The past couple weeks has uncovered a secret network of nurses who are also Trash Elves. It’s been interesting to hear what motivates nurses to scavenge and sell online. Here’s an interesting email we received from one of them.
Good Morning!
I listen to your podcasts while I organize-clean-list-pack-ship and heard your observation regarding the number of nurses who sell on eBay. On a personal level I can speak to why I and my friends do it.
1. I retired early due to health problems; the nursing industry is not friendly when one of its own is ill. There is truth to the adage that “Nursing is the industry that eats its own”.
2. Selling on eBay offers the fun of sourcing. In order to be a nurse we have to learn to make something from nothing and creatively squeeze the goodness from everything we have available. eBay rewards us for doing that, while nursing continually beats us down for not doing more. We love our patients; providing care is endlessly rewarding, but the ‘system’ is brutal & thankless.
3. There is no life & death in an eBay sale. Even if we have a return or disgruntled buyer, we are accustomed to hearing people bitch all the time and we are masters of de-escalation. Also, no blood, guts, poop, CPR or other unidentifiable body substances are involved (usually) in an eBay sale. It is blissfully low stress compared to our regular day.
Those are some of the biggest reasons nurses sell on eBay part time ~OR~ retire to sell full time as I have. I am fortunate that my husband backs me up and is planning to retire early to help full time. He works for the state (KY) and has been a picker on the weekend for about 15 years so I have a barn, a garage, a shed AND a basement already full of treasures to sort, clean and list.
I hope this offers some clarification for you. I have been retired eight months and selling on eBay about three, with a decent amount of success. I take a great deal of joy in using my Master’s Degree to scrub bird shit off of vintage glassware!!
Rock on & Remain awesome…
A cool old broad in KY’!
This week has been relatively quiet for us. Maybe because of the warm weather? Maybe because people are traveling? Good news is that sales have picked up since last night. Maybe because people are not getting the gifts they wanted so they’re buying for themselves? Whatever, bring it.
Hope you guys are having a merry Xmas and happy holiday with those you love.
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