CraigsList: Why I Love It

Early last summer, we bought this IKEA Malm Headboard on clearance for $20:

We bought it because we were worried that the canopy bed we were planning to put in our guest room would be too high for the ceiling fan that is in that room.  Well, we got the IKEA headboard home, moved into our new house and found that the canopy bed cleared the ceiling fan without a problem.  Yeah for our canopy bed, boo for the Malm bed that was stored in our garage for the last 9 months.  I caught a glimpse of it the other day and thought, 'I need to Craigslist that'.

When I got a moment, I brought it inside and took some pictures of it.  After seeing the $129 selling price for it online (it must have been taken off the IKEA website this past week because I can't find it anymore), I asked $60 OBO for it.  Within a few days of listing it, the headboard was sold for my asking price to a nice young man who informed me that our local IKEA is no longer selling the Malm Queen Headboard in the store.  He was ecstatic.  I was also ecstatic because I made $40 and didn't have to store the bed anymore.  Everyone was happy!! 

Then it got better.  This weekend, I took a quick look at Craigslist and found this World Market Sourav bench listed for $40.  It retails for $199 (on sale for $179 currently) and also has an oversize shipping surcharge of $25 that I would have to pay because World Market doesn't like Minnesota anymore.  And it got even better yet when I found out that the bench wasn't used.  It was brand spanking, still in the box, new.  Wahoo!!

Check it out:

The family that was selling it had purchased two benches, but then decided they only wanted 1 bench.  Well, thank you indecisive family.  Thank you very much!!  We (and by we, I mean Bill...he's my Craigslist gopher) were ecstatic to hand over $40 for a brand new bench, and the family was happy to have the box off their hands and a little cash in their pocket. 

This bench, you see, matches our dining room buffet, and while I don't tend to be matchy, matchy, I didn't love the look of our old bench in the dining room (it was another World Market store closing purchase) because it's a little short for the table and the color is kind of orange-y.   (Some of my wall baskets are orange though too, so it wasn't awful:).)

See our before picture:

The bench served its purpose well though, and I thought that it would potentially be replaced with the mismatched chairs that I'm searching for (see this post for more details on future dining room plans).  We love having a bench though.  It's super easy for the kids to sit and eat, and you can put lots of kids on a single bench when we're having playdates.  Also, the kids use the bench for helping me cook and bake. They put their mixing bowls on the bench and stand next to it because it's the perfect height. 

Now, I have the exact bench that I was seeking out (for it's length and color and price point pre-shipping and surcharge, of course), and I feel like I got it for free. 

We just had to put the legs on it:

Thanks Lucky!

And now here's our new bench:

Cost Breakdown:

Money made on Queen Malm Headboard Sale: $60 sale -$20 original cost of headboard=$40
Cost of World Market Sourav Bench: $40
Total Cost Out of Pocket: $0!! 

And that's why I love Craigslist.