From the moment my husband and I decided we wanted to try to get pregnant, I began my quest for pregnancy knowledge. For anyone who knows me, it wont surprise you to hear I had already read through the entire "What to Expect when you are Expecting" book before I was expecting. I'm all about planning ahead and having no surprises, but it's amazing how no matter how much or what you read, you can't possibly plan for it all.
Not to mention, information found on the internet is a blessing and a curse all at the same time. Never before have we had the ability to have some much information at our fingertips, however the quandary now is how valid/accurate is that information? What you read on the internet does not come with a sensitivity filter either, so things a practitioner or expert may communicate as things to monitor or be aware of, translate in internet language as the sky is falling!
As such, there are a handful of pregnancy sites I am currently using for my main sources of information that I've found to be a little less dramatic for me.
My more serious information gathering sources are:
March of Dimes
American Pregnancy Association
My fun sites are:
BabyZone
BabyCenter
Now that I'm almost 10 weeks in to this journey, a lot of the information I have read has been helpful and entertaining. One item that I found a little hard to believe at first was how pregnant women tend to have very vivid dreams. After having some crazy, feels so real, sweating and screaming type dreams, I'm more of a believer. These dreams, as I have read, seem to be accounted for by the change hormones however other experts say these dreams help us sort through potential mixed emotions during our pregnancy and commonly they too have phases that coincide with our trimesters.
Please check out this link for more details. I couldn't possibly say it any better.
http://www.babycenter.com/303_pregnancy-dreams_1513153.bc
Assuming I can remember enough of them, I would like to share them as I progress through my trimesters and see what the internet tells me is going on in my head!
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Friday, March 20, 2009
Selling Furniture on Craig's List
My husband and I often have differences of opinion, but one thing (of a few) we did agree on; our old living room furniture was just too big. We dealt with this fact for almost 3 years because I just couldn't let my beautiful sofa, chair and a half with ottoman, and two tables go. My attachment to this furniture was really twofold. One, it was relatively expensive and two, it was the first complete living room set I've ever purchased; so adult the way it all matched! After 7 good years, I finally felt as though I would give selling it on Craig's List a try since it was still in really good shape.
I guess my initial feeling was it probably wouldn't sell, therefore I wouldn't have to part with it just yet. If you don't get immediate interest in your posting, it tends to get lost deeper and deeper into the site and often can be found on the 7th page of any search in less then a week! To cut to the chase here, I posted my listing on a Monday evening at 9 pm and by Wednesday 5:30 pm, two days later, had a check in hand . It was a bittersweet success. So this morning at 8 am, they came to pick up the furniture.
Exactly how I managed to sell the furniture so quickly and only for 10% less than my asking price, I'm not so sure. Could be simple luck. I will share with you, however, the process I went through since I think there were certain details I paid attention to that others who also had posted furniture did not.
1. You have to post a picture! Listings without pictures often get skipped over. If the person selling something can't take the time to show you what they are offering, the perception is that it's probably not worth the money being asked. And nobody wants to waste time and effort figuring out of something is really worth it, unless they have reason to believe it is.
2. I cleaned up the furniture, dusted the tables, fluffed up the cushions/pillows etc. Make sure your furniture looks the best it possibly can.
3. Clean the area around the furniture so your pictures almost look like they are from a brochure. If your Chair or Sofa has clutter on or around it or it looks messy and sloppy, the perception might be that your house is not clean, so why would your furniture be any different? Buying anything used, for me, is always about the ratio of cost and value. In other words, it needs to cost at least 40-50% less than buying new, but look pretty much brand new. This is why I took the extra effort to really stage my furniture. Plus I took many shots and picked out the best ones.
4. When taking the pictures, I tried to make sure the lighting again was favorable and also gave an accurate representation of the color/texture.
5. If what you are trying to sell has something unique about it, make sure the photos capture that detail. For example, my tables had delicate wood carving, so I made sure it was very visible. Also, the feet of the sofa and chairs were very distinctive, so I captured just that aspect for one photo.
6. Before I created my listing, I searched for existing furniture listings to see what I was competing with and how they worded either their title or text/description inside.
7. After identifying my asking price was very reasonable given the competition, I created the listing making sure my title was specific and included the brand name of the furniture, as this too was a selling point for anyone familiar with the brand.
8. Lastly, and this is probably a matter of your comfort level with privacy, I included my cell phone number in the listing. There is much more immediate gratification knowing all the questions an interested person may have can be answered in one quick phone call versus some sterile back and forth email string that may take 3 days to conclusion.
So honestly, it easily could have been luck or maybe taking a little extra time with the items above makes a difference. Either way - my living room is empty and I get to buy new furniture that hopefully both my husband and I like!
Below are the actual pictures used in my listing.
I guess my initial feeling was it probably wouldn't sell, therefore I wouldn't have to part with it just yet. If you don't get immediate interest in your posting, it tends to get lost deeper and deeper into the site and often can be found on the 7th page of any search in less then a week! To cut to the chase here, I posted my listing on a Monday evening at 9 pm and by Wednesday 5:30 pm, two days later, had a check in hand . It was a bittersweet success. So this morning at 8 am, they came to pick up the furniture.
Exactly how I managed to sell the furniture so quickly and only for 10% less than my asking price, I'm not so sure. Could be simple luck. I will share with you, however, the process I went through since I think there were certain details I paid attention to that others who also had posted furniture did not.
1. You have to post a picture! Listings without pictures often get skipped over. If the person selling something can't take the time to show you what they are offering, the perception is that it's probably not worth the money being asked. And nobody wants to waste time and effort figuring out of something is really worth it, unless they have reason to believe it is.
2. I cleaned up the furniture, dusted the tables, fluffed up the cushions/pillows etc. Make sure your furniture looks the best it possibly can.
3. Clean the area around the furniture so your pictures almost look like they are from a brochure. If your Chair or Sofa has clutter on or around it or it looks messy and sloppy, the perception might be that your house is not clean, so why would your furniture be any different? Buying anything used, for me, is always about the ratio of cost and value. In other words, it needs to cost at least 40-50% less than buying new, but look pretty much brand new. This is why I took the extra effort to really stage my furniture. Plus I took many shots and picked out the best ones.
4. When taking the pictures, I tried to make sure the lighting again was favorable and also gave an accurate representation of the color/texture.
5. If what you are trying to sell has something unique about it, make sure the photos capture that detail. For example, my tables had delicate wood carving, so I made sure it was very visible. Also, the feet of the sofa and chairs were very distinctive, so I captured just that aspect for one photo.
6. Before I created my listing, I searched for existing furniture listings to see what I was competing with and how they worded either their title or text/description inside.
7. After identifying my asking price was very reasonable given the competition, I created the listing making sure my title was specific and included the brand name of the furniture, as this too was a selling point for anyone familiar with the brand.
8. Lastly, and this is probably a matter of your comfort level with privacy, I included my cell phone number in the listing. There is much more immediate gratification knowing all the questions an interested person may have can be answered in one quick phone call versus some sterile back and forth email string that may take 3 days to conclusion.
So honestly, it easily could have been luck or maybe taking a little extra time with the items above makes a difference. Either way - my living room is empty and I get to buy new furniture that hopefully both my husband and I like!
Below are the actual pictures used in my listing.
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