Going once. . . going twice . . .

I sold my Creative Labs Soundblaster Wireless Music system last week on Amazon. As you may recall, it was a good first try on the hardware side for whole-house digital music, but the software was pretty "gamey."

Amazon has a good system to sell stuff that is also currently available on a new retail item. It is called, not coincidentally, "Sell Your Stuff". Just find the item and click "I have one to sell". You can describe the condition, set your price, and when someone looks for that item they can also select from your used one as well. It works great for DVDs - very little typing and clicking.

Amazon sends you an email once a sale is made and you just ship to the buyer. They add in shipping charges automatically as well. You can go to the USPS site, pay for and print a shipping label, tape it to the box and leave it for the mailman to pick up. Amazon collects the $$$ (and a fee) and deposits the balance in your bank account.

Every few months I poke around the garage and find some stuff for eBay (sold tires chains for my old Saab there). It's interesting to see how the auction progresses. But in the case of "newer" items, the simplicity of the Amazon system can't be beat.

Now what can I do with $159 to enable whole-house audio? Stay tuned.