So honesty may the best policy after all.
For an eBay listing for a green buggy by a tired and emotional father has become an online sensation.
More than 215 bids have been made for the three-wheeled buggy advertised by 39-year-old Joel Andresier, of Hampshire, and his cast-off set of baby wheels is currently priced at £154,000.
His disarmingly frank description included the information that said buggy has had "pretty much every bodily fluid known to science chucked over it. It's also absorbed its own weight in Ella's Kitchen meals, and mud."
He also stated that the buggy "signifies everything that ended my happy, carefree, low-cost, child-free life."
His success has caused me to look around our home at the catalogue of discarded items with a mind to making a few bob with some warts and all descriptions.
*Ladies and gentleman do we have any takers for this pristine baby bouncer. After being unexpectedly propelled airborne by this sinister looking door-hung attachment, Munchkin was so traumatised that the mere sight of it caused him to scream relentlessly. Suffice to say, it never bounced again.
*Talking teddy bear. Guaranteed to scare the bejesus out of any child under the age of three with its sinister, surprisingly gravelly tones.
And why stop at baby products. Clearly, there is a market for this kind of honesty. We could make a killing here and clean out our over-stuffed cupboards at the same time.
*Treadmill for sale. With the exception of the first three weeks of its life, has served as a collector of dust and alternately as an effective clothes horse.
A third cunning use can be found by placing next to a full length mirror where it works as a constant, crushing reminder of that failed resolution to run five miles a day.
*Dumb bells. Have sat incongruously in corner of bedroom for half a decade during which time have only served as an effective tripping mechanism.
*Lawn Roller. Purchased by husband who was entertaining delusions of one day owning a stretch of garden. Has been used to flatten handkerchief -sized lawn on one occasion before taking up permanent residence in the shed. Requires muscles like Popeye to operate.
*Juice-maker. Ideal for making vast quantities of smoothies which can then be transferred to fridge for fester for three weeks before being deposited in the bin. Includes half a dozen tiny parts which are ideal for losing down the back of cupboards.
Bids on a postcard please.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article