Cycling

My friend Mark and I occasionally go junking (his term for visiting flea markets and second-hand stores and the ilk), looking at things that are cast off or left over from estate sales or donated or perhaps wound up where they now are compliments of great aunt Ethel's demise. Mark commented that it's getting harder and harder to find "good" stuff while you're out these days, compliments of smartphones and eBay and instant Internet access. He told me this while googling a pair of bookends we'd found--oh the irony.
As most of you know, I've been cleaning house pre-move, trying to figure out what goes (the bulk of it) and what stays (almost none of it); I wish that I had more time to whip out my phone (hypothetically, I ditched my smartphone) and pour over the history of every item I own. What would go off to eBay? What would return to the Salvation Arm store or Second Chance? What would I squirrel away for later banishment to eBay? What would rest inside a box for later discovery? What, what, what...
I'm amazed at some of the stuff that is bought while junking, I'm more amazed that there is a market for it. I admit that I have a penchant for vintage western shirts and crazy (Mark says "interesting", but I know he means ugly) amateur pottery. Vintage western shirts sell well on eBay, especially if they're made in the USA, free of wear and have all their pearlies intact. Ugly pottery, not so much (though I've no intention of parting with my uglies); beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
What's gone well on eBay? Most of my orchids have sold well, I tend to buy the bizarre ones (the ones I figured no one else would want), go figure what no one else wanted is no longer available...and now is being looked for. Most of my cacti have sold very well as well; those cuttings that I bought for $2 each a few years ago are now giant plants that bloom profusely each spring--and nobody else sells mature plants (I wish a had more of them in the greenhouse and fewer orchids...alas they're almost gone). Crazy plants in general, as it seems that everyone out there sells tiny seedlings, but nary anything more than a 2" pot.
What goes not so well? Books. I am a voracious reader, but with the advent of my iPad, I've decided not to purchase any more printed media (orchid books aside) & I have stacks and stacks of paperback and hard-bound books from the pre-pad days. Books on eBay (unless they're signed first editions or such), sell about as well as okra sells in northern Michigan. I'd take the lot of them to the local used bookstore, but they don't do hardcovers. Softcovers to be banished next week (I need to put a friend or a dozen on the account, I'm not going to be here...), hardcovers off to the library I think (book sale or stacks, they decide...).
I'm betting you're wondering what I'm doing with the rest of my stuff, but the truth is there really isn't all that much more.