Yard Sales - I hate it when...

[addicted2dizney]

I hate it when someone comes in and offers me a quarter for something marked $1 then even if I accept, (to get rid of the stuff!) they whip out a $20 and tell me they have nothing smaller!

On another note, I have been lucky enough that the Lupus Foundation makes routine pickups in my area for donations. I just leave the stuff outside and I get a tax slip too! If you live in the NJ/MD area, (these are the ones I know of) you can go to www.lupuspickup.org and just have them take it all away!

 

[DisneyWalkerGirl]

My sister and I vowed that never again would we have garage sales because when our Mom loved having them, she would direct us as to which items were to be in the sale and then we had to cart them from wherever they were, clean them up and price them. On sale day, Mom was cashier, but after the sale the process worked in reverse with Sis and I doing all of the clean up. It was just way too much work!!

Fast forward to last summer when due to health issues with both parents, Sis and her hubby move in with Mom and Dad. Mom has definite hoarder issues and we had to clear out quite a bit of stuff in the house in order to get my sis and her stuff in....Our first plan was massive church donations. We single handledly re-stocked the church's clothes closet with 40, count'em 40 large green trash bags full of clothing from mom and dad.

Now we still had a huge number of items to deal with and I got a flyer that stated my neighborhood was going to do its first ever community garage sale day. Sis and I huddled and decided that it is only one day and we would go for it. Anything left over would go right to charity - not even back in the garage, but right to cars and out to donation center!

We had almost every nightmare that previous posters mentioned, but on the bright side we made over $800 and even better we were frequently complimented on how clean and well organized everything was.

We didn't realize how many folks put out dirty items, don't price things, etc.

We still hated the haggling and at one point my DS (21) had to step in when we refused to take a riduculous offer and the man making it got belligerent

Mom got a little huffy when we divided the profits equally 3 ways becasue she felt that she had the most to sell....sigh, but she did absolutely nothing for this sale, not even showing up the day of the sale. Sis and I decided that there was no way we were marking things separately from the 3 households.

It took us nearly 3 weeks to get ready for this sale and it definitely reinforced our "No More Garage Sale" stance. On the other hand, once Mom got over her snit, she told us she thought it would be a good idea to have another sale - after all, it was a big success!

 

[runwad]

I've never done a garage sale in my life nor shopped at one in my adult life but I'm having one this week w/my neighborhood. My mom is deceased and everything that family didn't want is going in the sale. I'm bummed I can't just set it out and say make an offer...drat, i have no clue what to price stuff. What about everything w/a green dot is a dollar everything w/a blue dot is 50 cents...would that kind of pricing be acceptable to all you advid garage sellers??? Our goal is to just get rid of everything and all proceeds will be put in a flower fund for her grave

 

[briarrose]

At my last garage sale, I had men asking for items that were in the back of the garage obviously not for sale. The next time a man asked about my lawn mover I told him if I sold it that my husband wouldn't have any work to do.
He didn't get it.

To keep the early birds away, I have my sale in the garage and don't open the door until it's time. We enjoy breakfast watching the parade of cars circle the cul-de-sac for the hour before opening.

I always have plenty of change for all the people who drive more expensive cars than I have that say they only have a 20 dollar bill for the quarter item. I reply that I have plenty of $1's and quarters. And it's amazing how many think they can find a quarter in their car or pocket or purse or somewhere?

 

[Willow1213]

My favorite moment in a garage sale was when a buyer hit our mailbox!!! She came up the driveway apologizing to my dad and he just laughed and said "oh well, guess you have to buy something now!" She seemed really put off that we would ask for compensation for running over our personal property

As for drive - by buyers: growing up my mom and her best friend ran a kids consignment store. Every Friday and Saturday they would drive by the yard sales looking for baby items (cribs, strollers, high chairs, etc) We could tell from the street if you had those. Our biggest finds? Little Tykes kids play furniture! That stuff sold like gold in the store.

 

[jcgonczi]

I hate it when people steal things from my garage sale. At least make me an offer (it was priced) before stealing it.

I have a great story about this. Early on the first day of our sale 4 women stopped by. They were Jehovah's Witnesses and started "witnessing" to me. They told me how as part of their ministry they went to garage sales on Fridays before work. That way they could shop for bargains and witness to people at the same time. Well....while one of them was giving me this spiel, another one stole a brand new, sealed in plastic bath sponge that was in the 10 cent box! AND she was bragging to her friend on the way out to the car! Great way to win people over to Christ - start by breaking one of the 10 commandments! Unbelievable!

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

I've never done a garage sale in my life nor shopped at one in my adult life but I'm having one this week w/my neighborhood. My mom is deceased and everything that family didn't want is going in the sale. I'm bummed I can't just set it out and say make an offer...drat, i have no clue what to price stuff. What about everything w/a green dot is a dollar everything w/a blue dot is 50 cents...would that kind of pricing be acceptable to all you advid garage sellers??? Our goal is to just get rid of everything and all proceeds will be put in a flower fund for her grave

If you're going to do color coded stickers, you'll have to stick one on every item you're pricing, so you might as well just put pre-priced stickers on them. Saves the hassle of having to make pricing keys or tell everyone what color costs what. Good luck.

 

[kmvand1]

I live in an area that has two flea markets right in town, both on the main highway. We usually haul stuff up there twice a year, and make out pretty nicely. This last time, my husband finally decided to part with his late father's leather jackets that were too small for him and he would never wear. We had 6 leather jackets, in very good condition, and were only asking $12-$15 dollars for each. These two oriental men walked back and forth several times throughout the day, I guess waiting to see if we dropped the prices, and then later on finally approached my husband saying "fie dolla, fie dolla", we just ignored him, then the other man came up and repeated the same thing "fie dolla" we were so insulted we didn't even acknowledge them, of course they drove off in a fairly new Mercedes.

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

I live in an area that has two flea markets right in town, both on the main highway. We usually haul stuff up there twice a year, and make out pretty nicely. This last time, my husband finally decided to part with his late father's leather jackets that were too small for him and he would never wear. We had 6 leather jackets, in very good condition, and were only asking $12-$15 dollars for each. These two oriental men walked back and forth several times throughout the day, I guess waiting to see if we dropped the prices, and then later on finally approached my husband saying "fie dolla, fie dolla", we just ignored him, then the other man came up and repeated the same thing "fie dolla" we were so insulted we didn't even acknowledge them, of course they drove off in a fairly new Mercedes.

Asian. A rug is Oriental. A person is not. Just a friendly reminder from the PC Police.

 

[plummer925]

I live in an area that has two flea markets right in town, both on the main highway. We usually haul stuff up there twice a year, and make out pretty nicely. This last time, my husband finally decided to part with his late father's leather jackets that were too small for him and he would never wear. We had 6 leather jackets, in very good condition, and were only asking $12-$15 dollars for each. These two oriental men walked back and forth several times throughout the day, I guess waiting to see if we dropped the prices, and then later on finally approached my husband saying "fie dolla, fie dolla", we just ignored him, then the other man came up and repeated the same thing "fie dolla" we were so insulted we didn't even acknowledge them, of course they drove off in a fairly new Mercedes.

I'm sorry, but I just think that was a bit rude. You say "we were so insulted we didn't even acknowledge them" - I'd be upset if someone completely ignored me. You had the jackets priced too high if they didn't sell all day - and they didn't offer an unreasonable amount...especially if they waited until the end of the day. And as for driving off in a "fairly new mercedes" - so what? I apologize, but I just find your post a bit not nice...

 

[d1gitman]

DW and I love to watch Clean House and get a real kick out of the yard sales. We are amazed at what we consider to be high prices that people pay for items. Like a previous poster mentioned about their yardsale, $800 on hand for furniture?!

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

DW and I love to watch Clean House and get a real kick out of the yard sales. We are amazed at what we consider to be high prices that people pay for items. Like a previous poster mentioned about their yardsale, $800 on hand for furniture?!

What's Clean House?? Is that like Clean Sweep? I love that show!!

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

I'm sorry, but I just think that was a bit rude. You say "we were so insulted we didn't even acknowledge them" - I'd be upset if someone completely ignored me. You had the jackets priced too high if they didn't sell all day - and they didn't offer an unreasonable amount...especially if they waited until the end of the day. And as for driving off in a "fairly new mercedes" - so what? I apologize, but I just find your post a bit not nice...

The rich get richer by being smart with money, and sometimes that includes haggling. We drive a pretty nice crossover, but we love to find a good bargain, too!

 

[kmvand1]

I'm sorry, but I just think that was a bit rude. You say "we were so insulted we didn't even acknowledge them" - I'd be upset if someone completely ignored me. You had the jackets priced too high if they didn't sell all day - and they didn't offer an unreasonable amount...especially if they waited until the end of the day. And as for driving off in a "fairly new mercedes" - so what? I apologize, but I just find your post a bit not nice...

So, So sorry you feel that way but if you had some sort of emotional attachment to a deceased parent's belonging that you really didn't want to part with, but you knew you would not need or wear, you would be a tad offended - would you not? Needless to say, we donated the coats to the Salvation Army. We figured they would be appreciated a lot more that way.

 

[kmvand1]

The rich get richer by being smart with money, and sometimes that includes haggling. We drive a pretty nice crossover, but we love to find a good bargain, too!

That's exactly what I tell my kids about my 97 yo grandmother. She has lived an extemely frugal lifestyle and because of that, she is a multi millionaire. It pays off in the long run.

 

[blu3d3vil]

I'm sorry, but I just think that was a bit rude. You say "we were so insulted we didn't even acknowledge them" - I'd be upset if someone completely ignored me. You had the jackets priced too high if they didn't sell all day - and they didn't offer an unreasonable amount...especially if they waited until the end of the day. And as for driving off in a "fairly new mercedes" - so what? I apologize, but I just find your post a bit not nice...

And if you write any more posts that are a bit not nice you'll have to go to the naughty corner!

 

[sarahlovesmickey]

And if you write any more posts that are a bit not nice you'll have to go to the naughty corner!

 

[kmvand1]

And if you write any more posts that are a bit not nice you'll have to go to the naughty corner!

Yes, how often we forget how the boards are "policed" by the pc, so much for having an opinion, huh?

 

[TotalSnowWhite]

Yes, how often we forget how the boards are "policed" by the pc, so much for having an opinion, huh?

The poster who thought you were rude was just stating her opinion, too. Yours wasn't opinion, though, it was a fact (you stated what happened).

My post wasn't regarding your story, just the mistake in your choice of words. You used the wrong term to describe an ethnic group. No opinions there, either (on my part).

 

[SILLYANDI]

OY!!! This is exactly why I don't do yard sales. I donate or sell online. I can't deal with the hassle. You guys are stressing me out by just reading all of this!

I second this comment!