Random thoughts...

[RonClinton]

Okay, first, 4000 books! That's a heck of a collection! Wow!

And I agree about eBay. It's almost impossible to make any money off a book selling there. Including shipping to calculate their fees is ridiculous. Not to mention the extra stinger of a $0.50 per transaction fee they add on for some reason. I sold enough books this year to break the threshold on being reported for income tax purposes so we'll see how that turns out. I might be wrong, but wouldn't a seller only have to pay income tax on any profit they made?

I'd be interested in your Facebook selling experiences if you try it. I don't really want to go down that rabbit hole, but I do have about 50 books I'm looking to sell, so that might be an option.

Will do.

R.e. income tax: No, unfortunately the IRS counts all eBay income as taxable income *unless* you can prove the depreciation of the items. If you have a receipt that shows you paid $50 for a book and it sold for $20, then you can prove it's a depreciated item and that it's free of tax. But for those of us -- most of us, I assume -- who have no such records, the default assumption by the feds is that it's all profit and is due to be taxed.

[Sock Monkey]

I've been tempted several times over the last year to open a Facebook account in order to sell ltd. ed. books, since I'm trying -- though, admittedly, not making much progress -- in winnowing my collection down so our next move (in a few years) won't involve 4000 books. I'd really like to get it down to a core 1000 books (though I'd be pleased to even get down to 2000), and that means a lot of books have to move. With eBay now demanding 14% of both item and shipping, and the feds requiring eBay to report all sales so now I have to pay income tax on all sales, and gas making a trip to the PO at least $3 - $5, that's a big chunk that's not going into my pocket -- and so it seems like Facebook, with its classified boards, would be a great place to sell these books and get 100% of the revenue...but I'm just not sure it's worth it. We'll see.

Okay, first, 4000 books! That's a heck of a collection! Wow!

And I agree about eBay. It's almost impossible to make any money off a book selling there. Including shipping to calculate their fees is ridiculous. Not to mention the extra stinger of a $0.50 per transaction fee they add on for some reason. I sold enough books this year to break the threshold on being reported for income tax purposes so we'll see how that turns out. I might be wrong, but wouldn't a seller only have to pay income tax on any profit they made?

I'd be interested in your Facebook selling experiences if you try it. I don't really want to go down that rabbit hole, but I do have about 50 books I'm looking to sell, so that might be an option.

[RonClinton]

I've been tempted several times over the last year to open a Facebook account in order to sell ltd. ed. books, since I'm trying -- though, admittedly, not making much progress -- in winnowing my collection down so our next move (in a few years) won't involve 4000 books. I'd really like to get it down to a core 1000 books (though I'd be pleased to even get down to 2000), and that means a lot of books have to move. With eBay now demanding 14% of both item and shipping, and the feds requiring eBay to report all sales so now I have to pay income tax on all sales, and gas making a trip to the PO at least $3 - $5, that's a big chunk that's not going into my pocket -- and so it seems like Facebook, with its classified boards, would be a great place to sell these books and get 100% of the revenue...but I'm just not sure it's worth it. We'll see.

[mhatchett]

Sock, what have you heard LOL!!!!

[Sock Monkey]

Left the last book collecting group I was in on FB today. Drama that didn't belong followed by a torrent of hateful misguided activists who think their reaction and replies were so much better and more righteous than the original posters comment.

It was a great reminder why social media truly isn't social and why places like this are so rare and special.

I am so thankful this forum is still up and running.

Man, that's a bummer to hear. That's why I stay away from almost every social media platform. I only post here and on Thunderstorm's Clubhouse page occasionally. Beyond that, I'm not interested. Nuance in discussion has never been the strength of the internet or social media, neither has being able to have a difference in opinion or viewpoint but still be friendly. "Self-righteous", by far, has become social media's favorite flavor.

We say it a lot here, but this is truly a nice little haven to spend some time. There's not a flurry of posts, but, man, everyone is chill and pretty darn positive. I would be very sad to see this forum disappear.

[Ben Staad]

Yep. I don't understand why folks can't communicate properly these days.

It can be unhealthy environment for sure.

[Brian861]

Left the last book collecting group I was in on FB today. Drama that didn't belong followed by a torrent of hateful misguided activists who think their reaction and replies were so much better and more righteous than the original posters comment.

It was a great reminder why social media truly isn't social and why places like this are so rare and special.

I am so thankful this forum is still up and running.

It can be unhealthy environment for sure. As far as collecting or collecting related Facebook groups; I'm currently only following 19th Edition, Lividian, and Suntup. I rarely actively participate in them though.

[Ben Staad]

I hadn't heard of that one before. I don't think they sell it in my market. Mines a Troy-Bilt with a pretty good engine on it. The failure is that the steering fails due to garbage parts. Hopefully this new model has been upgraded. Time will tell.

I bought a Toro Timemaster 30" in 2014 for $1099, and now it's $1499 at Home Depot (1 in stock!). It's running fine, though. I change the oil at the start of each season, and that's about it.

[Ben Staad]

Left the last book collecting group I was in on FB today. Drama that didn't belong followed by a torrent of hateful misguided activists who think their reaction and replies were so much better and more righteous than the original posters comment.

It was a great reminder why social media truly isn't social and why places like this are so rare and special.

I am so thankful this forum is still up and running.

[Dave1442397]

1st world issue but my small riding mower bit the dust today. Went and bought the exact same mower, purchased 4 years ago, for 40% more. Oooff. It was expensive but glad I had the cash to buy this. $1,700 for a 30" riding mower. My have things changed.

I bought a Toro Timemaster 30" in 2014 for $1099, and now it's $1499 at Home Depot (1 in stock!). It's running fine, though. I change the oil at the start of each season, and that's about it.

[RonClinton]

You would think this technology would have been perfected by now. It's mowing grass for goodness sake. LOL

Sorry about your poorly designed mower.

You certainly would think that...it's not rocket science. Oh well, at least now I know what to doublecheck before buying my next mower (which will probably happen sooner rather than later, even though I've only had this one for a short while...the frustration level is only surpassed by the extra time I have to devote to mowing now, since I can only mow a few inches in each pass or it clogs.

[Ben Staad]

You would think this technology would have been perfected by now. It's mowing grass for goodness sake. LOL

Sorry about your poorly designed mower.

I bought a new Toro mower this Spring, and the opening from the well into the bag is so damn small, it inevitably gets clogged if the grass even hints at being lush or damp. I didn’t think that was even something I needed to check. Live and learn.

[RonClinton]

I bought a new Toro mower this Spring, and the opening from the well into the bag is so damn small, it inevitably gets clogged if the grass even hints at being lush or damp. I didn’t think that was even something I needed to check. Live and learn.

[Ben Staad]

1st world issue but my small riding mower bit the dust today. Went and bought the exact same mower, purchased 4 years ago, for 40% more. Oooff. It was expensive but glad I had the cash to buy this. $1,700 for a 30" riding mower. My have things changed.

[Ben Staad]

I 100% agree with you regarding the watermelon. My guess is people were scared of it and in particular because it was free.

The human condition is an interesting one indeed and it's neat to experiment with it from time to time in a healthy way. I bet if you were actually selling the watermelon, water, and soda, people would actually have stopped. Maybe the being "free" scared them off. Fear of being poisoned and the like.

As far as the yard sale stuff; I think people will take absolutely anything they have no use for just for the fact that it's free. I once lived in a house where the garage was next to an alley. I'd put stuff out there to dispose of later and the next day it would be gone. And not nice stuff either. Stuff that was destined for the dump when I had enough for a truck load. My daughter was young at the time and I told her the Redneck Fairy would come each night to carry the stuff away. Not very nice I know but it was all in good humor between my daughter and I. I never had to go to the dump though .