This is an app for easy selling of stuff.
Typically people sell stuff which are already used but sometimes people will also sell stuff which are new.
The problem with this app is that there are a lot of low ballers. Meaning folks who offer a really really low price for them to get a good deal. It's quite irritating.
Also there are a lot of people who just ask a lot of questions and after that they don't contact you anymore about the product.
Oh well. Not important. There's all kinds of people in the world and everyone wants to get a good deal or ask questions etc etc. So be it.
This post is basically to highlight the value of items. Or rather the zero value of items.
Recently I sold my GPS at SGD50.
I bought it 6 years ago at SGD199.
I listed it on Carousell for SGD120. I received offers for SGD50 but I declined them as I was hoping to get more money for the item. I was aiming to sell it for SGD80 lowest.
After a few months of waiting and rejecting people and getting rejected myself, I decided to just sell the item off at SGD50.
Basically, the GPS has no more value to me. It is a zero value item. I do not use it anymore. I use my handphone to navigate if necessary. It collects dust and I don't really look at it. It basically serves no utility to me. So I decided to remove my mental barrier that I paid SGD199 for it. Cos previously, I paid SGD199 for the item for its purpose (utility). Now, since it is worth nothing to me in terms of utility, it is essentially worth zero. After I changed my thinking, I decided that selling it above zero would be beneficial to me. As any amount above zero in cash would serve as utility to me. So I amended the price of my listing to SGD80, waited for 1-2 days, someone offered me SGD50, I sold the item.
So today's point is about utility.
When you bought something, you paid a price for it for a certain purpose.
Usually the price paid is around the same as the utility value.
If utility value is greater than price then you got a good deal.
If price is greater than utility, then you got chopped.
Anyway, after awhile, you stop using the item for whatever reason.
Don't like it anymore, obsolete, no time to use it anymore, etc.
When that happens the utility falls to zero.
No need to feel sad about it. The item served its purpose at the time you bought it.
Now that the item has zero utility, except maybe to be used as a paper weight, if you can convert this item with zero utility to anything with positive utility, you have earned something.
Of course that doesn't mean you sell it for the cheapest price. You still try to get as much value out of that as possible.
So for example my GPS, I won't sell it for SGD10 since I know I can sell it for at least SGD50.
Maybe I could sell it for more, I don't know. But I haven't gotten any offers more than SGD50 so I just took the deal. SGD50 worth of utility is better than zero.
So if you have old stuff that you're unwilling to sell off for cheap cos of the price you paid for it, remember, the item has zero value to you now and that you can convert that to actual value for yourself. You just have to remove the mental barriers which you set for yourself.
Note. Sentimental value IS a utility value. So if you feel that something brings back sweet memories, it also counts as utility value. Items with zero utility really means that the item does nothing for you anymore. Regardless of intrinsic value or extrinsic value.
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