we've got this old skool newsgroup here at penn, on which students (mostly) sell their stuff when they're moving or whatever. i myself have bought several things off the newsgroup including my bed, microwave, one bookshelf, couch, red velvet chair, and knife set. i am currently selling stuff on it, including the afore-mentioned bed and microwave.

as you might expect, the best time to buy is in may, when the seniors are graduating and getting rid of all their IK*A furniture and computer/stereo stuff. there have been some wicked good deals penn students are, to paint a wide swash, on the wealthy side. not everyone, for sure. but there is a large contingent of i've-got-daddy's-credit-card-and-i-know-how-to-use-it types. they tend to buy expensive stuff, then dump it cheap rather than move it. ("for sale: my nearly new 300 cd changer. bought 4 months ago for $600, selling now for $20 obo. gotta get rid of it by saturday, moving next door." just kidding. they were really moving to new york to work on wall street.)

huge flame wars break out on a regular schedule. (thursday morning? gotta flame!) people get all in a snit if someone dare's post in any format other than plain text, which the hardcore unix people use to read the group. regular arguments happen on the subject of an item's worth ("i saw that exact item on ebay yesterday for $10 less. you're totally bogus!"). then there's the woman who regularly sells small office-supply items for pointless prices ("BRAND NEW ball point pen. black ink. 20 cents obo.") for a while there was an*e lee, who pissed everyone off by mentioning, at all possible occasions, how small she was ("for sale: barely used size 2 silk dress. selling because it's too big for me"), how much she had originally paid for stuff ("for sale: barely used size 2 silk dress, bought for $550, selling for $50, selling because it's too big for me."), and how strong/smart/talented her fiance (now husband) was ("my fiance, into whose eyes i am currently deeply gazing, is available to help you move. he is totally built, so can carry all your stuff while only breaking enough of a sweat to make his firm, rippling muscles glisten." or, "my fiance, the best and smartest phd student in physics ever, is available to tutor your obviously less brilliant self in physics or math." or, "my fiance and i, both amazingly talented musicians who could have made careers out of music if only we hadn't found other academic loves, are available to play a flute (me) cello (fiance) duet at your event." whatever. i actually played in a pit orchestra with said god-like fiance once, and he was no great shakes. and really no atlas, either.) anyway, they ran off, got married, and moved to europe or something. the flame war associated with her, though was lots of fun.