Yesterday we got in our biggest of our ding & dent auction shipments. It contained 42 boxes. My UPS driver asks that I give him advance notice of these kinds of large deliveries so he can plan his route accordingly. He planned alright; he took the day off, leaving me with a surly driver who was fully aware of his hosing. His annoyance eventually wore off, and after a free Coke and a little banter, he was smiling. We've had a lot of UPS problems on this route, including a driver who refused to pick up packages. After getting him in trouble with his boss (one of my customers), he now drops my packages as he brings them into the store. He doesn't exactly throw them down, but he man handles them in this gray area between inattention and deliberate abuse. Now that I think of it, many of my game industry relationships are like that.
We weren't exactly prepared for the shipment. We were still cleaning the office and building shelves. The hardest part was throwing away perfectly good office stuff. Everything thrown away is an admission of a mistake, a waste of money, a reminder of my lack of past frugality. Some stuff was a sign of progress, like dumping the giant DLT tape drive. Our backups are all copied to Internet servers now. You have to put a positive spin on this, claiming progress and re-distribution of resources, much like all the companies closing down unprofitable divisions and letting go of valuable employees who just aren't part of the new vision. It's a time when it's acceptable to throw some babies out with the bathwater, if it's for the common good and for long term survival. So yeah, I threw away a ton of perfectly good stuff, including office supplies and store fixtures still in the original packaging. It was claim the space and move forward or get buried and distracted in a dozen eBay auctions, Craigslistings, and emails to other stores.
As for the shipment itself, we'll post a list later. It's clearly more than we can sell at the auction, but that's alright. We've got Dundracon in February, Conquest Sac in March and the rest can eventually go online. These additional venues, along with the permanent storage takes the pressure off us to dump this stuff for the sake of space, which is what often happens after an auction. It's also a mental "open for business" sign when it comes to acquiring more stuff.
As a Game Community Volunteer/Auction helper, here is my reaction...
ReplyDeleteWow, do we ever have a load of stuff for the Black Diamond Games Auction and Ding & Dent Sale this time!
Gary, Mike, and I spent the day unloading boxes, and we will be organizing items for the next ten days.
Black Diamond has come up with another great bunch of things for this quarter's ding & dent and auction. While some of these games have dings, dents, and even gashes, rips, and tears, others are almost pristine, with only light shelf wear or a mildly rounded box corner.
Some are popular locally - like the slightly creased copy of the out of print "Felix: the Cat in the Sack" - others are highly rated games, like "Container" and "Die Macher", that don't have a local following (yet).
Fabulous bargains may be found on games such as "Ticket to Ride", "Settlers of Catan", "Horus", "Witch's Brew", "Talisman", and many others, as well as Role Playing Game items such as books for the "Dark Heresy" game, CCGs, boxes and boxes of AT-43 and Confrontation miniatures, and terrain for miniatures gaming.
Of course, what Black Diamond has provided is just the start of what will be available on the 8th. Customers are invited to bring in their own sale items starting on February 1st, and up to the morning of the 8th.
This is a great way to sell or auction off those games or gaming gear that you no longer use, and find loving homes for those games that are taking up just a little bit too much space at your house.
You may choose to have your items go on the "buy it now" tables at a price you set, or have our auctioneer work to get you the highest possible bid - you can choose.
Next time you have some usable stuff to dump, you could always ask the thrift store a few doors down. They are always looking for stuff.
ReplyDeleteAlso, you can list it on Freecycle.
ReplyDeleteI am sure there is a freecycle.org listserve near you guys.