I learned a lesson in marketing from a man who bought an old boat, a trailer and a motor from me. “Thanks,” he said as he loaded them up. “I’m planning to resell them.”

Good luck, I thought. I had been trying to get rid of them for months. But when I ran into him a few weeks later, he’d sold everything.

“How did you manage that?” I marveled.

“I took out an ad: ‘Heavy-duty boat trailer with free boat.’ When the buyer came to get it, I asked if he had a motor. He said no. I told him I happened to have one in my garage. Bought that, too.”