The Ex-Girlfriend Writes: Craigslist- Free Stuff Phenomena

Well, I created a monster. I posted a pic of the Ex-Girlfriend, and the fame went to her head. So, twice in 24 hours, she makes an appearance. The post below was written by the Ex-Girlfriend. Bear in mind what she wrote about a mess in my apartment is a complete fabrication.

A few months ago I thought it would be a great idea to buy cactus a few bookshelves. Books in his apartment were piled high (think “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”) The new shelves (nice, solid wood) seemed to do the trick, piles scattered on the floor were neatly arranged on shelves- until he moved into my place, and cactus got creative. The bookshelves that looked so nice at his place deteriorated into what could be only be considered schmatte shelves. He even had a shelf dedicated solely to his exercise gear. And, items that could not fit on the shelves were piled next to shelves (like three laptop computer bags (…for two laptop computers?)) each complete with a full set of office supplies. My only option was to get the bookshelves out of the apartment A.S.A.P. (I realize there was another option but I do like having him around) So, I went to Craig’s List.

At first, I listed the bookshelves at $25 per. All day, no calls, no emails. The next day, I changed the price to $15 per. Again, no calls, no emails all day. Since I needed them gone, and had already bought something nice from Crate and Barrel to fill the space, I had to finally list them in the Free Stuff section. So, readers, here is the interesting part. My cell phone did not stop ringing, all day! And mails galore. I had people from all over the LA area calling to haul these shelves away, the very shelves that would not be even considered for $15 bucks. What’s more, some of the more discriminating “Free Stuff” shoppers even had the chutzpah to ask me what kind of wood they were – I guess free maple is much better than free pine. So can anyone help me to figure out how free makes these bookshelf so much more appealing, when $15 seems almost free to begin with? (Especially considering the real cost is driving around LA to get here.)