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Old 08-13-2012, 02:26 PM   #21
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That's probably true, but I don't have any problem with it. Like you I'd rather sell it (if nothing else that helps establish that the person has a need for the appliance), but if I'm going to give it away it doesn't matter much to me whether the recipient uses it himself or earns a few dollars by making it available to someone else who can't afford a new appliance and doesn't have a truck/trailer, etc. That benefits two parties-- someone who is showing some entrepreneurship and someone else who may be too down-on-their-luck to own a vehicle.
And if a very angry buyer came back to your house a week later because the washer or dryer broke down? The possibility of the buyer demanding a refund and/or return? I'm pretty cheap/frugal, but we are talking a 22 year old applicance...frankly I've never had a washer or dryer last that long. As always, YMMV.
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Old 08-13-2012, 03:33 PM   #22
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And if a very angry buyer came back to your house a week later because the washer or dryer broke down? The possibility of the buyer demanding a refund and/or return?
I hope it hasn't gotten to the point where ""as-is" isn't understood. This ain't Home Depot. But if the story seemed legit, I'd probably give him/her back the money if I'd sold it to them. If a "picker" had resold something I'd given away (the main topic of my post) I'd feel no responsibility to do anything about it.
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Old 08-13-2012, 11:49 PM   #23
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I guess this is all good advice. I need to let it go. For some reason, it really struck a nerve with me, and I got really upset.
In all seriousness, I keep having this mental picture of some poor single mother taking out a payday loan to get a crappy half-repaired washer and dryer from a sleazy used appliance dealer, when I could have given her one that worked perfectly.
Is that thought more important to you than your marital harmony?

I have a hard time believing that Best Buy would pay the tipping fees to put the old appliances in the landfill. Around here, they'd resell them to a bulk appliance dealer for $20 who'd rebuild them and sell them for $60.

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I hope it hasn't gotten to the point where ""as-is" isn't understood. This ain't Home Depot. But if the story seemed legit, I'd probably give him/her back the money if I'd sold it to them. If a "picker" had resold something I'd given away (the main topic of my post) I'd feel no responsibility to do anything about it.
I've always told the buyers that they know where I live and can get a refund, no questions asked.

Somehow that seems reassuring enough that I've never had one return anything.
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Old 08-14-2012, 09:33 AM   #24
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I would have done the same as your wife, Culture.

We're having some work done on our house this fall and have people repairing our old stone basement. Out in the driveway are our old (broken) wooden screen door, the windows from an old porch that got rebuilt 30 years ago, the Victorian pillars from our porch that was rebuilt 25 years ago (with identical pillars as they are still being made), and a wringer washer that was in the basement when we bought our house. Already put on the curb and taken by someone was a dismantled upright metal locker also in the basement when we bought our house (I assume someone took it for scrap metal). The basement guy asked why we kept the above and DH sort of shrugged and said someone might have wanted the stuff. He's not a hoarder and it is sort of interesting stuff, but still....

Maybe someone might have, but no one did the work to get it to them and they have been cluttering a corner and collecting dust and cobwebs forever instead.
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Old 08-14-2012, 11:30 AM   #25
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This is what Best Buy says they do with old appliances:
  • Your old appliance is removed from your home when your new one is delivered.
  • The units are collected from Best Buy by our licensed, third-party recycling partners.
  • The recyclers examine and evaluate the used appliances for repair and/or reuse.
  • The recyclers recover ozone-depleting chemicals and other waste streams from discarded refrigerators and freezers. PCBs, mercury, used oil, refrigerants and insulating foam are properly dealt with through the best environmental practices available.
  • Using various technologies, our recyclers dismantle the appliance, separating out the commodities (metals, plastics, glass, etc.).
  • The recyclers ensure the reclaimed commodities are sent to end markets to be recycled and repurposed into new products.
It looks like working appliances might get reused by someone (bullet 3).
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Old 08-14-2012, 11:52 AM   #26
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Originally Posted by gromit View Post
This is what Best Buy says they do with old appliances:
  • Your old appliance is removed from your home when your new one is delivered.
  • The units are collected from Best Buy by our licensed, third-party recycling partners.
  • The recyclers examine and evaluate the used appliances for repair and/or reuse.
  • The recyclers recover ozone-depleting chemicals and other waste streams from discarded refrigerators and freezers. PCBs, mercury, used oil, refrigerants and insulating foam are properly dealt with through the best environmental practices available.
  • Using various technologies, our recyclers dismantle the appliance, separating out the commodities (metals, plastics, glass, etc.).
  • The recyclers ensure the reclaimed commodities are sent to end markets to be recycled and repurposed into new products.
It looks like working appliances might get reused by someone (bullet 3).
If bullet three didn't apply the appliances may have been ready for trash. If so, would it be better to let Best Buy hand it over to a re-cycler who would properly dispose of everything or give it to someone who might get a few months use out of it and then dump it in a field. I can see advantages to both.
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Old 08-15-2012, 06:24 AM   #27
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And if a very angry buyer came back to your house a week later because the washer or dryer broke down? The possibility of the buyer demanding a refund and/or return? I'm pretty cheap/frugal, but we are talking a 22 year old applicance...frankly I've never had a washer or dryer last that long. As always, YMMV.
I am not sure why people worry about this, but it is a very common concern when I tell people I sell used "stuff." I always sell from my house, give full disclosure, and have never had a problem. I think anyone buying a used washer and dryer for $50 know what they are getting into.
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Old 08-15-2012, 06:27 AM   #28
Recycles dryer sheets
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I would have done the same as your wife, Culture.

I understand where you are coming from, my father has everything that has ever entered onto his property. However, I have a great track record of "non-hording" if that is a word. I love to get rid of stuff, I just life to do it efficiently (sell or give to a good home). There are no piles of junk at my house other than those that last for 2-4 weeks during a project execution.
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Old 08-15-2012, 06:30 AM   #29
Recycles dryer sheets
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That's probably true, but I don't have any problem with it. Like you I'd rather sell it (if nothing else that helps establish that the person has a need for the appliance), but if I'm going to give it away it doesn't matter much to me whether the recipient uses it himself or earns a few dollars by making it available to someone else who can't afford a new appliance and doesn't have a truck/trailer, etc. That benefits two parties-- someone who is showing some entrepreneurship and someone else who may be too down-on-their-luck to own a vehicle.
I am with you 100%. I would prefer someone get it who needs it. However, giving it to a reseller avoids the dump, and someone is making money on it, and it still ends up with someone who needs it.

OTOH you have people like my mom, who calls the police on people digging recyclables out of her garbage because she does not want someone making money off her garbage. She would rather it go to the dump. I think she is crazy.
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Old 08-15-2012, 06:33 AM   #30
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I'm pretty cheap/frugal, but we are talking a 22 year old applicance...frankly I've never had a washer or dryer last that long. As always, YMMV.
Appliance (older ones anyway) are very easy and inexpensive to repair. YOu can order parts inexpensively off the internet. They were still running because I fixed them when they broke, and my wife finally realized they were never going to experience perma-death as long as I was alive :-).
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Old 08-15-2012, 07:43 AM   #31
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Appliance (older ones anyway) are very easy and inexpensive to repair. YOu can order parts inexpensively off the internet.
+1. The older appliances use mechanical timers and simple switches that are fairly easy to troubleshoot and replace. The parts are often standard between brands so they can be bought at a lot of places for a reasonable price. Newer machines have lots of proprietary circuit boards that can cost over $200 and sometimes membrane switch panels that change from model to model and are also expensive. Building machines this way is cheaper for the manufacturer and makes for a very "high-tech" looking appliance, but they are expensive to fix.

When we think about the actual work that a washer and dryer do, the high-tech approach seems counterproductive. Even reducing water and energy use doesn't require high-tech, just good design.
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Old 08-15-2012, 07:53 AM   #32
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+1. The older appliances use mechanical timers and simple switches that are fairly easy to troubleshoot and replace. The parts are often standard between brands so they can be bought at a lot of places for a reasonable price. Newer machines have lots of proprietary circuit boards that can cost over $200 and sometimes membrane switch panels that change from model to model and are also expensive. Building machines this way is cheaper for the manufacturer and makes for a very "high-tech" looking appliance, but they are expensive to fix.

When we think about the actual work that a washer and dryer do, the high-tech approach seems counterproductive. Even reducing water and energy use doesn't require high-tech, just good design.
I can't believe you posted that without using the word "Staber".

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