Friday, May 30, 2008

RevGalBlogPals Friday Five Garage Sales!

1) Are you a garage saler? Yes! I've been to three garage sales this morning. Friday sales are new to my area. If I miss a Friday sale which is advertised for Friday and Saturday, I don't go on Saturday. Good stuff is gone by the next day. I've been a garage sale-er since high school. Before that, I dug through trash when neighbors moved. My mother did not approve of this.

2) If so, are you an immediate buyer or a risk taker who comes back later when prices are lower? If the price is good, I jump immediately. If the price is high, I look more closely at the item before jumping. I found the antique oriental wool rug in my living room by jumping immediately. All I could see was the corner of the rug but I thought, "Hey! I can have car mats made out of the oriental if the rug has a damaged area!" Fortunately, the rug was perfect and perfectly worn the way one wants an antique rug to appear. I return to garage sales only if I think I may have missed something wonderful earlier. 3) Seriously, if you're not a garage saler, you are probably not going to want to play this one.(That wasn't really #3.) Why wouldn't someone want to find lovely sterling silver pieces, antiques and etc. for 'bout nothing? Who?3)

Aforementioned rug, sterling flatware and holloware, 14 kt. gold bangle bracelet, brass chandelier for our dining room, Walter Anderson prints and Shearwater pottery, Coach purses, Cole Haan new shoes in boxes, furniture and art prints. Really. Along with McCarty Mississippi pottery and tons of sterling jewelry.

4)If you've done one yourself, at church or at home, was it worth the effort? Never worth the effort. I give my stuff away to the Rescue Mission, Animal shelter or Goodwill.

5) Can you bring yourself to haggle? Oh, yes! If done politely, with a way for the seller to refuse, haggling is no problem. What is difficult is the people who think their junk is gold and look at you like you are stupid to ask for a more reasonable price. Most of their sale goes to the garbage or rescue mission thrift store after they give up trying to sell at high prices.
BONUS: For the true aficionado: Please discuss the impact of Ebay, Craig's List, Freecycle, etc... on the church or home yard/garage sale. eBay gives people the idea that their stuff is very very valuable when it may not be. Not everyone wants your unopened Barbie from Walmart bought after Christmas two years ago. A collectible is only that when people actually buy it. Otherwise, a fair price for a garage sale is 80-90% of retail if you've used the item or 75% if the item is in new pristine condition. We don't have freecycle here, but I'd love to take a load of junk to a freecycle event. Craigslist is just catching on here. So far, the stuff is like used plastic hospital urninals which have no value no matter where you try to sell them.

St. Casserole, really committed to finding treasures


Songbird said...

I think you could teach a class on finding good things at yard/garage sales. I know I learned a lot from you on one Saturday morning!

SpiritMists said...

Three today already! I am impressed. Can you write a manual for the rest of us? I never know where to go and find them...

RevDrKate said...

WOW! You clearly have this stuff nailed. May I come g'saling with you? Pul-eeeese?????

Princess of Everything (and then some) said...

Have I ever told you how much I love love love you?

If I had played, we would have had almost the same identical answers.

On my to do list is to go thrifting with you.