Furloughed federal employees have been encouraged to liquidate their belongings to make ends meet during the shutdown—just look at the Coast Guard’s message to staffers advising them to consider holding garage sales. So it’s no surprise that some of them have taken to Craigslist to make some cash as a paycheck-less Friday approaches.
“Need to pay upcoming bills due to furlough” one car sale listing reads. The Temple Hills user put their 2012 Dodge Avenger on the market for $3,600. Another furloughed staffer in Kensington needs someone to buy a TV for $50: “Down on his luck government worker selling off major electronics,” the ad says.
Over in Virginia, a seller has reduced the price of their 60-inch Sony screen to a cool $400: “I am part of the government shutdown and need funds to survive. This is a great deal and would help me out.”
One Alexandria worker is selling a Larrivée guitar, listed at $1,125. Then there’s this cordless vacuum from a money-strapped employee: “Not only am I furloughed, but I’m moving AND I got a robot vacuum for Christmas, so I no longer need my Hoover’s LiNX rechargeable stick vacuum (cordless!), but I do need the cash!”
The oddest item we could find? This slightly listing Thomas the Tank Engine pop-up tent for only $5. We might buy it, crawl inside, and wait for this shutdown to end.
Brittany Shepherd covers the societal and cultural scene in political Washington. Before joining Washingtonian as a staff writer in 2018, Brittany was a White House Correspondent for Independent Journal Review. While she has lived in DC for a number of years now, she still yearns for the fresh Long Island bagels of home. Find her on Twitter, often prattling on about Frasier.
