What's your price tag?

by Suzanne Warr

In ongoing and forever prep for our upcoming move, I've put some of the old workout equipment in the basement up on craigslist.  I brought it with me when we moved down fron Northern Virginia, and found here in NC, I'd just rather go for a run, and most seasons can get away with it.

What I didn't know was that I had a gold mine hiding down there.

Not the Nordic Track, I suspect I'll end up giving it away.  Not the weight bench, though it did sell for enough to pay for one trip's worth of groceries.  As it turns out my old rower was worth A LOT more than I thought it was!

Doesn't look like much, does it?  It works, and I've always enjoyed it, but after taking one glance at the newer, niftier models they've come out in the last fifteen years, I assumed it would go for fifty bucks.

Try adding a zero to that.  Yep, someone drove four hours to buy it from me last weekend, and felt grateful to get it for that price.  She was the nicest of the people to contact me, but she wasn't the first.  In the first few hours that the rower was up, my inbox was flooded with emails from people offering me a deeply discounted price 'and I'll pick it up first thing tomorrow, cash in hand.'  It became very clear very quickly that these people hoped I hadn't done my research and didn't know what I could ask--and get--for the rower.  One guy even went so far as to tell me he wasn't asking for much of a discount, cause I'd never realistically get that price.  I'm sure they hoped I'd jump at the chance for a quick and easy sell, and take their offer.  They probably planned to turn around and sell it themselves for half again as much.  Thank goodness for market research!

So, the question is, do you know your value?  Are there areas in your writing, in your life, where you're wavering on your worth or that of your work?  This is a tricky question, of course, and also deeply personal.  But, I hope we never let anyone dictate our value to us, or cheapen the worth of our books.  Odds are very good someone like that has their own motivation for what they're saying, and are not watching out for you.  Hang in there, and you'll find the right fit for your books and your life, without feeling you've sold yourself short.  Here's to belief!