I see craigslist mentioned here a lot - just now somebody mentioned getting cheap refrigerator from craigslist in case of emergency need to replace one. And I will be the first one to agree that there are great bargains to be had there. However, I also find that there are limitations and I am not sure if it is just simply my own situation or it is more prevalent for others as well.
Anyway, here's the deal. Few months ago my clothes dryer died. Husband found one on craigslist for $75, went and brought it home in our minivan. Not really sure how he got it into the minivan in the first place.
Once home, I helped him to bring it down into the basement. Basically we had to sort of carefully slide it down the steps as neither of us can lift it plus the stair are very tight with a turn.
Once in the basement, the issue was or unhooking the old gas dryer and hooking up the new one. Husband had no clue how to do that. Somehow we ended up with plumbing problem two days later and husband called the plumber who fixed the problem, but while plumber was over husband also asked him to hookup the dryer. The additional charge for just the dryer work was around $100. So the dryer ended up costing $175, still a bargain over new ones from Sears or Home Depot.
Now, the old broken dread dryer is still sitting in the basement. Husband and I attempted to haul it up the stairs for free bulk garbage pickup, but we can't. We physically can't get it out of the basement, so there it sits.
In theory, I could ask a male friend to help husband with the dryer, however, my friend won't do it because when I asked another friend to help with our furnace last year, husband was an a$$ to him and now other friends won’t help if it is even remotely related to my husband. (as I've posted before, we are in the process of divorce, so a lot of these problems will go away).
But, I guess, what I am really asking is how do you deal with these bargain, but very heavy and bulky items in terms of getting them into and out of your house?
Right now my plan is that when I move out this summer, if I will get movers, I'll just ask them to get the dryer out of the basement and pay extra for it if I have to. But if I won't get movers and will have have my friends help me, the dead dryer will just sit there in the basement and will be entirely husband's problem. Whether or not I get movers will depend on how much furniture I will take with me, and that is still up in the air as will depend on what apartment I will rent.
Anyway, does using craigslist imply that you are handy with all appliance and always have friend on hand to help with heavy lifting?