We’ve recently heard a lot from you on topics we covered like the Best Thing You Ever Bought Secondhand and The Thing You Wish You Bought But Didn’t. Because there was so much interest in both of these, I thought I’d cover this from another angle. So today we’re talking about the thing you wish you’d held onto rather than consigned or donated.
Seller Regret: It’s When You Wish You Held Onto Something Rather Than Consigned It
Seller regret: every once in a while we hear from our consignors about this one. Mostly my consignors at Consignments Ltd. are thrilled to unburden themselves of stuff. And they’re even happier on check day when their purging efforts have turned into cash. (See my previous blog on Netting More Cash By Curating Your Consignments). But occasionally they wish they hadn’t.
What am I talking about? Well here’s an example from my own life. Bruce and I bought a new, larger TV for each other for Christmas. Mind you, previously we only had one TV in our entire house. And it’s 32”. I know, every man and many of the women reading this right now are beyond shocked. My friend Greg tells me he needs a magnifying glass to see my TV, but I digress. This new TV means that I need to rearrange art and lighting in our living room. A table lamp will have to go and what I’ll need in its place is a floor lamp. You guessed it already. I sold what would be the perfect one when we bought the house and could find no place for it. Ugh. Seller regret.
Sometimes The Regret is Small, But Sometimes It Haunts You
So, even though I have sellers regret, a floor lamp is hardly something to lose sleep over. But every once in a while there’s that something. For me, just like my one that got away, it’s a piece of art. A French gouache, to be exact. I bought it probably 20 years ago at a European flea market. I carried carefully home to The States. Had it beautifully framed. And hung it for years in my dining room. But when I moved to a home by the water and no longer had a formal dining room, I couldn’t envision it in my space. For a while it hung in the basement craft area, more to protect it than as decoration. But then I finally decided to sell it. I brought it to the store where it was gobbled up within days.
Fast forward 10 years, I live in an old house again, with a formal dining room. Boy I wish I had that painting back. I’ve even scoured the online listing from the sale of the house where it hung, just to try to get a glimpse of it again. And whoever bought it from me has never been inspired to consign it back. But I hold out hope…
How About You?
Seller regret. Do you have it? Is it something as trivial as an easily replaceable floor lamp or as precious as a one-of-a-kind French gouache? I’d love to hear about the thing you wish you held onto rather than sold. Email me at consignmentslimited@gmail.com and tell me about it? Think someone you know would like this blog? Feel free to forward it using the buttons below. Still in the mood to read? Check out: The Best Thing I Ever Bought Second Hand.
Here’s hoping that you don’t have too many regrets… in consigning… and in life.
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