State of beds on trade me!!!

[Sam B]

"Will be going in the skip if not sold soon" - it's like a threat, it should be a promise

[MandC]

Thanks, I can't stop laughing

'Suitable for student flat' Doesn't furniture in a rental have to pass certain fire regulations?

That makes me think - maybe not??? In the UK the laws around renting a property are very strict - gas certificates are required, furniture has to be flame retardant etc etc (it's a bit of a mine field). Is there somewhere I can read about the laws and regulations that protect the person renting accommodation?

[JandM]

A friend of mine on another forum specializes in finding pictures of AWFUL s/h clothing on eBay. Some are things obviously only fit for the bin, or tearing up for polishing cloths, but people pay money for them! Then there are awful pictures, supposed to make you want the stuff, but which fail. (Bitch alert!) My favourite was, if you believed the description, 'a sophisticated evening dress which would happily take you to the most glamorous venues'. Right. Now, the picture showed a low-cut, short-skirted creation made entirely of blue sequinned material. I can't think of a better word to describe it than 'tarty', even if worn by the sweetest, prettiest deb. It was actually being worn in the picture by presumably the present owner, a heavily made up bottle-blonde, two sizes too big for the dress (expressed in lumps and bumps, and lots of visible cellulite). She was showing it off with a smile for the camera and a fashion-model pose, in front of the door of a bathroom, open to show a lavatory with the seat up, a wash-basin with the tap running, and an overturned waste-paper basket.

[chrissie]

I guess it must be just me....but I find it all incredibly depressing....

[BkyMonster]

HAha- my first trip to a NZ tip (sorry, I've forgotten the NZ term for them- something like recycling) had me slightly speechless (no mean feat). I arrived with a tatty old good for nothing clothes airer and a few other similar bits- a broken plastic linen basket if I recall correctly- and no sooner had I popped the boot (trunk) then I was surrounded by people clamouring for my junk as if I've rocked up with a car load of Ikea seconds. I had to lie down for a while afterwards and it became quite a (probably unacceptable) joke between my husband and I that we could put anything out on the kerb with a 'free' sign and it would be carted away befere we'd shut the front door.

Oh yes, the second hand market is alive and kicking in NZ.

Heh, my friend lives in Holland and her father (they are Kiwis) came to visit. She was totally embarrassed when he went picking through the neighbor's trash and hauling things inside as this is quite normal here apparently.
I see stuff out on the curb all the time here (and in the US we did too, but that was more because it was a college town and people would go cruising for old couches and things ).

I bought a bed on TM, but managed to resell the mattress for $10. Not too bad and the people were happy to have it. I'm pretty pleased by the idea that someone might want my unwanted junk and it doesn't have to be thrown away just yet.

[Wooly_Cow]

All of the above is why;

a) Any advice to the much asked question "What should we bring to New Zealand?" is ....."Everything you can fit into a container"

b) Why I'm not worried about another 20 foot container full of European beds, sofas, etc.arriving in a few weeks, despite the fact our current house is full...

Anyone want to buy a bed ????

[dusk]

That makes me think - maybe not??? In the UK the laws around renting a property are very strict - gas certificates are required, furniture has to be flame retardant etc etc (it's a bit of a mine field). Is there somewhere I can read about the laws and regulations that protect the person renting accommodation?

http://www.dbh.govt.nz/landlords-index
should be a good place to start

[YouMeAndThree]

I guess it must be just me....but I find it all incredibly depressing....

In what way depressing Chrissie? The seller or the buyer?

[newarrival]

I don't know..., maybe we just lived in the wrong places all the time?
I have in all our almost 5 years here never seen anyone picking through rubbish on the kerbside, actually I haven't even seen any kerbside rubbish at all- apart from the "normal" gabs/ bins, that is!
In Dunedin we had a big recycling centre, with a small shop, where you could drop off everything which you wanted to get rid off but not throw into the rubbish- and I have seen some amazing things there, I have to say!

The situation some of you described, where cars drive up an down the streets looking for stuff at the kerbside, that is a normal situation in Germany as well, where you have the "extra" rubbish collection for all sorts of household goods from time to time. And you would be amazed how many people get rid of furniture and all sorts of things others are more than happy to take home, because there is nothing more wrong with them than that the things are older and not as flash any more!

Here in Blenheim there is something called "Blue Door", similar to the Dunedin shop they sell everything people want to get rid of, and I was quite happy to find heaps of empty glass jars there when I needed some for making jam! They regularly ask for donations, because there are a lot of people out there who apparently cannot afford to go and buy stuff new.

[JandM]

I heard that in Australia, a woman took her granddaughter out in the pushchair when the inorganic stuff was out, and she was on her way back home with a few useful things she'd spotted, including a really new-looking microwave, tucked in the tray underneath, when a police car stopped alongside her, and the officer told her she'd have to give them their radar speed gun back.