Garage / Moving / Yard Sale people are the absolute WORST

[JoeyP]

I've had hardcore buyers show up the night before with some lame excuse like, "I'm going out of town tomorrow, can I buy some stuff now?"

NO! Now go away before I cut you!

 

[Meghan54]

Lol...you are one of them! Your kind come flying into neighborhoods they have no business being in, flying down the roads and never yielding for anyone. You shop garbage and think you are better than others so stop signs and the like don't matter.

If there are too many people at the 'sale' you have no reservation to just drive up on a neighbor's grass.

Those that do these sales likewise throw signs up everywhere yet never bother to remove them.

A residential area is no place for business.

Most cities have flea markets with very reasonable space rates. Take your 'business' to one of them.

Then talk to your neighbors....they're the ones causing the problem for your miserable life with the increased traffic, etc., by having yard sales in your ghetto.

 

[NetWareHead]

Then talk to your neighbors....they're the ones causing the problem for your miserable life with the increased traffic, etc., by having yard sales in your ghetto.

check with town hall too. Some cities have yard sale permits that need to be applied for. Each property can have a max of 2-3 yard sales a year where I live. Permits are cheap at 5 dollars but the aim is to reduce the impact to the neighborhoods that some people have complained about in this thread.

 

[PottedMeat]

That's why you pick and choose what garage sales you go to. If you go to a poor place garage sale you are likely going to get some beat up stuff. But for kids clothes if you go to the nicer subdivisions you'll likely end up with nearly brand new stuff for pennies on the dollar. Especially in the infant through 3T or 4T stuff kids outgrow clothes so fast they'll be out of it before it's tore up or grungy. A LOT of clothes I have for my kids are garage sale scores. You just have to hit the right places.

older established developements ( 10+ years ) with upper middle class houses are the best around here. all sorts of expensive tools/machines used once for a specific purpose then carefully stored and dumped cheap at their sales.

there are always 5-10 garage sales every weekend here and i haven't seen any problems.

 

[Meghan54]

Do you mean the people who buy the stuff make money? Like they are antique hunters of some sort and buy older stuff and re-sell it? Or do you mean they just sell a lot of their own stuff. I don't know how you could make that much money buying mostly junk and re-selling it.

I'm not doubting it, but I guess that's why these people don't have 5 seconds to find an actual parking spot and wait before they run across the middle of the street.

Don't doubt it. You can make money off yard sales, but you have to know what you're buying. You just cannot buy anything and hope to resell it for profit.


Case in point.....went to two yard sales last Saturday. The first one I went to I went for a specific purpose---bar stools they'd advertised. Bought two of what they had, both 24" tall, both wood with swivel seats and full backs. One looked like it was never used, the other was used but in excellent condition. Paid $13 for the pair.

The second one was for its advertised Park Tools. Picked up a used, but in great shape, Park PRS-2 (shop repair stand) with its deluxe base (a euphemism for the 118# slab steel base). The stand retails for over $500 new without the base, which retails for $230+ new. Paid $180 for that stand, a Park PS-2 wheel truing stand (the professional version that retails for ~$150), and a box full of small Park tools.

I've already been offered $250 for the repair stand itself. But I really want to keep it....the clamp/head on the stand is vastly better than those found on any other repair stand.


Several months ago, I scored a 1st ed., 1st printing of Tom Clancy's Hunt For Red October in almost new condition. That book routinely fetches three figures on ebay.

 

[alkemyst]

there are yard/garage sales pretty much every weekend where i live, i never see any of the bullshit you guys are talking about happen.

hell 2 weeks ago there was 1 across the street and next door. no one parked on my lawn and no one blocked my driveway

There is a song by Soundgarden that explains when you are in something it's hard to see it.

 

[MisterJackson]

I remember going to yard sales as a kid and always finding cool stuff. Got a lot of cool old Star Wars toys that way.

I'd go to yard sales now that I'm older, but I hate getting up early on my days off, so I'd never find anything of substance left I'm sure.

I did check out a yard sale in a rich neighborhood a few weeks back just because I happened to drive by it after dropping my gf off early one morning to help her friend get ready for a wedding.

There was some decent stuff, but mostly items that didn't interest me. Then I saw the poker table. I don't need one, but will always buy one if the price is right. It was advertised as a "Playboy poker table: ask for price". Nothing fancy, just you're average poker table. It was well used, and the felt was peeling, but I could've fixed that.

The "Playboy" part of it was a poker set with Playboy cards. All of which looked worn and beat up. No big deal though, I already have a nice set, I was just interested in the table, so I asked what they wanted.

I shit you not, she said $300 is the lowest I'll go. I laughed so hard that I ended up snorting. Everyone started looking at me and the lady was turning red. I didn't mean to be an ass, but she was fucking retarded. I just said, "I guess that's why it's still here at 11am", and left.

LOL, rich people.

 

[alkemyst]

I shit you not, she said $300 is the lowest I'll go. I laughed so hard that I ended up snorting. Everyone started looking at me and the lady was turning red. I didn't mean to be an ass, but she was fucking retarded. I just said, "I guess that's why it's still here at 11am", and left.

Guess that's why you left empty-handed.

 

[Sentrosi2121]

My wife and I did this once...once and won't do it again.

 

[NetWareHead]

Guess that's why you left empty-handed.

Lol he left with his $300 too

 

[JB24]

I always liked taking my yardsales to the flea market. Way more people to see my crap.

 

[Anubis]

There is a song by Soundgarden that explains when you are in something it's hard to see it.

except besides people walking across the middle of the road (which happens reguardless of yard sales) none of the shit listed happens, hell most sales dont advertise anything specific and dont start before 10ish

 

[MisterJackson]

Guess that's why you left empty-handed.

Keep trollin that boat, man. Just because you're retarded enough to pay $300 for a poker table worth $50 at best, doesn't mean the rest of us are.

 

[waggy]

yard sales/garage sales are great...most of the time.

around here you can get some good tools. one guy builds furniture (all wood) and puts it out. He does it for near cost but you have to get it fast it never sits long.

I won't hold a garage sale if its worth money i put it on criegslist. if it's not worth that i toss it.

I love going to them but hate holding them.

 

[highland145]

Do you mean the people who buy the stuff make money? Like they are antique hunters of some sort and buy older stuff and re-sell it? Or do you mean they just sell a lot of their own stuff. I don't know how you could make that much money buying mostly junk and re-selling it.

I'm not doubting it, but I guess that's why these people don't have 5 seconds to find an actual parking spot and wait before they run across the middle of the street.

In laws owned an antique/2nd hand store for 35 years, ~50 dealer spots plus their own. Yard/estate sales every Fri/Sat. They did decent. Damn, I moved a lot of furniture.


Wife bought ~10 Liz Claiborn outfits with the tags for $1 each.
The best was a C.H. Shearer painting for $100. Sold for better that $2K at auction. Score.

 

[CraigRT]

I don't love to go, although it's hard to deny you can get decent things for very little $. Sometimes without even haggling.

I have 1 complaint though, my parents neighbors had one last Sat morning and I was schedule to pick my parents up for a small day trip we had planned. I pull up to their house and some asshole has parked across their driveway, and there wasn't even another car in front of his, he could have easily pulled up another 10 feet in front of the boulevard where he would have been bothering nobody. I just don't get the logic. Block someone's driveway when there is plenty of space merely feet away. What a douche.

 

[Triumph]

Lol...you are one of them! Your kind come flying into neighborhoods they have no business being in, flying down the roads and never yielding for anyone. You shop garbage and think you are better than others so stop signs and the like don't matter.

If there are too many people at the 'sale' you have no reservation to just drive up on a neighbor's grass.

Those that do these sales likewise throw signs up everywhere yet never bother to remove them.

A residential area is no place for business.

Most cities have flea markets with very reasonable space rates. Take your 'business' to one of them.

well, i've never seen that kind of activity displayed, but i'm sorry, I will go into any public access neighborhood any time I choose to, regardless of whether busybodies feel that I have any "business" being there or not. don't like people coming into your neighborhood? move onto private property. or...

 

[ImpulsE69]

I advertised a used cold fusion reactor for my last garage sale. I never knew so many poor people drove black vans....

 

[Sixguns]

I think yard sales can be great. In my town, there are like 5-10 every weekend. My wife and mother would go together to see what crap they could find. Ive never found anything good myself but I also dont feel like waking up that early to go and look.

 

[arkcom]

My grandma got an original 20x30 Bob Ross painting for like $2.

 

[NetWareHead]

My GF and I were planning a yard sale sometime in the near future. We heard that our next door neighbor was having one this past weekend so we hustled and put ours together too at the last minute. Figured both of our sales would generate more interest and people traffic so lets do it on the same weekend. We had a ton of people and made about $200. I was letting stuff go for a dollar a piece just to get it out of the house. Some funny points:

-Earlybird did show up asking me if I had any video games. He was turned away abruptly by my GF who reminded him of our earlybird policy (3x charge for earlybirds)

-Guy who runs an appliance repair biz was doing a job on our street and he stopped to buy 4 chairs for $10. It ended with me taking him to our basement to look at a broken clothes dryer. In 5 minutes he explained what the error code meant, showed me how to disassemble and remove the broken part (shorted thermistor), and gave me his name to drop at an appliance parts house to get a discount. Win!

-The white people who dropped by were boring and bought stuff at full price and never bargained. if the price was too high, they just walked away and never counter-offered. The mexicans were amusing and wanted deals and values on everything, even useless junk like trinkets, knick-knacks and decorations. Lots of back and forth between myself and an entire mexican family. I speak Spanish so they appreciated and really allowed us to communicate. One family bought nearly an entire table worth of junk. At the end of the deals, the mexican guy was walking away with his stuff and he picks up one last item and says to me "This, as a gift to me, ok?" I tell him "All of this stuff is for sale, not for free. Besides, at the end of the day all of this stuff is going to be donated to a shelter for the poor. If you want to get it for free, you can go there and pick it up. But you don't look like a poor man who would do that, right? You surely have $2 in your pocket for one more item right?" Lol I could tell the guy didn't want to show any pettiness over a $2 item especially in front of his wife and kids so he bought that one too!

-Another Mexican guy comes with his 6 year old daughter. Guy was a decent bargainer and picked up a few items. His daughter was just standing around with nothing to do, so I took 2 remaining stuffed animals and moved them from one table to a table next to her. I showed her the stuffed animals and she started examining and playing with them. About a minute later, the guy was ready to leave and called for his daughter. I told him: "Sir your daughter looks like she loves the teddy bear" Father:"Ok but give it to me as a gift". me: "Cmon $1" Father: "then how about a quarter?" Me: "Well she wants both teddy bears, give me a dollar and she can have both of them". At the same time, I turned both bears to show them better and slid them on the table closer to her. When she reached out for both of them I knew the deal was done. Father:"Fine and goodbye" and he left a slightly pissed off

-just like we had earlybirds, we had some late showers. I told one guy to just name his price.....I had been up since 5:30 AM setting up and the more stuff he bought would be less stuff I would need to put back away in the basement. He ended up leaving with a few more items.

Summary: 6 foldup tables loaded with junk, clothing, electronics, decorations, housewares, kitchenwares and even some old furniture pieces. We had about 1.5 tables remaining and most of the furniture gone. The remaining furniture, we left 3 pieces at curbside and by the next morning 1 piece was all that was left. First garage sale was a success!

 

[alkemyst]

My GF and I were planning a yard sale sometime in the near future. We heard that our next door neighbor was having one this past weekend so we hustled and put ours together too at the last minute. Figured both of our sales would generate more interest and people traffic so lets do it on the same weekend. We had a ton of people and made about $200. I was letting stuff go for a dollar a piece just to get it out of the house. Some funny points:

-Earlybird did show up asking me if I had any video games. He was turned away abruptly by my GF who reminded him of our earlybird policy (3x charge for earlybirds)

-Guy who runs an appliance repair biz was doing a job on our street and he stopped to buy 4 chairs for $10. It ended with me taking him to our basement to look at a broken clothes dryer. In 5 minutes he explained what the error code meant, showed me how to disassemble and remove the broken part (shorted thermistor), and gave me his name to drop at an appliance parts house to get a discount. Win!

-The white people who dropped by were boring and bought stuff at full price and never bargained. if the price was too high, they just walked away and never counter-offered. The mexicans were amusing and wanted deals and values on everything, even useless junk like trinkets, knick-knacks and decorations. Lots of back and forth between myself and an entire mexican family. I speak Spanish so they appreciated and really allowed us to communicate. One family bought nearly an entire table worth of junk. At the end of the deals, the mexican guy was walking away with his stuff and he picks up one last item and says to me "This, as a gift to me, ok?" I tell him "All of this stuff is for sale, not for free. Besides, at the end of the day all of this stuff is going to be donated to a shelter for the poor. If you want to get it for free, you can go there and pick it up. But you don't look like a poor man who would do that, right? You surely have $2 in your pocket for one more item right?" Lol I could tell the guy didn't want to show any pettiness over a $2 item especially in front of his wife and kids so he bought that one too!

-Another Mexican guy comes with his 6 year old daughter. Guy was a decent bargainer and picked up a few items. His daughter was just standing around with nothing to do, so I took 2 remaining stuffed animals and moved them from one table to a table next to her. I showed her the stuffed animals and she started examining and playing with them. About a minute later, the guy was ready to leave and called for his daughter. I told him: "Sir your daughter looks like she loves the teddy bear" Father:"Ok but give it to me as a gift". me: "Cmon $1" Father: "then how about a quarter?" Me: "Well she wants both teddy bears, give me a dollar and she can have both of them". At the same time, I turned both bears to show them better and slid them on the table closer to her. When she reached out for both of them I knew the deal was done. Father:"Fine and goodbye" and he left a slightly pissed off

-just like we had earlybirds, we had some late showers. I told one guy to just name his price.....I had been up since 5:30 AM setting up and the more stuff he bought would be less stuff I would need to put back away in the basement. He ended up leaving with a few more items.

Summary: 6 foldup tables loaded with junk, clothing, electronics, decorations, housewares, kitchenwares and even some old furniture pieces. We had about 1.5 tables remaining and most of the furniture gone. The remaining furniture, we left 3 pieces at curbside and by the next morning 1 piece was all that was left. First garage sale was a success!

lol at your earlybird policy.

I never get how someone selling crap off, thinks they hold the cards. It's not like any of these people were doing anything else during their morning...there's another crap sale always down the block.

If someone got angry about two stuffed animals for a buck, then their perception is about as nutty as your's.

 

[Dallascisco]

ebay.........

 

[NetWareHead]

lol at your earlybird policy.

I never get how someone selling crap off, thinks they hold the cards. It's not like any of these people were doing anything else during their morning...there's another crap sale always down the block.

If someone got angry about two stuffed animals for a buck, then their perception is about as nutty as your's.

Its not about holding any cards, its about bargaining. Its about selling junk that I don't want and if it doesn't sell, its all getting donated or thrown out at the end of the day. But that doesn't means I'm giving it away for free either. The donation place will at least give me a tax deduction for the stuff I can't sell so I don't exactly have an incentive to give it away for free either. Besides, its fun to bargain and doing it in Spanish gave me many opportunities that day to practice a foreign language, something I appreciated. Besides, I'm pretty sure the guy got mad about the stuffed animals because I used his daughter as leverage to get rid of some old toys for me and not because of the cost.