Venting garage sale pet peeves :0

[Beachkid23]

I went to one before and the people were smoking pot in the house. The girl came out all high asking if I was looking for anything in particular. Needless to say I bought her whole jewelry box for $60.... I wonder if they ever figured out where it went after the drugs wore off or if they even cared!

 

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[Beans]

I went to one before and the people were smoking pot in the house. The girl came out all high asking if I was looking for anything in particular. Needless to say I bought her whole jewelry box for $60.... I wonder if they ever figured out where it went after the drugs wore off or if they even cared!

Same here only they lit up the doobie and asked me to partake. I declined so they just turned up Janis Joplin while I packed up the books I bought.

 

[cyberdan]

Needless to say I bought her whole jewelry box for $60.... I wonder if they ever figured out where it went after the drugs wore off or if they even cared!

and people say pot is harmless. not to her jewelry collection.

hope you did well. she probably needed $60 to buy her next lid.

 

[NHBandit]

Sitting here getting a chuckle out of all the responses and trying to think of something that's not already been covered. Signs still up from prior sales, baby clothes, Christmas stuff, etc. Here's one I'm betting most people haven't experienced.. Going to a sale and seeing your own stuff for sale... Explanation, in the small NH town I used to live in the man who managed the town transfer station (dump) used to have a "yard sale" every Sunday all Summer long at his home. 99% of his goods were things he brought home from the dump. The town knew about it and didn't seem to care. There were many occasions I stopped to see what he had and found things I had thrown away in his sale.

 

[dejapooh]

7th, 10th, or 20th annual subdivision sale. Your selling the same garbage that you did not sell the last 19 years. Donate it to charity already.

I have had a few sales over the years and when they were done, what did not sell went to the salvation army.

Clothing and Christmas items should be donated before the garage sale.

BFR

IDK, We had a place that had their 27th annual sale near me... I found great stuff. I find great stuff every year.

 

[NHBandit]

As for clothes I do see a trend. Women get bored easily with their stuff and 90% of a sale will be women's clothes that are still like new. Men tend to wear their stuff until it rots off of them and there is almost never any decent men's clothes in the sale unless poor old Uncle Harry died.

 

[kcm]

As for clothes I do see a trend. Women get bored easily with their stuff and 90% of a sale will be women's clothes that are still like new. Men tend to wear their stuff until it rots off of them and there is almost never any decent men's clothes in the sale unless poor old Uncle Harry died.

Hey, I don't mind shaking out a few creamains!

 

[Beachkid23]

I think I did pretty well off of her jewelry box. She wasn't wealthy by any means and the drug addiction but I got well worth more than I paid.

The other one that's awful. I don't mind the no stickers on anything that's fine but when you ask somebody and no one has any idea what to ask for the thing you want to buy. Excuse me, how much is this?

Sally how much is the ring, I don't know, ask Tommy. Tommy how much is this ring? I don't know ask Mary. Will you take a dollar for it? First Lady, sure why not! What the heck that took me 15 minutes to get an answer. Or even worse when you ask for something pricewise and they have to call someone who brought it over to sell it for them. Oh hang on that's my stepsons. I have to call and ask him how much he wants for it! I'm usually like never mind keep it!

 

[Carl995]

I think I did pretty well off of her jewelry box. She wasn't wealthy by any means and the drug addiction but I got well worth more than I paid.

The other one that's awful. I don't mind the no stickers on anything that's fine but when you ask somebody and no one has any idea what to ask for the thing you want to buy. Excuse me, how much is this?

Sally how much is the ring, I don't know, ask Tommy. Tommy how much is this ring? I don't know ask Mary. Will you take a dollar for it? First Lady, sure why not! What the heck that took me 15 minutes to get an answer. Or even worse when you ask for something pricewise and they have to call someone who brought it over to sell it for them. Oh hang on that's my stepsons. I have to call and ask him how much he wants for it! I'm usually like never mind keep it!

Or I ask how much something is & someone else says "i'll take it" & they whip out the cash..........

 

[ivan salis]

kid 23 --sure it was really "her" jewelry box ...stoners that need dope are well know to "collect" others stuff to sell for dope money ....many new wave theifs are using the CL "yard sales" to dump off stolen goods rather than trying to sell to pawn shops ...cops get wise when they see a name too often selling gold jewelry to pawn shops ..cops know its most likely stolen stuff

 

[ARC]

Mold!

This gets me... I have developed a sensitivity to it.
I walk in house wit mold and it stops me in my tracks.

Pet urine / feces will also stop me.

I can deal with dust and grime... even greasy dirty tools... smoke... even pot smokers...
But moldy stuff...
No.

 

[ARC]

kid 23 --sure it was really "her" jewelry box ...stoners that need dope are well know to "collect" others stuff to sell for dope money ....many new wave theifs are using the CL "yard sales" to dump off stolen goods rather than trying to sell to pawn shops ...cops get wise when they see a name too often selling gold jewelry to pawn shops ..cops know its most likely stolen stuff

Ivan... not sure what your experience has been with "stoners" is...
But there is a definite difference between a stoner and a druggy that has a habit that needs constant feeding.
Marijuana is not part of that "got to have it at all cost" things.

A drug addict and a "stoner" IE" someone who smokes pot a lot... are a far cry from each other.

People who smoke pot are too laid back to steal.... and actually... marijuana tends to suppress this.

 

[dejapooh]

New one... I went to an estate sale Yesterday. Beverly Hills, VERY POSH! Nothing under $2000, but they have books. Books are always cheap. I start digging. I scan them and after going through a few dozen, find a very nice book that sells on Amazon for $90. All indicators are a great book. You can tell if there is 5 or less for sale, it is a rare book, but no real set market. Once you list for $1 under the lowest price, they will undercut you and the auction down will begin. This one had 22 available for sale, cheapest was $90, so that shows that it a known rare book. I can undercut, and the price will be fairly stable. Anyhow, It's a paperback, doesn't look like much, so I ask the woman running the sale, "How much are the books?"

She replies, "Let me see that please." I hand her the book, she says, "I'll look it up like you were." She then takes 10 minutes to quote me $80.

Uh, It's MY job to find the books so you can look up the prices?

I took a box, filled it with 40 or 50 books that I scanned (all $.01), and put that one on the bottom. I ask the price for the box, She tells me to come back in 10 minutes. She starts scanning the books, one at a time, I say, "I'm going to hunt around." I sneaked out the back door and drove off. She spent the next hour going through the box, only to never see me again...

 

[captain flintlock]

New one... I went to an estate sale Yesterday. Beverly Hills, VERY POSH! Nothing under $2000, but they have books. Books are always cheap. I start digging. I scan them and after going through a few dozen, find a very nice book that sells on Amazon for $90. All indicators are a great book. You can tell if there is 5 or less for sale, it is a rare book, but no real set market. Once you list for $1 under the lowest price, they will undercut you and the auction down will begin. This one had 22 available for sale, cheapest was $90, so that shows that it a known rare book. I can undercut, and the price will be fairly stable. Anyhow, It's a paperback, doesn't look like much, so I ask the woman running the sale, "How much are the books?"

She replies, "Let me see that please." I hand her the book, she says, "I'll look it up like you were." She then takes 10 minutes to quote me $80.

Uh, It's MY job to find the books so you can look up the prices?

I took a box, filled it with 40 or 50 books that I scanned (all $.01), and put that one on the bottom. I ask the price for the box, She tells me to come back in 10 minutes. She starts scanning the books, one at a time, I say, "I'm going to hunt around." I sneaked out the back door and drove off. She spent the next hour going through the box, only to never see me again...

Great move!![emoji23][emoji23]. I hate when the sellers are to lazy to research items until someone shows interest. And then have the gall to charge retail! I wonder how many she sold!

 

[bigcaddy64]

New one... I went to an estate sale Yesterday. Beverly Hills, VERY POSH! Nothing under $2000, but they have books. Books are always cheap. I start digging. I scan them and after going through a few dozen, find a very nice book that sells on Amazon for $90. All indicators are a great book. You can tell if there is 5 or less for sale, it is a rare book, but no real set market. Once you list for $1 under the lowest price, they will undercut you and the auction down will begin. This one had 22 available for sale, cheapest was $90, so that shows that it a known rare book. I can undercut, and the price will be fairly stable. Anyhow, It's a paperback, doesn't look like much, so I ask the woman running the sale, "How much are the books?"

She replies, "Let me see that please." I hand her the book, she says, "I'll look it up like you were." She then takes 10 minutes to quote me $80.

Uh, It's MY job to find the books so you can look up the prices?

I took a box, filled it with 40 or 50 books that I scanned (all $.01), and put that one on the bottom. I ask the price for the box, She tells me to come back in 10 minutes. She starts scanning the books, one at a time, I say, "I'm going to hunt around." I sneaked out the back door and drove off. She spent the next hour going through the box, only to never see me again...

That's the funniest thing I've seen/read all day. Thank you! Hopefully I'll remember that in the future when some lazy turd decides my time is less valuable then theirs as I'm trying to give them my money for their unwanted items.

 

[Carl995]

New one... I went to an estate sale Yesterday. Beverly Hills, VERY POSH! Nothing under $2000, but they have books. Books are always cheap. I start digging. I scan them and after going through a few dozen, find a very nice book that sells on Amazon for $90. All indicators are a great book. You can tell if there is 5 or less for sale, it is a rare book, but no real set market. Once you list for $1 under the lowest price, they will undercut you and the auction down will begin. This one had 22 available for sale, cheapest was $90, so that shows that it a known rare book. I can undercut, and the price will be fairly stable. Anyhow, It's a paperback, doesn't look like much, so I ask the woman running the sale, "How much are the books?"

She replies, "Let me see that please." I hand her the book, she says, "I'll look it up like you were." She then takes 10 minutes to quote me $80.

Uh, It's MY job to find the books so you can look up the prices?

I took a box, filled it with 40 or 50 books that I scanned (all $.01), and put that one on the bottom. I ask the price for the box, She tells me to come back in 10 minutes. She starts scanning the books, one at a time, I say, "I'm going to hunt around." I sneaked out the back door and drove off. She spent the next hour going through the box, only to never see me again...

I did a similar deal once. There was a bag with misc jewelry, in the bunch was a native american signed sterling bracelet. At first I pulled it out & was going to ask how much.......then I decided it would draw attention to it & I asked how much for the bag....he said $15. so I bought it & went on my way...I did kind of felt guilty about it.......Well what do you think....am I honest or dishonest?

 

[kcm]

I did a similar deal once. There was a bag with misc jewelry, in the bunch was a native american signed sterling bracelet. At first I pulled it out & was going to ask how much.......then I decided it would draw attention to it & I asked how much for the bag....he said $15. so I bought it & went on my way...I did kind of felt guilty about it.......Well what do you think....am I honest or dishonest?

If it was all bagged together, then what you did was perfectly OK. It was their responsibility to prepare and price the items - not yours. That said, if "I" came across something that I knew was worth MUCH more than they were asking, I'd find a way to pay a little more, even if that meant buying some clothes/blankets to give away to needy folks, or being honest with the person and offering them a little more. Just gotta watch how you do it though as it's not yet yours until you pay for it, so pay for it and THEN offer a little more.

 

[Xraywolf]

didn't come close to reading this whole thread or even most of it, just thought I'd say that ebay is and has been for quite some time a pretty good yardstick of market prices, so long as they use sold listings and not just completed.

Sure, you'd expect to get a discount from there, considering shipping/waiting/fees and all, but if you were selling and not buying, you'd likely do the very same thing. Persnickety buyers are out for a penny pinching [and most often a profitable] deal, don't get butthurt when it goes the other way. How many times on a forum like this have we seen "I saw that 1920's fishing lure for fifty cents, I talked them down to .25, and its worth $300 !!" ?
Don't begrudge the motivation for someone else to maximize their profits as well , just plain petty.

 

[Fushek]

If it was all bagged together, then what you did was perfectly OK. It was their responsibility to prepare and price the items - not yours. That said, if "I" came across something that I knew was worth MUCH more than they were asking, I'd find a way to pay a little more, even if that meant buying some clothes/blankets to give away to needy folks, or being honest with the person and offering them a little more. Just gotta watch how you do it though as it's not yet yours until you pay for it, so pay for it and THEN offer a little more.

No offense, but I've never understood the "give them more than what they're asking for thing". I figure that if they're in dire need enough, they'll take the time to maximize their profits and know the value of what they're selling. For many, this is a business and paying more than the asking hurts the bottom line.

Essentially, why should I feel guilty about the time and effort that I've invested in to knowing the value of an item?

 

[kcm]

No offense, but I've never understood the "give them more than what they're asking for thing". I figure that if they're in dire need enough, they'll take the time to maximize their profits and know the value of what they're selling. For many, this is a business and paying more than the asking hurts the bottom line.

Essentially, why should I feel guilty about the time and effort that I've invested in to knowing the value of an item?

There are times when someone passes away, like your last surviving parent. ...I know, sounds strange, like it couldn't ever happen, right? Well, all too often the kids (normally adults) will sell off everything quickly, or even have other people sell the belongings for them, as they can't may live very far away. It's all on a case-by-case basis. If the people are rude, obnoxious or otherwise, then hell no, I ain't giving them a break for nothing! But I can understand how easy it is for one person who knows very little of, say, coin values, antique or costume jewelry (or how to tell the difference), or even very old photographs from the 1800's to early 1900's. Old power tools (some are highly collectible!), old toys, figurines, glassware, etc, etc, etc. Even old, outdated clothing. I once went to an auction where there was a TON (or two!!) of really old, antique stuff of ALL sorts! Price tags still hanging from clothing, tools and outdoor gear that had never been used, antique jewelry, etc. We bought an old sprinkler from back when they were made AWESOMELY well for $1, new in box!! Bought it because my folks had just said how they wished they still made those older good sprinklers. So we sent it to them. They never opened the box thinking that it might be valuable some day - and some day I'm sure it will be, but....

Anyway, point is, some people don't have a clue about the value of things and, frankly, just don't have the time to research everything. So I know it's a stretch to the imagination for some folks, but if I see something for sale that I KNOW is worth many times more than they're asking, AND if the people have had some recent tragedy AND the people are friendly, then dang right I'll do right.

I know a little bit about coins now - not much for value, but enough to understand that even normal-looking coins can be worth much more than face value. I didn't understand that before joining Tnet....which was less than a year ago. Does that mean I was an idiot? A moron? A real dummy? Nope - just means that I was uneducated in the value of seemingly-everyday coins. Never had a clue that 450% and 90% silver halves and dollars were so valuable.

Another member here goes to one of his regular banks, where some of the tellers often set coins aside for him. They''ll say they want X-amount for them. But then he may offer more. WHY?!?!? ...If you don't get it now, you never will.

Again, this would not happen E-V-E-R-Y S-I-N-G-L-E T-I-M-E, but using the above criteria (and playing it by ear), it is very likely that I would offer a bit more if it seemed they were good folks who were simply uneducated in such matters and, frankly, had bigger things to worry about than researching everything at the sale.

I don't expect everyone to be this way - same way as I don't expect everyone to be polite and courteous when we go to town. Everyone is different, and I won't hold it against someone for having different ideals or values.