Everything in the Background

Thirty-eight dollars until payday. One coffee maker to sell. When Elise Ward uploads a listing to a new AI-powered resale app, the app does not just price the machine—it begins valuing everything visible around it: the toaster, her daughter’s winter coat, a bike in an old photo, even purchases buried in connected receipts. Soon SellNow has built a liquidity profile of her household and is quietly deciding what she might sell next. Everything in the Background is a near-future story about money, privacy, parenthood, and the dangerous difference between what something costs and what it is worth.