :eyes:

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[sasquatch]

3. Well this is the ownership society that GWB talked about

Everybody will get to be owned by richer people.

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

4. One man's quick sale is another man's bargain.

[Donnachaidh]

5. Craigslist is amazing for real buys

I feel sorry for those who got into huge debt, but for those of us who didn't, it's a bargain hunter's paradise.

[aquart]

8. Debtor bigotry.

And which of us is surprised?

[Donnachaidh]

15. excuse me? Parking that high horse MUST be costing you dearly.

I'm a bigot because I buy things from Craigslist? Step back from the koolaid dear, you've been reading far too many political blogs lately. :sarcasm:

[angstlessk]

6. toughest times since the early 1990's..try the 1930's..idjit!!!

sorry but the early 1990's did NOT present as it does today..even the 1970's..with inflation and gas lines did not present as it does today...TODAY THERE IS NO HOPE FOR THE FUTURE...JOBS GONE..NEVER TO RETURN...GAS PRICES SET TO JUST GO UP AND NEVER AGAIN TO GO DOWN ...SORRY THE EARLY 1990'S DOES NOT COMPARE!!

[slackmaster]

21. Big difference for me between the early 1990s and now

I actually have a job.

[jaksavage]

7. I am a compulsive want ad looker

I have definatly seen more crisis sales.

Thank god we saw it coming and live a simple life.
When I buy something from a hard luck case does that make me a predator?

Our populace was encouraged to believe a lie, and many did, and some still do.

Greedy fools have fucked it up for all of us.

[Joe Chi Minh]

10. It's beginning to sound like post Communist Russia, before Putin.

[Elspeth]

32. Same IMF, same global looting

Same shit, different decade.

[Joe Chi Minh]

34. Exactly.

[brystheguy]

11. That's why I sold my 75 Corvette

On Craigslist, Buckmaster said, three of the four fastest-growing for-sale categories are tied to gas — recreational vehicles like campers and trailers, cars and trucks, and boats.

I didn't sell it out of desperation but I did sell it because I was worried about being stuck with a dinosaur that I wouldn't be able to get rid of. I think I sold it just in time. Bummer, I took that car to my high school prom and I envisioned my boys doing it too but I saw the writing on the wall. My new hobby? Vintage pedal mopeds.

I feel for the people that are desperate to sell on there though. Some very sad situations.

[Lex]

12. Times like these, the rich get richer (off other people's troubles) and

the middle class gets poorer.

The divide widens.

[slackmaster]

17. I sold most of my gold and silver near the top

Gold was just over $1,000 in the first two weeks of March. Now it's back down below $900.

Time to hit the pawn shops. I've been thinking about buying a guitar.

[blues90]

22. I GOT RID OF ALMOST EVERYTHING

Not that I had all that much but everything that was not required to just exist went other than this computer and my few guitars I built.

I actually feel better without things and it is mt way of preparing for things to get even worse.

My lady who live in the apartment below mine is in fear of losing her job of 11 years and is selling most of what she owns. On women who worked there for 35 years as an accountant took a vaction and on return she was laid off and another 25 years at the job was laid of out of the blue.

This is no joke, it is hard times, I feel it's worse than Reagans 80's horror show and far past a recession and well onto it's way of a full blown depression.

People who find themselves in these hard times are going to have to gather together in order to survive this. My only hope it this gathering will happen and perhaps we can get away from this consumer driven society we have been sold and never be fooled again.

It is really down to basic survival for many people and more people are added to this list every day.

[Bluebear]

31. Yay! George Bush! He's just like us, let's have a beer with him!

[earth mom]

33. All I can say is thank goodness for Craigslist and Ebay!

Ebay saved our families butt several times a few years back when we were living as the working poor. If Ebay had not existed, we would not have had a place to sell our stuff for a fair price. Sure, maybe prices have gone down some, but at least there is a somewhere to go to sell your stuff, instead of a garage sale, flea market or pawn shop, which is really where the bottom feeders are.

Right now, I'm looking for a used washer/dryer in new or like new condition. I will probably pay between 50% to 75% of retail, depending. I really don't think that's so bad for the seller because I well remember the days when selling something like a washer/dryer at a garage sale would get you 10 cents on the dollar, if you were lucky.

[spinbaby]

35. Gas is KILLING rural people

We live in the country. Three adults, two working, one in school. We drive a combined 200 miles a day just to get to work and school. Even with a Prius in the family, gas is killing us.

[GetTheRightVote]

36. That scary part is that it expected to get far worst then today...