April 08, 2004~~9:17 a.m.
Sale! Everything Must Go!
It�s official: my stint in law school has now cost me only $29,985. Or thereabouts. I just sold one of my old textbooks. I have been carting around the books I purchased (for a pretty penny, I might add) for my first year in law school, since May of 2001. Make that, since August of 2000. As a 1L, I was frightened of law school and thus, when I went to purchase my books for the first year�s studies, I purchased ALL of the recommended extra readings, workbooks, etc. Needless to say, I didn�t use any of them. Looking back, I might have been more successful at law school if I HAD used them, but hindsight is always 20/20. At any rate, I have been meaning to try to rid myself of the box of casebooks and references for the past three years. Once, I listed a couple of them on e.Bay and the listings weren�t even looked at for seven whole days. I despaired. I knew that nobody, and certainly not as time wore on, would ever want to purchase these horrible and tainted books. But last night, in a desperate attempt to clean out some of the things that have been moved from city to city and back again over the past few years, I decided to try my hand at selling my books on Amazon. I laughed heartily as I listed all the books� conditions as either �Used�Like New� or �Used�Very Good� and went on to comment on most listings that the books were �never read, no markings� or �lightly used, in good condition.� I surprised even myself to find that several paperback copies were in mint condition, save for normal wear and tear from being in a box for the past four years. Literally, a few had never even been opened. I silently cursed the institution that is the Study of the Law for causing me to spend so much money on crap I never needed or that didn�t work in the end. After listing my 15 or so law school texts, I was rife with anticipation that I would be selling books and making money in no time. Omar, ever the level-headed one, scoffed at my optimism. When I explained that the agreement with Amazon is that the seller will ship the item within two days of sale, and due to my plan of being away from home all of next week he would have to take over the book sale duties, he looked at me as if to say, �Yeah right. As if you will sell any books.� I thought, �Just you wait and see, naysayer! Just you wait and see!� I even went so far as to suggest that we could sell our used cd�s and videos on Amazon, so sure was I that this plan would succeed. Omar sighed, turned over and promptly fell asleep. This morning, I bounded out of bed (okay, so that is a slight exaggeration since Elizabeth woke up at 5:30 a.m., yes A.M.) and told Omar that I was going to check my email to see if any of my books sold overnight. Again, he scoffed. But then, in my inbox, there was a bright shining light. �Contracts, In a Nut Shell� had sold for $15.00. I am ecstatic. Finally, a return on my investment in law school. And would you believe, that in the time that it took to write this diary entry, yet another book has sold? Yes, dear readers, I have lucratively rid myself of �The Bluebook: A Uniform System of Citation.� Business is booming and the books are almost literally flying off the shelves (or, out of the banker box, as the case may be). This is a DCT (dream come true) if I ever saw one. If you would like a piece of history, I still have 13 books left for sale on Amazon.com. You too, can share in the demise of my law career for less than $5 in some instances. Strike while the iron is hot, my friends. Strike while the iron is hot.
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