The white elephant in my basement... I need ideas (pool, heating, ceiling)
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We have done what so many others have done... bought a home gym. A huge one. An expensive one. And now we want it gone. lol.
My husband is, and always has been, a work-out fanatic. He cannot go more than a few days without doing some type of workout. He is disciplined and even when injured, he makes the time to do it. It shows - he has a great body. He lifts weights and he has a small workout station that allows him to do a lot of extra stuff.
The problem happened with me. My back wasn't doing well with me doing leg presses upside down so to encourage me, he bought this HUGE Wolverine 4 station thing. It takes up about 12 x 12 in my basement and it turned out to be useless for me because I am too short for the sitting leg press part. And we are both in our 60s and have had our fair share of back, knee and shoulder injuries and spend more time with ice packs and heating pads nowadays.
I have listed this thing on eBay, for practically nothing. I have listed it in local groups, for nowhere near the amount we paid for it. Brand new it was close to $2,000 and I know as well as anyone else, that great saying - something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. So I have offered to give it away. The only catch is, the recipient has the horrendous task of disassembling it and taking it away then re-assembling it at home. My daughter expressed great interest in it - until she measured the ceiling in her basement. It was too low. A local couple came over with $500 VERY excited to buy it, only to measure it and find it would not fit in their spare room.
I have thought about donating it but to what type of organization? lol. I can't see a soup kitchen or a woman's shelter wanting a home gym.
Last night my husband suggested we give it to the guy who mows our lawn, because he also takes away scrap metal and makes money from it. That would be so sad to me but I feel it might be our only option. It just feels very weird to take something that's pretty much brand new, and throw it. But we just don't want it any more. It's taking up space that we want to use.
We have lectured ourselves to death on this one. We made a big mistake getting it. So, fellow CD-ers, your philosophical viewpoints and creative ideas on getting rid of this, will be most welcome!
I'm in Very rural Georgia and we had similar (a very expensive when new system that we'd used weekly for 10 years). Listed it for the similar 1/4 new value (thankfully we also Bought it for about the same from some folks who never used it) and had someone within days. They came, watched as I disassembled, hauled it out to their truck and away.
I'm sure it's going to sit unused in their house, just a gut feeling, but the point is that it only takes one interested buyer. And they don't always look right when you first list. Try dropping the price some more if you want it to move a little faster. Or, as mentioned above, if you just want it gone there are people who will gladly take it and allow many people to put it to good use. The public pool in my home town had a workout area, most community centers, some senior centers, schools, etc...
We had a very good, commercial grade gym. Fortunately, the local fire department was willing to dismantle it and take it. I wrote off a $2000. Donation on my taxes. Mr rational's suggestion about the high school is good, too.
We were just glad to get rid of it, and didn't want some random strangers spending time in the house taking it apart, so this was a better solution than Craigslist....even though we probably could have gotten some money for it.
Maybe ask for ideas in the Exercise and Fitness forum? Also might try the Facebook marketplace and Craig's List.
For lower back problems, by the way, I recommend a reverse hyper machine. Rogue Fitness has a couple of them. Hubby got one and set it up in his home gym area, too.
If you can't donate it, you might try posting on Freecycle, or the free section of Craigslist. Sadly, there are a lot of flakes who will respond from both of those, and not show up, or expect you to deliver.
We sold ours on Craigslist. We just asked $300 for it and took an offer for $250. It took a few weeks but someone came and disassembled it (my DH helped) and it was gone!
Be patient.
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