Garage Sale Season
Posted by: Jeff Leget, Director of Operations
This past weekend, my family and I had a neighborhood garage sale. We made about $85 in 3 hours. For my family it was a moderate success. It’s not that we don’t have enough stuff to sell; the problem is that times and technology have changed. My only real goal on the morning of our half-hearted garage sale was to drag stuff out of the basement and into the morning sunshine so I could take pictures and post items on Craigslist or eBay. If a consumer happened by and wanted to purchase something, all the better. They saved me the upload and posting time.
Compared to online portals, garage sales are so limited. You store your stuff and wait patiently all year for the single marketing opportunity when the whole neighborhood comes out to sell their dusty relics. The garage sale definitely favors the buyer. The buyers are usually looking for something specific. They usually know the real value. And experienced garage sale speculators know how to negotiate to a bargain. Sellers like me simply want to make some extra cash and not have to drag all of that stuff back into the house.
However, the Internet and its classified and auction portals have changed all of that. These days, I can sell my used snowboard right at the start of ski season, and not in the middle of June. I can research the going rate for my used cell phone and accept only fair offers. I can also see what other people are selling, and how what I have compares. The buyer also gets an improved experience. At a single glance, the buyer can view all of the items that match his or her requirements and make informed offers. Best of all, they don’t need to drive around random neighborhoods on Saturday mornings.
ClickBank is trying to do for your knowledge capital what classified and auction sites have done for your garage. Did you finish your basement recently? Did you successfully flip some real estate? Did you have to plan a family reunion or wedding? Are you into photography or video editing? Do you have experiences to share on home schooling? Gardening? Genealogy? Saving energy? Starting a business?
The fact is that most people have life experiences or knowledge capital that can benefit others. With over 300 million people in the U.S., the chances are high that someone else is facing a similar problem that you have already solved. With a little time and talent, you can clean out your mental basement or attic, let your ideas face the light of day, and profit from your experience.
Take a look at these related posts:

This reminds me of WALL-E, the movie I just saw. It depicts a world in which all mundane tasks are handled by advance robots who respond to the commands of humans. If someone wants to learn something she simply asks a computer to define the subject in question. We may never come to a world where all tasks are done by robots, but we are certainly approaching if not already at the point where we can speak to the computer to give us the solutions for our problems. People are willing to pay big bucks for solutions to their problems and the first place they look in on the Internet. We all have something we love and enjoy doing and that knowledge and passion can be monetize with Clickbank
-Richard