anyone esle have to sell lights to pay bills? and food?
- Thread starter raggie33
- Start date
Help Support Candle Power Flashlight Forum
thermal guy
Flashaholic
Many moons ago when my twins were young and my ex couldn't be bother to get a job I had to do just that.It wasn't a hard decision. My kids needed stuff and they always come first. Since then I have come along way and I'm now in a much much better place "getting rid of the ex was the biggest improvement'' you have to do what you have to. Makes yo who you are.
thermal guy
Flashaholic
Tough times don't last tough people do. you'll be fine.
knucklegary
Flashlight Enthusiast
Where did you sell them, not here in CPF?
Last edited:
I had to sell lights to pay my light bill
Hooked on Fenix
Flashlight Enthusiast
- Joined
- Dec 13, 2007
- Messages
- 3,651
Luckily, food is the one thing I have. Been living on Calfresh (food stamps) waiting to hear back if I got disability for my movement disorder. Neurological disorders are supposed to be an automatic qualifier, but when they herd the term functional movement disorder, they thought they could disqualify me. Had to appeal with a letter from my doctor saying there was no way I could work and an M.R.I. of my neck showing there was damage to my spine. Still waiting to hear back to see if I'll receive benefits. In the meantime, I'm almost out of money and have to smog and register my car in a couple months. I was expecting to use my federal tax refund money for that, which I haven't received yet. It would be nice to get that gas tax refund/vote bribe they are handing out in October right before the election. I could have used that money (they'll hand it out a month after I needed it). Ironically, if I have to file non op on my car until I get my tax refund to pay the registration, I probably won't get that gas tax refund. I haven't sold any flashlights for money lately. I've given some away as gifts because I didn't have money to buy anything else. It's not worth selling used stuff in California anymore. The last time it was worth it for me was at an Adventure 16 Swap Meet. There was no cost, no paperwork, no liscensing, you just sold your stuff and went home when done. They did it once a year. Now they are out of business. With swap meets now you need a liscense to sell, and have to provide values for all your products so the state can tax you to death. Not worth selling flashlights in California if after costing me my career at the start of the pandemic the state wants to take a cut of the scraps I have left to survive. I think I'll wait until after the rolling blackouts start, then start selling some lights in cash at a premium.
Adventure 16 was a great store. Knowledgeable staff and very helpful. Another great retailer bankrupted by Campsaver, Amazon, Walmart, etc.
Last edited:
Just sold a couple a few days ago. Been selling quite a few things. Not for bills but there are a few things I want to replace & I need a new phone. Emphasis on need, my old 6s wont even run whatsapp in a couple months. I usually keep phones for 5-6 years, but they'll have to be retired eventually. This time ill have skipped 6 generations, so ill be quite an adjustment.
Thankfully have never had to do that. Also, this is still one of the cheapest hobbies out there. That's great when you're buying. Not so great when selling. I don't think of my lights as investments in the sense that they'll go up in price or at the very least do a good job of holding their value. Not at all. Maybe in a few years my mint-condition SureFire M6 with the box will fetch a decent price with a hardcore collector if I decide to sell it. Almost all the rest of my lights would be sold at a significant loss.
Hate to say it, but starting in May, we hit the worst inflation jump in 40 years. Unfortunately, even though I think food prices will go down; typically a recovery from a massive inflation jump is only going to be a partial one at the absolute best. So, never back down fully. We're currently seeing that with gas prices. They have started coming down. But are still hovering somewhat near the $5.oo a gallon mark. Still better than when I paid $5.15 a gallon about 3 weeks ago.
Got mine for free! (Realistically $50 with all of the fees involved in getting my "free" phone.) It works decently well. But I'm never getting another Motorola ever again. Too many niggling issues with it that combine to make it barely tolerable for daily use. Can't believe how far the brand has fallen in quality recently.
The Raggie theme song circa 1980
Low Budget by the Kinks
brachypelma44
Newly Enlightened
If I sold all of my lights, I'm not sure that the proceeds would cover one of my regular trips to the grocery store. They're just not worth very much, and they're useful literally half the time, so they would be one of the absolute last things I sold. Right before clothing and shoes (which are worth even less.)
I admit, some of my lights cost more than my shoes, pants, and shirts. The light you see clipped to the top of my pants pocket is likely worth more money than my entire outfit. Then again, inexpensive clothes get the job done just as well as Designer Labels, without the D.L. prices.
3_gun
Enlightened
- Joined
- Jun 27, 2021
- Messages
- 682
Last 10 years I've shopped at estate/yard sales.
OOTD; new Wrangler shirt was $1, new Duluth Trading pants $2.50, new Duluth boxers $2 & shoes, like new in size 14 $2. Pants, boxers & shirt still had tags on'em. Not often I find stuff in my sizes but got lucky; 3 pair of shoes, 3 pants, 2 boxers, 5 shirts & 14 hard cover books for $19 total.
You can find a lot of daily use items new, unopened for pennies on the dollar. 3 bars of Dial soap .30, older Tupperware bowls w/lids for .25ea, qt size 90% alcohol n H2O2 for .25ea still sealed, 3/4 full 96oz Tide $2, 4 18650 2600mah batteries $2(they all work), 3D cell Maglites for $1, Surefire X300 for $10. Food stuff can be had also, sealed 3lbs can of coffee for $3, soups(Chunky) .50ea, Dawn dish soap $1. HP i5 quad core, 16g ram, Blue ray drive w/2t HD desktop for $10, had to wipe the drive & install Win7 but everything works.
Add in the tools, craft & hobby items & I know I've saved $1800 or more on just what I've bought this year. When you're working PT & making under 12K/yr you gota save when/where you can even before this silliness w/inflation started, happily I haven't had to sell anything I didn't want to sell
OOTD; new Wrangler shirt was $1, new Duluth Trading pants $2.50, new Duluth boxers $2 & shoes, like new in size 14 $2. Pants, boxers & shirt still had tags on'em. Not often I find stuff in my sizes but got lucky; 3 pair of shoes, 3 pants, 2 boxers, 5 shirts & 14 hard cover books for $19 total.
You can find a lot of daily use items new, unopened for pennies on the dollar. 3 bars of Dial soap .30, older Tupperware bowls w/lids for .25ea, qt size 90% alcohol n H2O2 for .25ea still sealed, 3/4 full 96oz Tide $2, 4 18650 2600mah batteries $2(they all work), 3D cell Maglites for $1, Surefire X300 for $10. Food stuff can be had also, sealed 3lbs can of coffee for $3, soups(Chunky) .50ea, Dawn dish soap $1. HP i5 quad core, 16g ram, Blue ray drive w/2t HD desktop for $10, had to wipe the drive & install Win7 but everything works.
Add in the tools, craft & hobby items & I know I've saved $1800 or more on just what I've bought this year. When you're working PT & making under 12K/yr you gota save when/where you can even before this silliness w/inflation started, happily I haven't had to sell anything I didn't want to sell
Last edited:
Similar threads
