Since I was a boy, I have had a fascination with books. I read quite a bit, but almost no fiction. Anyways, with this fascination, I can hardly walk into a second hand store without spending thirty minutes to an hour perusing their used books. I found a fairly recent title for 99 cents, so I bought it. I then listed it on Amazon.com for the same price plus the required minimum $3.99 plus shipping. So, after selling the book for a total of $4.98, after I shipped it, I lost about about a quarter, plus gas. Kind of like Lucy selling salad dressing (I Love Lucy Episode #79.)
What was lacking? Due diligence. In short, I went off half-cocked. I could have checked out shipping rates, envelopes and the like; but I decided to leap before I looked. Of course, we are talking about a tiny amount of money, but it illustrates a principle that is true of so many things in life: you can do the work and reap a reward, or you can leave out the work and loose what you had. Experience is the best teacher, but you can sometimes learn things at a much lower price.
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