Photo: (Bella Action)
Breaking up sucks. Bella Action is trying to make it suck less with her new website, Never Liked It Anyway. Think of it as kind of an eBay to get rid of the stuff your ex gave you . . . but also a place to find support from people dealing with the same things. You can sell that ring you got from your ex, you can buy something neat another person is trying to get rid of, and you can share your story with a sympathetic group. Now that's some unique therapy (plus you can earn money!). We wanted to learn more about this new site, so we hooked up with site creator Bella Action for the deets.
Act: How does Never Liked It Anyway work?
Bella Action: There are three parts to the site -- Buy It, Sell It and Tell It. When you sell an item, you create and manage your own ad (kind of like eBay), but you must tell the story behind the thing you're selling. The level of detail you go into is entirely up to you! Then, you have to list the 'Real World' price, followed by the 'Breakup' price (normally, A LOT lower) and finally, you list the phase of your breakup like 'super angry' or 'what breakup?'.
When you're buying, you get put in touch with the seller directly. Most buyers tend to offer their seller some advice as well as wanting to take the item off their hands! I've heard of lots of people saying they got an email saying, "Love the ring! And don't worry about that guy, same thing happened to my friend last year and she met the perfect guy two weeks later." The 'Tell It' section is a place to just tell stories; you don't have to sell anything. Then your story is open for the community to offer advice or a general show of support. Some of the stories are funny, some are horrendous. It kind of blew my mind how much people are willing to open up about this sort of stuff.
How did you come up with the idea of it?
I broke up with my long term boyfriend five days before Christmas and found myself with plane tickets to London that I no longer wanted. I then started thinking about all the other things I had that I no longer wanted: artwork we'd bought together, tickets to shows coming up that I wouldn't want to see without him, and even the jewelry that I loved but just wouldn't really want to wear anymore. I started joking about a site that would let you sell all the breakup relics you're left with when love goes awry. The response was very positive and inspired the kind of reaction I wanted -- laughter. Everyone saw the light side (especially with the name Never Liked It Anyway), so I knew I was on to something. Breakups are something we can all relate to and there are few things in life less fun than a breakup. I wanted to create a site that offered a practical way to help people move on and see the bright side faster than they were expecting. I also wanted to create a community that was bound by a shared experience and attitude dedicated to moving on, not moping about.
Do you plan to give any sales to nonprofits?
At the moment, I'm really working on monetizing the site properly so I can support a little team. Once we have that figured out, I'd love to do more than just give to non-profits, I'd like to work with women's organizations to help make real change. To my surprise, I've had a few women reach out to me in need from abusive relationships or with damaging self-esteem issues. It's something I know little about and am ill-equipped to properly handle. One day, I'd love to be able to partner with the right kind of groups to offer genuine support for these sorts of issues and use the traction of the site to raise awareness as well.
Do you have any cool or inspiring stories about someone selling something on the site and finding closure?
Where to start! I had one woman use the money from a ring she sold to go and travel the world - just like "Eat, Pray, Love"! I had one woman read some of the empowering stories on the site and finally get the strength to leave her cheating boyfriend. She later sold some of the jewelry he'd bought her and used it to pay the bond for an apartment of her own. Some of the stories are funny, like one lady selling a pair of boots she loved and called "Jeffrey" boots. She had dated a loser called Jeffrey, and could no longer stand to wear them as they reminded her of him! Another woman was getting so much heat from her family about the man that she loved and was engaged to, so she sold all the wedding stuff she had bought on my site as they'd decided to elope instead!
Some of the stories are sad. I had one woman selling her wedding ring to pay for her divorce fees and another using it to pay for child support as her ex was dodging it. But my favorite story of all time is attached to a body-length pillow named "Dead Aunt Pillow"-- this is the story -- word for word! "My Ex used to cuddle with this pillow and cry. It was his dead aunt's pillow. She left it to him, I caught him with another girl in bed and they were using it for whoopie. I know his Aunt wouldn't want that. Show some respect man. So here it is. at $20.12 for a fresh start."
