As part of my ongoing quest to purge clutter, Kris and I are purging some excess furniture on Craigslist. We're getting a little cash, too, which is nice. However, I just sold one piece that made my heart hurt. Seriously. It was this 1950s console stereo:





I bought this about ten years ago from the old lady who had originally purchased it. I think she charged me $20. I've never really used it, but I've been in love with it since I bought it. I've always wanted to give it a place of honor in the home, but Kris thought it was ugly, so it was always relegated to spare rooms.

Anyhow, she finally persuaded me to sell it. I got $25 for it, so I made a $5 profit. (25% in ten years -- not so good, eh?)

But it really hurt to sell it. I don't know why. I never use it. Has anyone else ever experienced something like this?

I sold my '86 Accord with 265000 miles on it last year for $700. It didn't go into third gear, which is a problem in a 4 speed automatic. It was the original tranny and would have needed a full rebuild. It also countless other non-crucial but completely broken items. But it was mine since 16 in my family since my dad wrote a check for $10,500 in Jan 1986. Even when the tranny was going, I managed to abuse it on several massive roadtrips. I still wonder if I could have figured out a way to fix it and keep another couple years.

I love my Honda Civic now (better gas mileage, performance, and 4 functioning gears), but old Geneva (that was her name, because I always thought you'd write peace "accords" in Geneva ) was such a champion. That it saw 12 consecutive years of utter abuse from two teenage boys (my brother had it before me) just gives my heart a whirl. It had 3 different tail lights (I backed into a couple people) and at least 4 rear view mirrors (wear and tear and drunken fists in this college town took care of that). And I've never found another car anywhere that could fit my snowboard rack. Blast!

Call it "seller's remorse". JD, That stereo was beautiful by the way. I can't imagine much better than listening to old, scratchy vinyl on that thing.

Isn't this an interesting take on the Fight Club maxim: "the things you own end up owning you"? Haha.

I have no idea why you were so attached to that piece if you never used it. At $25, I'd simply have kept it. It's not an uncommon piece, though, so if you ever want another it shouldn't be hard.