Garage Sale - Love Them, Hate Them?

[jyl]

Whew, today was neighborhood garage sale day, so we joined in and had a sale, trying to get the basement cleared out so's I can build it out.

I haven't had a garage sale in 20 years. It was fun with the kids, and for the kids. They sold lemonade, brownies, etc. Of the $379 we made, 1/3 of it was probably their little refreshments concession. So they earned $90 toward their toy fund, after the parent tax.

I was underwhelmed by the total haul, but we didn't have anything significant to sell - it was almost all $1 and $0.50 items. Old jeans, kids books, videos, old toys, mugs, - junk, basically.

Does anyone do garage sales much, either as a seller or as a shopper? Do you consider it a waste of time to have them, think its better to simply haul the stuff to Goodwill? Do you like shopping them, finding good stuff, or do you think that is a waste of time too?

[Aerkuld]

As long as I can find something interesting now and again I have found them fairly enjoyable from a buyers perspective. See my bicycles thread!

[Rick Lee]

My parents live for them. It's a huge thing where they live. Every Sunday there are garage sales and the deals they snag are unreal. My dad has picked up some 356 hubcaps and Porsche licens plate frames for me for next to nothing just so I can eBay them off. My mom got a big unopened bottle of Chivas for $5. My dad picked up a submarine diving claxon he wanted to use for a doorbell, but my mom drew the line there.

[svandamme]

we don't have garage sales as in , one or 2 house
we have organized street garage sales

each town and village has his own bianual one, where they literally close 5-6 streets (this is the country side, one street can be 2 miles worth in one go, market squares, empty supermarket parking lots all get filled), and everybody sells their ****, empty spots are rented to pro sellers of antiques and what not, they put up a beer tent and Bob's yer uncle



if you are not up and out there at 7 oclock , you missed out on the real treasure finds

[m21sniper]

Originally Posted by Rick Lee

My dad picked up a submarine diving claxon he wanted to use for a doorbell, but my mom drew the line there.

Ah man, your mom is a kill-joy. That would rock as a doorbell!

[Mo_Gearhead]

We have one once (sometimes twice) a year.

Since I retired at 52, I go to estate sales/auctions almost weekly. I sell smaller items on eBay and Craig's List but I sometimes purchase large items (furniture, etc.) that I cannot ship.

I buy anything that I think I can flip for a profit, old books, car parts, paintings, silver, antiques, collectibles, furniture and unusual/unique items.

We get lots of repeat 'customers' each year (I run a similar ad in the papers each time) ...many are people that have shops/store front businesses.

Worst sale total was about $1100 ...best was about $2800 (several antique furniture pieces in that one)

Makes for a fun weekend once/twice a year.

[berettafan]

love a good yard sale. you can't believe how much $$ you can save on certain items (kids books for example) and there is a treasure here and there.

recently got a large bucket o' springs from a trampoline. all galvanized and ready for welding projects! picked up a bed frame for $3 that day as well. again, welding fun!

i don't go looking for profits as that takes the fun out of it for other folks and i'd rather the guy that actually WANTS the underpriced thing to get it and enjoy it. unfortunately i think ebay has taken a lot of the joy from yard sales.

[targa911S]

Bought a complete art deco "waterfall" bed yesterday for $10.00! Also bought a #5 and a #3 Big Bertha Calloway drivers for $3.00 ea.! Yeah I love em.

[89911]

They are definitely for the buyer. Where else can you spend a solid 2 days of work and make maybe a few hundred dollars and THEN have to throw away the majority of items anyway if you just didn't give them away in the first place. I selectively sell items of value that are easily shipped on Ebay, give other items to friends and family that they can use, donate appropriately to charities, and throw the rest AWAY!

[on2wheels52]

Originally Posted by 89911

They are definitely for the buyer. Where else can you spend a solid 2 days of work and make maybe a few hundred dollars and THEN have to throw away the majority of items anyway if you just didn't give them away in the first place. I selectively sell items of value that are easily shipped on Ebay, give other items to friends and family that they can use, donate appropriately to charities, and throw the rest AWAY!

+1
Having a yard sale is for someone with plenty of free time. A buyer's market if you have the time to go looking, though $5/gallon fuel may cut down the number of lookers.
Jim

[TerryH]

Last weekend my wife brought home a circa 1930 side table from a garage sale.

Me: Okay, what did it cost?
Her: Only $75!
Me: Did you dicker it down from $150?
Her: No, the tag said $75.
Me: (rolling eyes) Okay, maybe we can sell it for $50 at our garage sale.....

So I got to looking at this table. Very ornate legs and lions paw feet made of mahogany. It had a makers metal tag on the bottom, IRWIN, and it had some numbers hand written, probably the model, stain, etc.

Anyway, I found the exact table on eBay and they are asking $1750! When I showed the ad to my wife, she did about 20 "told ya so's". I had to explain to her that the table on eBay hasn't sold for that price and we could list ours for $5,000 and it doesn't make it worth that price.

Still, she did good. The table looks fantastic in our front room. Here's the ebay ad I found....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=270219917894&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=017

[targa911S]

A friend of mine in DTW found an Italian designer coffee table for $110.00 at a yard sale. he sold it at auction 2 mos. later for $58,000.00! Now that's a deal.

[Wickd89]

Socal. Garage sales not to popular in my neighborhood. We end up donating stuff and getting the right off!

Wish there were more. Craigslist is pretty good for larger items..

[Seahawk]

Not a garage sale, per se, but every fall there is an Amish Auction on the farm next to my friends...I have sold a lot of items I might have otherwise taken to the dump. One man's trash...

They auction off equipment, guns, horses, furniture, chain saws, boats, you name it...and the fresh-made brauts are unbelievably great.

[targa911S]

Paul, they just had the Amish auction here last week. I think it's pretty cool that they do it every year to help with med bills in the Amish community. Must have been 300 buggies there last week. They are pretty interesting people actually.

[Seahawk]

Originally Posted by targa911S

Paul, they just had the Amish auction here last week. I think it's pretty cool that they do it every year to help with med bills in the Amish community. Must have been 300 buggies there last week. They are pretty interesting people actually.

They are, Dave. I have become good friends with the head of one of the principle families in our area as well as many of the merchants/mill owners.

Once you get to know them, you gain an entry into a really interesting barter economy, a free exchange of talent and tools. I had a small hay storage barn build for the cost of materials since I helped them move produce to market last year over two days.

Sorry for the hijack

Hope you're feeling better, btw.

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

I once scored a Bang and Olufsen Beogram at a Garage sale for $100. Still works good today

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

Originally Posted by jyl

Whew, today was neighborhood garage sale day, so we joined in and had a sale, trying to get the basement cleared out so's I can build it out.

I haven't had a garage sale in 20 years. It was fun with the kids, and for the kids. They sold lemonade, brownies, etc. Of the $379 we made, 1/3 of it was probably their little refreshments concession. So they earned $90 toward their toy fund, after the parent tax.

I was underwhelmed by the total haul, but we didn't have anything significant to sell - it was almost all $1 and $0.50 items. Old jeans, kids books, videos, old toys, mugs, - junk, basically.

Does anyone do garage sales much, either as a seller or as a shopper? Do you consider it a waste of time to have them, think its better to simply haul the stuff to Goodwill? Do you like shopping them, finding good stuff, or do you think that is a waste of time too?

jyl, you live in Laurelhurst as well?

[jyl]

Yes, we had the neighborhood sale yesterday.

Originally Posted by Jared Fenton

jyl, you live in Laurelhurst as well?

[tabs]

I thought I was doin good but $110 to $58K...WOW can't beat that...