Just had to be an A** this morning....

[Dig-m-Deep]

First sale out of the gate this morning and I get some clown that everything you ask about his statement is "They are selling on Ebay for".............. This is one of my biggest turn offs at a garage sale... After about the 5th time I said you need to shut this down and get to listing this morning.. Then I walked away... My whole morning consisted of one spoon marked National Silver "Sterling" when I got home I seen the brass showing on the side of the stem... Total loss for the day

[batcap]

First sale out of the gate this morning and I get some clown that everything you ask about his statement is "They are selling on Ebay for".............. This is one of my biggest turn offs at a garage sale... After about the 5th time I said you need to shut this down and get to listing this morning.. Then I walked away... My whole morning consisted of one spoon marked National Silver "Sterling" when I got home I seen the brass showing on the side of the stem... Total loss for the day

Hey, cheer up. We all get days like that. And you know sometimes silver tarnishes that brassy color on its way to totally black. Post a pic of your fake Nat Silver sterling piece. All may not be lost.

[jerseyben]

We can't get bent out of shape just because there are actually people out there who take the time to research what their stuff is worth.

[billjustbill]

First sale out of the gate this morning and I get some clown that everything you ask about his statement is "They are selling on Ebay for".............. This is one of my biggest turn offs at a garage sale... After about the 5th time I said you need to shut this down and get to listing this morning.. Then I walked away... My whole morning consisted of one spoon marked National Silver "Sterling" when I got home I seen the brass showing on the side of the stem... Total loss for the day

I understand your frustration...I ran into a lady with some Mexican silver that she had priced at $25 and $35 each and added, "I've listed some of this on Ebay...." A waste of time for me, too.

Look on the bright side, Brass is bringing $1.90 a pound; you're one spoon closer to a pound... If it's a good deal while I'm at each garage sale, I'll buy brass pieces when their really cheap. I bought a large Brass pot and two wall candle holders for a total of $3. They weigh a total of 6-1/8 lbs. for a worth of $11.40... Other than gold and silver finds, where can you get a better percentage return than that? After several months, yellow and red brass adds up....

Silver, and even more-so, gold, can be found, but it's getting harder and harder. It seems Everybody's looking, and looking hard. You've got to get up and be out there 30 minutes to an Hour before they open to wait and be there first....

Hang in there, though. With the cool weather, things are in favor of the well mannered early bird with a good flashlight.... Community wide sales seems to be the best place to give you more of a chance... This morning, only a few were open at the advertised time, but after making the neighborhood streets a total of three times, each time more and more sales were open..... I bought a single drop earring stamped 14kt. for a quarter, then down the street, a scuffed-up jewelry box for $10, that had a 14kt gold "Spider-thin" necklace with a heart shaped Garnet. Both totaled 2 grams. Along with the badly tangled wad of the "Good, the Bad, and the Ugly" costume jewelry hanging on hooks, there was 30 grams of .925 in rings, a bracelet, and two necklaces in the different drawers of the old jewelry box... I'll post some pictures tomorrow on a new thread....

Keep kicking those tires; all it takes is "One" to change your luck,

Bill

[Dig-m-Deep]

Ok... I was wrong on the spoon.... A Budweiser and a jar of jewelry cleaner finally got the brass look off the spoon so my day wasn't a total waste.. Thanks

[kyriverpirate]

Yes i wish these people would just list on ebay. Just keep looking for more sales .The ebay tactic is just starting down this way

[hombre_de_plata_flaco]

We can't get bent out of shape just because there are actually people out there who take the time to research what their stuff is worth.

I agree, but spare me the "I saw one on eBay sell for a zillion dollars" stuff.

Whenever I hear that line, I'm like "Well you need to sell it on eBay then cause I can't afford that price". eBay has a worldwide audience, yard sales don't get that kind of exposure and therefore shouldn't expect the kind of premiums the same items would get on eBay.

If you want eBay money, just sell it on eBay.

[Silver Bear]

Dig I always like to ask them if they have a computer, scanner, digi-cam. LOL! Then if the reply is no offer to sell them all the needed equipment.

HH, SB

P.S. And add lessons at $100 per hour...

[GibH]

No you can't blame someone for researching value, but a yard sale isn't exactly the venue to expect top dollar for something. If they want ebay prices, sell it on ebay and pay the fees and take the trouble to pack and ship it.

[creeper71]

No you can't blame someone for researching value, but a yard sale isn't exactly the venue to expect top dollar for something. If they want ebay prices, sell it on ebay and pay the fees and take the trouble to pack and ship it.

or at the very least pay the prices for aflea market booth... Yardsales are NOT the proper place to expect top dollar yard sales are known to be a very cheap place to buy things.. So 90% of the time you will not get squat if you try to pull that..also just be cause something is X amount of dollars on ebay doesn't mean your item is worth that same... condition is everything..so if it is a cookiejar mint 100.00 if same jar is cracked chipped or crazed 40-50 if ur lucky..I wouldn't pay any more then 25.00 an it would have to be a hard to find jar for me to pay that..

[2higuy]

This thread has struck quite a humor chord with me so I couldn't resist posting. I did not realize there was a set standard for garage sale pricing versus ebay pricing. I can agree, that garage sales aren't what they used to be as far as finding deals but how can you really sit and blame, or be offended by what you see people doing these days. Truly the only thing to blame is technology, the invent of the internet and of course Ebay. Most of you folks are doing what you do to make a buck, so how can you blame someone for doing the very same, via a garage sale. Does listing it on ebay make it automatically worth more money than what it is worth at a sale somewhere? I think some frustration is warranted due to the fact that technology has made our job of finding treasure for a bargain a lot more work these days, but it is highly hypocritical to say that you can't ask the same at a sale than you can on Ebay. Ebay sale prices have dropped so much over the years that I may think of selling certain things at a garage sale setting long before listing it on feebay and not make a dime. I say harness that frustration and walk past the things you can't "steal" and continue the hunt for what you can.

[Dig-m-Deep]

2 Higuy ,
Quoting ebay is not the way to sale at a garage sale especially when you don't know what you are talking about. The guy had an old Marx tin toy road grader that three of the wheels were cracked and about to fall off and the stack missing plus most of the decal missing off the side. When I ask how much he said $25, They are selling for $60 on Ebay. If you are going to tell me Ebay prices then make sure you know what you are talking about... I been doing Ebay since 1999

[J-dude]

I don't mind when people quote the whole eBay thing and often times I will even show people things using the eBay app on my phone to show them what they actually sold for. Many people see the listing (buy it now) price and think thats what something is worth and I will show them the "sold" price and go from there. Worst case....we agree to disagree and no harm done, I don't make a purchase and they don't make a sale....it's their stuff and what they do with it (sell or keep due to high price) is their business. I think it is great when people do the research and know what something is worth. There are many people that I have met that know what things are worth and are totally cool with giving people a good deal.

I recently had a garage sale and knew what many of the items were worth, but put prices on them that were very fair and reasonable. I looked up some of my items on ebay 'sold' listings and then subtracted 15-20% (ebay fees I would pay) from that and started my pricing there.....some items I listed as 'firm' and others I would negotiate on. People seemed to love it!

Just my thoughts on the subject

[Randyd]

I went to a thrift store that had feeBay "buy it now" pages printed out (not completed listings!) by what they thought was their good stuff in a display case. They were priced a little below that, but still too high. The rest of store was decent prices.

[MarkDz]

Ha ha... nice. But then again, quoting EBay prices is at least realistic--those prices represent what someone ACTUALLY PAID for an item. I think it's worse when someone quotes "book prices" which typically represent only what the author THINKS an item might be worth.

I once went to a collectible show with a friend who started quoting book prices to a dealer. The dealer said, "Oh yeah? Then sell it to the book!" How true.

[GoGoGopher]

That FeeBay line gets my shorts in a knot as well...I am offering you cash money on the spot, and your gonna bring up eBay Give me a fricken break!...You lose money on eBay...By the time they take their fees and you pay shipping, your out 20% of your sale...

HH,

[jerseyben]

Let me give you an example of using ebay prices:

I set up tables at a large flea market on Saturday. I have a 1987-S proof commemorative silver dollar with the original box for sale. Look them up on ebay and see that they are CONSISTENTLY selling for $25-30 plus shipping. I took the average and was asking $28 (and was prepared to accept $25). I had multiple people offering me $20 and below (which I believe is melt value). If I can sell it on ebay with no problem for $28 plus shipping, take 12% fee I would get about $25.

I guess my point is sometimes it IS REALISTIC to use completed auction prices to value your items. Just because you aren't getting the deal of a lifetime is no reason to get bent out of shape about a sale.