Featured First rule of Garage Sale is never talk about Garage Sale

You've got me chuckling James..........cause what you say is true!

Off to make some toll house...making goodies to send to my son in Fl for Christmas..............

 

Everybody goes hoping to find the treasure hidden in the junk.

Good way to buy kid stuff, especially if you are on a budget. So many sales are so full of barely used kid stuff that I wonder why anyone would buy new.

I came to see my eBay selling as an international redistribution of junk - largely from garage sales.

 

Just to clarify I made all my money back on the Fiesta ware because I sold some of it when I first got it. Giving it to my super who is going to give it to his MIL for Christmas so she can enjoy it with her other Fiesta ware at the table is a good thing as Martha Stewart says. LOL To the MIL it is not junk, she loves that stuff so I am glad she will get it and make good use of it.

 

I agree with most statements although i do wear jewelry and have found that the wealthy more often than not relate to me as one of them and give me ridiculously
great deals.

My biggie is when someone is obviously giving serious treasures away for nothing for g-d sake don’t ask for a better price-Just pay them and say thanks (and get out of there before someone calls you out),

 

Looking for that just-divorced-revenge sale.

 

Move to S CA. They’re weekly!

 

I used to go to estate sales in the Twin Cities (MN), 60-70 miles from my home, but haven't gone for years because things started getting too pricey or not worth the effort. During the good years I picked up several pieces of great vintage costume jewelry laid out on tables at one estate sale. I sensed a woman walking closely behind me who didn't seem to be picking up anything and thought it was maybe because I was getting all the good pieces. I had to leave my selection with a worker at a table who put everything in a bag with my name on it and then put it behind her table and wrote the amount on the sales slip I was carrying around and said I could pick up the jewelry after I paid. In the meantime, I took my time looking in other rooms, picked up a few more things and then checked out. When I went to pick up my bag of jewelry the worker couldn't find it behind the table. I always wondered if the woman who was behind me heard me give my name, then quickly paid for a few of her things and went back with her receipt and gave my name so she could get my bag of jewelry. Anyway, instead of asking for a refund, I asked for a bag of antique buttons that were priced a little higher than my jewelry, but probably not as valuable, which they agreed to. After that, when I had to leave a bag of jewelry until I paid for it, I always went straight to the cashier, paid, and took my receipt to the jewelry person, put the jewelry in my purse, and then took my time looking around at the rest of the stuff.

 

Hit one of those once. The ex gave her some jewelry and she sold me box and all for $30. I tried to offer her more and she wouldn't take it. Couldn't hustle it off fast enough!

Other times I go expecting or hoping for treasure and find... yeah well. Went to a picked-over moving sale and scored a 10k necklace for a buck. One of the biggest jewelry hauls of my life came from a kid junk tag sale. My university chair came from a yard sale too - $12 instead of $350.

 

I have noticed there is a divide with some crossover where people shop:
- Antique show or shop shoppers: a lot wouldn't be caught dead at a yard sale or flea market.
- Flea market shoppers: most go to yard sales but would never go to antique shows or shops because they are used to paying flea market prices. i think this is a mistake because no one can be an expert in every category, treasures can be found everywhere.
- Yard sale shoppers: again a lot don't go to antique shows or shops.
- Church or school sales: A whole different category, go to support church or school but a lot don't go to fleas or yard sales.

Most antique dealers go to all of the above because you never know what you will find. This last year a local well-respected dealer stopped at a historical society rummage sale and found a decorated wooden box dating to the mid 1700s - you never know!!!!!

 

I'm weird. I go to all of the above except fleas. Those are usually on Sundays in these parts and I'm in church. All the others are fair game. I scored a 14k pocket watch in an antique store for $50 once; it was in a gold-filled lot. The only thing I've given up on are antique sales where they charge admission.

 

Here all the antique stores are gone. When I first starting going to them there was only one that had good stuff and parking. I bought a perpetual calendar there and it hangs on my wall. Every day I have to update it. Must be doing this for 20 years. I knew bupkis about vintage or antiques when I purchased it. I just liked it. It is made of wood and some kind of material inside to change the necessary info.

We have a flea market on Sundays till the weather gets bad, but many of the people I know from estate sales sell there so their prices would be like mine.

I go to tag sales, white elephant sales, estate sales, yard sales, you name it.

 

I always carry a small magnet in my purse (not strong enough to damage my cellphone), also a tube of Simichrome in a zip lock bag to test for bakelite. If I suspect bakelite and can find an out-of-the-way place where I don't draw attention, I quickly squeeze a little Simichrome on a tissue and rub it on the item, then wipe off any residue. I've never had any success with just rubbing my thumb on plastic even for as long as 60 seconds and sniffing to see if it smells like formaldehyde. I also keep a box of small zip lock bags and kleenex in my car so if I buy jewelry or other small items that are loose in a bag, I can wrap them individually in a tissue and put in separate bags until I get home.

 

I can generally just eyeball bakelite at this point. The mistakes are usually a nice grade of lucite and so no problem. I reserve the chemical tests for after I get it home. Rubbing it with a thumb only works if you have a nice chunk of flat surface to work with, and if it's beads that's out. A lot of old pros wouldn't even think of using simichrome on a piece you don't own.

 

Good point. Now that I think about it, the simichrome test isn't a responsible thing to recommend others do before purchase, but I've acquired more than 100 pieces of bakelite over the years and have probably used Simichrome on a dozen or so before buying or not buying. I suppose it could damage certain types of plastic if you don't know something is solid color throughout and not color coated. Now I feel ashamed of myself for suggesting it to others.

 

no worries....sometimes getting stuff out in the light.....makes you see them clearer..!

 

Usually, garage sales and the like are fun. Going to them is a kind of recreation. If the only reason to go to them is to acquire items of substantial value and/or for resale, then it can become a kind of work, and in that case driving on by is the right call. There's more 'profitable' ways to spend one's time. But if it's a leisure activity, fun on a weekend, then there's not much to lose.

And of course my own sales are good ways to keeping passing on the junk to someone else!

 

I visit my charity shop.....to get out of my head....get out of my own way.....relax.....and maybe......find a little gem !

 

I have never been to a car boot and not found something amazing for peanuts. I don't live in a particularly affluent area but I always find something and always a little silver something. SO MUCH FUN ... I could write a book about all the treasure I have found. Not so many Sindy's now as in previous years, though, hope the world hasn't run out pf them in the wild :O
The first year I started collecting I found 20 or so and as many Pippas. Only found two Pippas in 15 years so maybe they've run out of Pips in the wild too.

 

Well, that leaves more for us to find