Have you ever tried to defragment a hard drive and gotten the message there isn't enough space left on the disk for the program to run? That's how I have been feeling about selling physical goods.
If I am going to sell some of our glassware, antiques, tools, etc. I need a place where I can sort, clean, label, photograph, and pack the items. Ideally it should be in an out of the way corner so it doesn't all have to be taken down when company comes. I tried to convert a variety of places in our house by there was always one reason or another why it wouldn't work.
In absolute frustration I went out today and rented a 10' x 10' storage unit. I am fortunate it is only two miles from my home so travel time is minimal. I went to Costco and bought three of their metal shelving units. It took most of the afternoon to clean the unit and set up the first two shelf units. I have assembled them before, but had forgotten some of the tricks. It was also really hot and the metal storage units heat up as soon as the sun hits them.
I have saved the third shelving unit for tomorrow. I plan to take pictures of the process and will see about turning them into a short video on how to do it. They come with directions but they are not very good and leave a lot of important details unmentioned. In addition, my knees and back are not what they were. I want directions that absolutely minimize or eliminate the need to kneel or bend to pick things up from the ground.
Home security is also a consideration. I have some concerns about posting items for sale on Craig's List and providing directions to my home. I realized the storage unit is a public space. I can tell buyers to meet me at the gate and have them follow me in. They don't see anything but Items I have for sale and the whole process is very public.
After I have done things this way for a few weeks I will have some experience and can see if I feel comfortable enough with buyers to sell from home. I will also have a better feel for how serious the "no Show" problem is and how much of a hassle the drive to the storage unit is.
The storage unit does not have electricity which will make it harder to make productive use of time I spend there waiting for buyers to show up. However, I bought a 400 watt inverter a few weeks ago and realized I could hook that up at the storage unit. 400 watts would be enough to power a postage scale, recharge a camera battery or cell phone, etc. The inverter will run off a power point in the car/truck but if I start using it a lot I will think about buying a deep discharge marine batter that I can leave in the storage unit.
I can imagine having the battery on a little wheeled cart so it is easy to bring home for occasional recharging. Of course, all this complexity is probably not going to be necessary. It's fun to think about though.
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