I used to bin my frustrations, now I sell them.

Problematic, broken or constantly being hurled across the room in frustration? You could bin it but you could also put it aside and out of sight until someone decides they want it...

Sigh, if only I'd known there was a market (not a big one but one that exists for sure) for broken bits and pieces. I may not have been a millionaire from selling instead of scrapping but I'd have a bit more money than I have now and that's a start.

Still, better learning this now than never.

ONCE UPON A TIME I JUST TURFED IT

And if it was too big to cut down or drag to the tip, I just stuck a FREE sign on it and parked it outside on the nature strip where usually it'd be claimed by a passer by within 24-48 hours. Except for mowers of course that would vanish within the hour, every time.

I kid you not, I had an old mower that was falling to pieces and by the time it hit the nature strip it was held together by garden twine and had half a coke bottle as a jury rigged fuel tank. Even looking like the bastard son of Frankenstein's monster, I watched someone gleefully swing by and throw it into the back of his Ute within 20 minutes. Mowers even in bits were hot commodities in that neighbourhood.

(Bbqs on the other hand, well that's a different story...)

BUT NOW I SEE THERE'S MONEY TO BE MADE IN DEAD MOWERS..

Not much obviously but people still want them for some reason. Back in 2018 when my 'Millionaires special' died a mysterious death, I had quite a few people willing to part with cash just to take it home. The eventual buyer turned up ridiculously early too to nab it - why I'll never truly understand but I was a dead mower  lighter and $15 richer.

YOU SHALL SCREEN NO MORE

My old BenQ monitor was starting to show problems before we moved house early last year and amazingly all that travel in the truck didn't help things when we got here. One day it flat out refused to show anything with 28798 unwanted colours in the middle of it and so it was relegated to the shed where it sat unplugged for six months waiting for a buyer. Take it to the tip or the recyclers? Well I could but surely someone could do something with it?

Then late one night someone came across my ad and excitedly messaged me hoping I still had it. He was even happier when I replied 'Sure, you can come around right now and take it home.' 10 minutes later he was at my doorstep with cash in hand sharing his plans for it...which I've forgotten now. But still, he got his problematic monitor that he's hoping to fix and I got 10 bucks for sticking it out of harms way. Deal!

And then just minutes ago...

YOU SHALL MEASURE THINGS...FOR SOMEONE ELSE NOW

Recently I wrote up a guide on how I figured out (sort of) how to install a level probe in an Ender 3 V2 3D Printer. 

However I updated it a few days later explaining the frustration it caused and how nothing worked properly until took it out again. Since then it's been sitting on my desk looking blankly at the wall and so cobbling all the parts that came with it, I finally put it up on Facebook classifieds.

Firstly someone tried to give me some advice on how to install it which was nice but I explained I was happy to see the back end of it. 

Then I had a couple of people jump at it and minutes ago it sold to one of them for $10 (actually it was the reason I thought of this post) and it had me wondering why I didn't put it up for sale the minute I pulled it out of the machine? Oh well, it's gone now. Good luck to the new owner.

Now, I wonder what's going to fall apart next and how much money I can make from selling the bits online..