Common Crap Road Show

We did an auction this week in a villa. The weather was bad and it rained with out stopping almost all day (not the best situation for an auction with furniture). We were selling furniture and a few tools and some books with almost no smalls. We had a great crowd and got what any Auctioneer in this area would have considered good prices.

The furniture was nice, but not antique, we had some particle board stuff mixed in with some normal furniture (some was newer, some like the couch and love seat were older had some stains and wear and were covered with a slip covers). In the basement there was a treadmill, the big particle board desk and a sofa. The treadmill was heavy, and a fairly nice one, the couch was OK, a run of the mill type you see all the time and the desk was one of those L shaped types, a big lumbering brute.

The treadmill sold for $370 and I was shocked. I have sold many a treadmill and Nordic Track machine, and weight bench etc. they normally don't do much around here, they are very common and most people do not want to

• move them
• put them in their already overfull homes
• try to sell them at their store, mall booth, antique store etc.

The seller made a comment like "you gave away my treadmill" to which I replied, no I sold it for way more than it was worth. I had an absentee bid from one of my best friends on it for $75 because they have bought used treadmills before and both they and I know what they normally sell for. I was desperately hoping I could get an $80 bid so I would not have to carry the treadmill out of there (my freind is on a long-term out of town job). The whole thing got me thinking, I could start a TV show, the Common Crap Road Show. People could lug in their treadmills, their particle board desks, Readers Digests, National Geographic, Avon bottle collections, boxes of Beanie Babies, collector plates etc. and stand in long lines. At the end of the lines we would have experts in the various fields of stuff and a camera crew to capture the magic, it might go something like this:

Expert: Well Sally what find did you bring us today?

Sally: Bill I have a fantastic treadmill from my basement!

Expert: Indeed you do, what can you tell us about this beauty?

Sally: Well Bill, this is the Cardio 2000 from Sears, I saw it last January and just had to have it, I only used it once. It is like brand new!

Expert: And so it is! We see these a lot and what a fantastic machine it is.... They were designed by Steve Franklin in 1995 and have been in production since then. They made millions of these all just like yours, they are very common, in fact almost every basement has one. What did you pay for this fine piece of exercise equipment?

Sally: We shelled out $1,400.00 for it and I have the receipt right here! (She hands over the receipt to the Expert).

Expert: Well Sally I've looked at the receipt and I need to point out a few things:

• first is that you paid only $1,040 for the treadmill (see here on the bottom line)
• second I noticed that it says you got free delivery and set-up, you didn't really fall for that did you? Sally free delivery and set-up are built into the price, they factor in an average of $225 in the treadmill industry for these services to pay for the truck, the crew, insurance and such. I'm sure you understand this
• I also note that the date is Jan. 12, 2008 (that's several months before the sub-prime mortgage meltdown right?)
• My experience in the industry is that the second hand stores charge somewhere between $200 to $225 to pick these models up

Sally: Bill, that all sounds correct and now that you mention it I do remember it cost less if we would pick it up ourselves, but we didn't want to have to load that machine into our car, it would not fit and it costs so much to rent a truck these days. Besides my husband has a bad back and we didn't think we could trick any of our friends into moving a 250 Lb treadmill.

Expert: Right you are Sally. Do you have any idea what this treadmill is worth in today's market?

Sally: I was thinking it should bring at least $1,500.00 since it is in like new shape.

Expert: Well Sally, if I had to place a value on this treadmill, in the shape it is in right now, out here in our convention center setting with 5 loading docks and a truck dock leveler I'd say it is worth (dramatic pause) $100 to $125, now if you take it home and put it in you garage with clear access and put it on a sturdy table where it can be rolled on to a truck I'd say it could expect to get $50 to $75. If you take it back down to the basement I'd value this treadmill at $5 to $25, does that surprise you?

Sally: But, but we paid $1600 for that treadmill, I don't want to give it away!

Expert: Sally, thank you for bringing this gem to the Common Crap Road Show!

Host: Good job Bill, now Gary has a homeowner with a set of Norman Rockwell Plates...