Saturday, January 16, 2016

In which people be crazy about garage sales

I took these notes after talking to Primo in August, right after the garage sale, and now - in January, when I am getting around to writing the actual post - I don't remember all the details. I might have to make stuff up.

OK. Remember the huge bookcase that Ted wanted and said the estate should pay to ship to him and that I estimate would cost about $500 to ship? And that Primo wanted to bring to our house, even though there is not really a good place to put it without making our living room look crowded? Even if there were room, I would not want a looming reminder of Sly and Doris in my face.

A junk/antique dealer came to the house before the garage sale to look at stuff. He had offered $500 for the bookcase, but another buyer came during the garage sale and offered $1,000. Primo called the dealer and the dealer said dude take the money that buyer is nuts but whatever good for you.

Despite the ad saying, "No early birds," people showed up early. I wish this blog were real time so we could have used one commenter's advice to say that the price before the start time of the sale is double the price after the sale starts.

People wanted this kind of stuff:


  • Sly's disorganized, sloppy, dirty workbench with rusted, broken tools on it
  • The rusted metal cabinet with the broken mirror and door that won't close properly
  • A flowerpot half buried in the yard
  • Boxes of books that Primo had put in the back of the garage because he didn't think anyone would want them
  • Wire bookshelves with stuff on them


Primo: This woman wanted one of the wire bookshelves - during the sale. I would have had to unload everything. So I told her she could have both of them for twenty but she would have to come back later. She said that the second one wasn't worth ten dollars. I said a six pack of beer costs ten dollars. She said she doesn't drink beer. She was a pain in the neck.

3 comments:

  1. I blame H&G TV and all the DYI stuff. I've caught a few scenes of Flea Market Flip. I couldn't believe how much some people would pay for this stuff.

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  2. People will buy nearly anything at a yard sale. Just take the money and be happy that you don't have to cart the leftovers to the dump!

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  3. I have books and use book cases and I can't imagine a book case I would spend $1000 on. I know its large, but that's a lot of money. Still, if someone paid and then hauled the large thing away, that's good! Garage sales are a pain, but I hope $$$ was made and the amount of stuff was reduced.

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