Going Going USED!

In today's episode of Crbnly Conversations, we try to understand the thrilling world of shopping by only buying used. We navigate the high seas of Facebook Marketplace, reminisce about the glory days of Craigslist, and champion the cause of reducing our carbon footprint, one pre-loved item at a time. With a dash of snark, we question the necessity of newness and leave listeners pondering, "Why buy new when used will do? Except of course, underwear. . .

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Transcript

Shane (00:02.574)
All right, are the mics on? Mic check. There we go, here we go. Welcome back everyone. Another episode of Carbonly Conversations. It's your boy Shane. Got our other boy Chad here with us. We know it feels like it's been forever. So we apologize if we're ahead of time if we're a little rusty at this.

Chadwick (00:05.274)
Check, check, here we go.

Chadwick (00:19.834)
I kept it.

Chadwick (00:29.434)
Yeah, we needed a good carbon like cleanse personally and privately. So here we are back again.

Shane (00:32.632)
Definitely.

Shane (00:36.302)
Definitely. Yep. So I mean, if this is your first time listening, we just want to let you know that Carbonly Conversations is a podcast where friends examine the intersection of community, lifestyles and consumption in our lives. We've created this and I hope to share our stories and curiosity to motivate anyone out there listening to lessen our carbon footprint.

And we want to use our platform to create a space for listeners and community members to share their Carbony journeys as well. And we've made it very easy for you to follow us. We're on Instagram, X, TikTok, you name it, we're there. We also have our YouTube channel where we try to post the conversations in video. So if you're a visual person, just go to YouTube, type in Carbony Conversations.

Chadwick (01:08.442)
Mm -hmm.

Shane (01:29.486)
and you'll be able to check out our video episodes there as well. And if you're just a listener, all you need to do is scroll down to the show notes, click on find and join the conversation, and that'll give you access to listen to this episode plus all of our catalog on any platform that you use. So very easy, check us out. Comment, like, support us, we appreciate it.

Chadwick (01:58.906)
Give us a review, subscribe, just be carbonly. All that feels good.

Shane (02:03.31)
Yep, definitely. So we're back. You've probably heard us talk about.

Our focus is to really give information, share information that we learn about, that we read for us to have carbonly lives. And you've heard us speak multiple times about thrifting and buying used products, things like that. So this is kind of where we're at today with a new article that Chad shared with me a few weeks ago.

from the Washington Post. It was written by Michael J. Corrin, but basically it's titled, Why You Should Buy Everything Used. You know, so.

Chadwick (02:56.058)
Good old Michael, I think for the article for 30 days, he attempted to just do that. Everything he needed consumed, bought for 30 days, I believe a month or so. Like he bought or looked for it using and then he goes and described it. Like before we kind of get in a little bit more of our own journey of use, I have been, I don't know what the right phrase is. I giggly in a little bit because when you look at the top of the article, it's climate coach.

And he's a climate advice column in this. And I know we've referenced probably his and other like watch posts and other like New York Times, like climate advice articles as like a topic. But just want to kind of get your reaction to that and what we're doing. And we'd really love to hear from our listeners about like, does carbonly fill that climate coach need or is it just an easy way to categorize something on the internet?

Shane (03:25.934)
Yeah, I saw that.

Chadwick (03:55.642)
I don't know, I'm still giggling a little bit.

Shane (03:58.518)
I mean, I definitely, especially after reading the article, I feel like it's just kind of what we talk about, but in written form. Like it's very, he made it very personable as far as like listing out the items he was looking for. He gave a little bit of data, you know, background, talks about tech. There's a nice mix of solutions and different options in this article. So, I mean, I guess we would call ourselves.

Climate climate podcasters, I mean we definitely are in that area, but we need to figure out a cooler name I guess and we kind of are climate coaches I would say because we're You know, we're giving advice and and things like that. So

Chadwick (04:33.722)
No more.

Chadwick (04:41.016)
Yeah.

Chadwick (04:44.73)
Yeah, we do fill that space for many of our listeners that have shared, reached out and shared that. And I giggle not like, like rude or derogatory, just like, is this kind of funny on how like everything's got to get labeled like that. And coaching is a big deal. Like, I mean, I've built a career around coaching and supporting others professionally as a people leader. And I mean, there's just so much information and it's easier to get coached than to have to like parse through it yourself.

But just wanted to like recognize that. So maybe like we'll start using our own hashtag carbon like coach climate coat. Maybe that's our new, you know, after this spring renewal and refresh for the last month of our break, maybe, maybe we, maybe we were coaching ourselves and we're ready to go at it. But anyway, Shane buying used for a whole month. Could you, would you have you even tried that?

Shane (05:19.182)
Yeah. Yep.

Shane (05:43.374)
So the first thing that popped in my head when I read that title was like, man, I hope he doesn't need new underwear because anybody that's ever been to like the thrift store knows like that kind of like weird aisle where it's like all used. Nowadays, the thrifts have more new products, but like specifically in the 90s.

Chadwick (05:53.53)
Yeah.

Shane (06:08.204)
Like there was always that aisle where it was just like tidy whiteys hung up on a hanger and you're just like, why would somebody buy those? You know, no offense to anyone out there that does buy them and you know, it needs to for finance reasons, but financial reasons, but yeah. But I do I do go, I don't specifically do challenges like this, but it would be kind of fun. But I do find myself now.

Chadwick (06:19.738)
Yeah.

Chadwick (06:24.026)
Yeah, yeah, that's a tough one. That's a tough one.

Shane (06:38.562)
Outside of food, I do find myself looking for a used option before going to the store. So more specifically, I'm looking to get a new couch. And right now I'm holding off because I'm just looking like on Facebook Marketplace to see if eventually, you know, the couch that I like will pop up. So I'm not in a rush. So fortunately I have.

Chadwick (06:59.642)
Sure.

Shane (07:08.27)
time to make that decision, but I do think it's really cool what he's doing.

Chadwick (07:11.034)
Yeah, I think. Yeah, I think that's the key point that you just said there. I think for myself and my memories and also others, I know I've done this is having the time and taking the time to search used first. It does kind of diminish that feeling of immediate like buyer satisfaction or like consuming satisfaction that we've all had run through or.

Shane (07:35.822)
Yeah.

Chadwick (07:39.714)
endorphin chains, but like there's no other way to go around it. And that was, I think the other thing that go around and like, you gotta wait, because probably the right use thing at a really available or attractive price exists. It just takes a little time to find it. And that's what I found most intriguing about what this climate coach and article was sharing is that a lot of places like Thread Up, Goodwill, Amazon, Renewed, like,

Shane (08:08.654)
Mm -hmm.

Chadwick (08:09.274)
there are things that I wasn't quite familiar with and I'll definitely post those in the section for you listeners to click into. But they've brought in the robots to make that easier to post everything. And now you can just save your Google searches for these topics and click in highlight, I'm looking forward in Google shopping news and just revisit that search from time to time or put an alert on that search. And all of a sudden like,

for Shane there's the couch that he wants that matches the rug that ties in the room and then the curtains that you're going to upgrade because it'll be spring and all you had to do is let the robots do it and someone needed to get rid of it and now you're spending a third of the

Shane (08:43.63)
Right.

Shane (08:58.254)
Yeah, especially with Marketplace, once you search for something that goes into the algorithm. So now every time someone posts a couch within my area, it's going to show up on my main feed of Marketplace without me actually having to search couch. So the robots are making it easy.

Chadwick (09:09.882)
Yeah.

Chadwick (09:15.962)
And you're a big fan of, yeah, the robots are making, and you're a big fan of Facebook marketplace, right? So what's your experience been like that or on that? Like, has it been, have you had weird interactions or are you just like, this is just a place to shop?

Shane (09:30.99)
Yeah, I mean, as a buyer, it's definitely less stressful because you're kind of just reaching out. Like, you know that, like I'm the type of person, I'm the type of person if I ask the seller, like, hey, is this still available? Like, I have all intentions of buying it. But when I sell products, it gets stressful because you've got a bunch of people asking, is this available? You say, yes, they never respond again.

You know what I mean? And then of course, with anything else online, you're dealing with like scammers. So like the big, the quick way to find out the scammers on Marketplace is like if they just started their page this year, and if they ask you for your phone number, that's a scam. But otherwise it's fun. It's...

I enjoy it. You get to meet new people in the community because like I'll usually do it when I sell something I'll do door pick up so they actually come to my house, which I don't recommend for everyone, but I I feel kind of safe. I think I'm a good reader of people's character. So like if I get a weird vibe from them in their messages, maybe I'll do like a public public meetup type of sale. But. But yeah, I'm a.

Chadwick (10:53.688)
Sure sure So there's extra extra work right so if you go to Target, let's just pick on Target You don't have to worry about any of that stuff because the brand the people the experience, but you're also buying brand new you're consuming and creating a demand for new brand new stuff, which I is like three trillion dollars is the US market of brand consumption of brand new products a year which No small number to shake at that would if we

Shane (10:56.718)
I'm a big advocate of it.

Shane (11:11.662)
Mm -hmm.

Chadwick (11:22.458)
We put it in a different way, Shane. Every American didn't consume anything for a whole year. And we took all that money to pay off our national debt. We'd pay off a third of our national debt. Because I think that's around that seven to nine trillion dollars. It may be way more, I can't remember, but that's my last memory. But even if it was like, that's how impactful it is. I mean, our GDP would go like this and everyone would freak out. What do people really want? What do we produce?

Shane (11:35.694)
Right. Yep.

Shane (11:41.294)
But still, just, I mean...

Chadwick (11:51.738)
probably won't be good for the economic cycles, but as a mind exercise, it's a useful tool. But that's what I think I found most interesting with the robots, like using technology and AI to like, like Goodwill finds is a place I didn't know existed, but that's their ability to throw, like if we go drop off a bag or boxes at Goodwill, there's now, it's not a human, a human will sort of it, but they scan it all and then.

Shane (12:06.892)
Same.

Shane (12:16.45)
Mm -hmm.

Chadwick (12:20.13)
Within seven seconds, they said. They can put the shirt that I have on, recognize it, tag it, photo it, and post it. Like, they didn't go into like how they know where the shirt is and then how it gets logistically shipped and packed, you know, packaged and shipped. But they're doing it. And they're selling a lot of goods on this stuff.

Shane (12:22.572)
Yeah.

Shane (12:38.766)
And that technology was called Hammock, H -A -M -M -O -Q, which is a game changer, not only to help the thrifts, like, I guess, identify valuable things that they can sell online, but they also, prior to this technology being that humans had to sort through it. And we're talking about humans that are probably making minimum wage.

you know, don't have that much of a urge to be like, oh, I want to pick the good quality things for our store to sell. So I think I think it mentioned like prior to that, only only about 10 percent of things donated were making it to the actual shelves on the store because they just can't keep up with it. And then the rest ends up ended up in the landfill.

Chadwick (13:20.314)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, there was some horrid pictures of a place in Chile where secondhand clothes went to die. I don't even want to describe it. It didn't make me feel good. And it made me even more curious about this push, push this drive to think about starting used. And I think if we just stopped the conversation right now, Shane, I think the thing that what I would want everyone to be left with is Google, Amazon, Goodwill, Thread Up and others.

Shane (13:54.062)
Mm -hmm.

Chadwick (13:56.312)
use technology to make it a lot easier for you to have an online shopping experience similar to the ones that you do for new stuff, to look for used stuff. Like I think that's the headline here is like the robots have made it easy to shop for used and have a good experience like you shop for new and that game changer. So.

Shane (14:19.598)
Yeah, and it's slowly creeping into the actual brick and mortar stores for certain brands. Like a guy that volunteers with Franklinton Farms, one day he had on some really nice shoes and I was like, man, where'd you get those at? And he said that REI, which is like a outdoor camping type apparel store, now has a used section.

Chadwick (14:31.674)
Come on.

Chadwick (14:40.954)
Damn, fam, I'll do that.

Shane (14:47.758)
to where when people bring back shoes or I don't know if there's some type of buyback campaign as well, but basically they have a slightly used, slightly worn section and he got them for a pretty good discounted rate. And I know other big brands like Patagonia, Allbirds, H &M are starting to have buyback programs where they'll actually buy back the used product and sell those online.

Chadwick (15:16.698)
So have you done that before? Because I have. But not with clothing, but on appliances and electronics. And here's my experience is if it's in that refurbished or guaranteed new but used, they had to go through the whole thing.

Shane (15:37.166)
Yeah, they're actually better than new products most of the time. Yeah, and cheaper. Yeah.

Chadwick (15:40.25)
I'm in cheaper. Yeah, especially like a washer dryer or like some major I mean all the ovens, you know that I tried to buy like though That's where it's at. If you can't find find it like from Facebook marketplace or a garage sale or I mean I'm gonna date myself but like Craigslist how many times I've shit on

Shane (15:54.51)
Mm -hmm.

Shane (15:58.542)
Craigslist that's what I was gonna say like Craigslist and like eBay are like the OGs of the the resale space and then of course garage and yard sales but You don't hear them. You don't hear them mentioned as much. They definitely are still still alive, but there's just so many other options now that You know, you don't really hear them. So shout out to Craigslist and eBay. I've definitely

Chadwick (16:11.342)
app.

Chadwick (16:17.946)
This is a reference point.

So.

Shane (16:28.206)
purchased a lot of things on those two sites.

Chadwick (16:30.906)
Two brands that will never go away because of their usefulness, but maybe never ever reach their heyday of popularity. Like they did in the early aughts.

Shane (16:42.926)
And it's cool that, you know, how popular it is. So like in the article, it referenced global data. So they had some data from global data and it said in the past year, roughly half of Americans have bought used clothing. So that's, I mean, that's a huge change. I was in the thrift store a couple of weeks ago and there was like two teenage kids in there.

Chadwick (17:06.584)
Yeah.

Shane (17:12.398)
definitely in high school. And I mean, it was kind of funny to see them in there. They're just, I mean, they're looking at every shirt, every shirt, just trying to find something unique. And I mean, they both had at least five or six shirts in their hand that they were gonna purchase already. So it's just kind of cool. It was like, you know, we, people that, you know, when I was in high school, it wasn't cool to shop at the thrift store, at least in my neighborhood, you know.

Chadwick (17:40.024)
Oh yeah, yeah yeah.

Shane (17:41.326)
So it's kind of like we paved the way for these kids to, now it's fashionable. You know what I mean?

Chadwick (17:48.282)
Yeah, and trendy and you can like a business, right? So you and I have experienced this together and I share this because I actually, I can't remember in the last week or so, Lauren and I were in a thrift store. I think it was like my daughter came to visit and when we were walking on the Lower East Side, we went into a store.

Shane (17:52.492)
Yeah.

Chadwick (18:07.362)
And I was looking at Lauren. I was like, when's the last time you went shopping and bought something? You know, you know, not used but like in the spirit of use in a while, you know, like I was like same here but there's like but that doesn't that's not true. We did that all the time and in Louisville because Louisville has like all those antique thrift like Florida, Florida flea but

Shane (18:16.462)
Mm -hmm.

Shane (18:28.302)
Yep. Yep.

Chadwick (18:31.994)
But those are curated. So like, if those kids that you saw at the thrift store, like hypercycling.

Shane (18:34.284)
Right?

Chadwick (18:39.93)
I think remember we were in Germantown and there was that like t -shirt shop and record store and I guarantee their business models they go to the giant Goodwills and other places and they buy them for two to three dollars but they go through to see what's trendy and unique or just weird or whatever they think they can sell for 25. I mean there's a vintage one I think that would be the phrasing that they probably over in Union Square and it's this rock t -shirt that you can't get you can get like Nirvana and utero right? Original

Shane (18:43.854)
Mm -hmm.

Shane (19:06.35)
Mm -hmm.

Chadwick (19:09.934)
That's like $180 like you know, it's the collectability brand recognition, but that's definitely a business outside of them because there's

Shane (19:18.094)
Yep. People are leaving. People are even going overseas now. So like there's a guy that I randomly came up going overseas to buy things. So like I'll try to find it before we post this and put it in a link in the link. But there's a guy that I think he owns a vintage shop like in San Francisco, but he'll go he'll go to like Vietnam. He'll go to like.

Chadwick (19:25.146)
To do what?

Chadwick (19:42.266)
Okay.

Shane (19:46.168)
all these other countries because they get so much of the stuff from America like don't ship there. So now they're even up on the trend in those countries where they're like, oh, I can sell this old, you know, run DMC t -shirt for, you know, equivalent to their money for 10 to $20.

You know, so then that guy's over there. He's buying hundreds of shirts, bringing them back to his store and selling. I mean, some of these shirts are worth four or five hundred dollars if they're like the original concert shirts, you know.

Chadwick (20:20.858)
Well, as you said from DMC, our rest in peace, Mr. Jam Master Jay. Did you see the news alert this week that it's like his godson.

Shane (20:27.918)
Yeah.

Yeah, yep.

Yep. Yeah.

Chadwick (20:35.738)
Anyways, rest in peace buddy. Yeah Super sad, but yeah to your point like this Buying used is not just a fad. It's also a business case from the consumer to an actually like also from a entrepreneur, right and You know going back to the original intent of this guy's articles like let me do this for a month and see how hard it is

Shane (20:38.254)
Sad.

Shane (20:51.438)
Mm -hmm.

Shane (21:04.398)
Yeah.

Chadwick (21:05.786)
with that growth in both those spaces. It's just like, again, like my headline is like, I'm gonna, when I'm shopping for things, I'm gonna look in those, use the Google tools, use the shopping tools for the use filter versus the way I segmented it before. It's like, well, I can probably get this used and this is where I would do it and trust it. And now I'm like, I don't even have to look anywhere else other than through some shopping search engines.

which is a little nut.

Shane (21:34.74)
Exactly. And it's funny, you know, because you and I are friends on Facebook, too. And whenever you post your you're you're selling a like a some type of pizza kit. So it shows me that because we're friends. It shows like Chad selling it. So how has your experience been? Like, have you have you ever actually like have you ever sold anything?

Chadwick (21:46.904)
Oh, Pete the son. Yeah.

Chadwick (21:53.912)
Quiet, say it.

Chadwick (21:58.874)
Yeah. So yeah, multiple times and back to the whole Craigslist. Like I was, I would sell things on Craigslist mainly in that spirit of reduce, reuse and recycle. Like, and there was a couple of times in my life where inherits too strong of a word.

Shane (22:12.654)
Hmm.

Chadwick (22:17.782)
Absorbed through attrition like I moved into this house I was gonna live in for a while and part of the deal was like I would clean it up and clean it out like I actually emptied all the stuff that had some type of interest like monetary value through Craigslist either like come and get it or $20 $30 and went through that exercise Helps some of my friends downsize their stuff and then but on value chains and

Shane (22:23.278)
Yeah.

Shane (22:34.54)
Hmm.

Chadwick (22:47.662)
So I've done that semi -regularly through Craigslist, especially like, let's say 10 to 15 years ago and beyond. And then in the last like five years, I've used Facebook marketplace because I think it's the most ingenious. It's like a global garage sale, right? And in Louisville, there's things I would sell or look for. So I have, but like not a lot, but...

Shane (23:05.774)
Yeah. Yep.

Chadwick (23:16.122)
The last couple of things we've tried, especially here in New York, like it just, unless it's an electronic, like I don't think anyone wants it. Like that pizza stone. Yeah. It's just, there's a lot of, well then like for us, it was a space thing. It was nice. It was brand new. I would have kept it by an house to put it somewhere. Cause we'd use, maybe it would use the stone. That was the other thing, our oven's smaller. So the stone was too big to even fit to use in our oven. So it's like, but as a parent,

Shane (23:24.11)
Yeah, New Yorkers are a little...

Shane (23:32.398)
Right. Yeah.

Shane (23:42.958)
Yeah.

Chadwick (23:45.562)
I don't know if you've noticed this growing up, go over to your mom's house and all of a you come back with more shit than you went there with somehow. Yeah. I got to return that favor because when my daughter was visiting, it was like she brought the pizza stone. But they also, I was like, they wanted it. I'll double check right now.

Shane (23:51.31)
Always, yeah.

Shane (23:59.534)
Oh, nice. Hey, make sure you take make sure you take it down off of marketplace because when with your with the luck, somebody will message you like, hey, I'll come get it right now. And they're like, oh, sorry, I already got rid of it.

Chadwick (24:15.226)
Yeah, I think through the app, Facebook Messenger, it allows you to delist it or unlist it, which I think it did. So, but yeah, good call out.

Shane (24:21.646)
Yeah.

Yeah, my process when I'm kind of, because I'm definitely trying to like declutter with us combining homes, like we just have a lot of stuff. So like, fortunately, I have a basement. So what I do, my method is like when we figure out, oh, we don't want this anymore, I'll take some pictures of it, post it on Marketplace, and then I'll be like, OK, I'll give it. I'll let it sit for a month in the basement. If it doesn't sell by then, I'll go donate it.

Chadwick (24:36.25)
Yeah.

Chadwick (24:53.69)
So you got like a process.

Shane (24:53.9)
You know, to the to the thrift. Right. So it's like, you know, let me at least try to make a few dollars off of it first. If I don't, then I'll just go ahead and donate it or something.

Chadwick (25:04.154)
How do you decide what to price it?

Shane (25:08.014)
I don't do much research. I probably price things too low, but I just try to make them. I just figure like, hey, if I can get $5 out of something that I'm willing to go give for free right now to the thrift store, why not get that five bucks out of it? You know?

Chadwick (25:24.73)
Mm -hmm. Why not? Fair enough. I'm kind of liking that too. It's like I would like it to go to good use and If I've already used it, I already got my use out of it. So what's a fair price to move it along? versus

Shane (25:32.846)
Right.

Chadwick (25:41.516)
Maximize profit right because the problem is not all monetary. I am gonna Share this and I hope we both laugh at this. So our friend Ben you've met Ben and The last time we were I think Facebook messaging or chatting about something and then we've had to FaceTime and we cut weight We'd cut up for a little bit. He's like what the hell's going on with Shane Is he like moving and selling all this shit like cuz I can just keep seeing all this stuff?

Shane (25:42.926)
Yeah.

Shane (25:51.446)
Mm -hmm.

Shane (26:06.702)
because he has me on Facebook. Yeah.

Chadwick (26:08.73)
Yeah, like he just asked me in such a funny way. I was like, and then it made me wonder like what is going on with Shane? I haven't talked to you for a while. So like, is there something changing? And now and that was your story about the things in the basement is like I can now envision shade or vision you like, oh, let's just go through and post a whole bunch of stuff on Facebook and see what happens get rid of this stuff. So so Ben, if you're listening, Mr. Resolve.

Shane (26:14.67)
Yeah.

That's funny

Shane (26:28.086)
Yep. Yep.

I'm okay, Ben. I'm not, yeah, I didn't lose my house. Everything's going fine. I appreciate you checking in, but I guess we can end it. So like at the end of the article, it looks like he spoke with Sandra Goldmark, which she works at the Columbia University's climate school, which I didn't know that existed either. But she had a good quote where she,

Chadwick (26:38.178)
It's so funny. Yeah, who knew? Also got.

Chadwick (26:54.938)
Oh yeah, yeah. Yep.

Shane (27:02.51)
She redefined her own relationship with things and her quote was, have good stuff, not too much, mostly reclaimed. And I slowly find myself kind of going by that mantra myself. I still haven't figured out the underwear situation, but I think it's a good thing to live by.

Chadwick (27:24.866)
Yeah.

Chadwick (27:31.61)
I think that's a solid way to end it in a very strong mantra. I mean, just tell you make it through tough times. And if you guys, if everyone looks around the world right now and says, this isn't a tough time, I'd like to meet this highly optimistic person because I'm pretty optimistic and I struggle. So, so let's maybe repeat that mantra. What is it? Um,

Shane (27:51.438)
Yeah.

saying.

Shane (28:00.59)
good stuff, not too much, mostly reclaimed. Maybe that'll be the title of this episode.

Chadwick (28:07.674)
Yeah, I think we'll fit that in there.

Shane (28:11.788)
You know, so...

Chadwick (28:13.818)
Awesome. Well, Shane, definitely. Thanks for listening. Shane, you have a good rest of your day. Peace and hugs to y 'all.

Shane (28:15.95)
Thanks for listening, guys.

Shane (28:22.99)
Yes, sir.