Garage sale stupids

[fireheart]

So my boyfriend's mum held a garage sale on the weekend to clear out a shit-ton of crap before their big move (they're also giving my boyfriend and his new flatmate a TON of goodies to start them off). I commented to the mum that while I didn't mind being their errand girl and setting up stuff, I did NOT want to be talking to the public.

either way, there were still stories!

It's a garage sale, not a store!

Some guy randomly asked me if we had video games. even if she WAS going to sell off video games, they wouldn't be to some random guy at a garage sale who is most likely going to hawk them at the nearest EB Games anyway! (I did offer to test out a PS One my boyfriend's mother had, hawk that and split the difference with her. She agreed )

Baby Shoe Bitching

Among the assorted crapola were a bundle of baby shoes. Most of them were brand new (they'd been bought previously to sell at flea markets and whatnot). Retail price? Around $50. Sale price? Less than $10. Some people did NOT like that and wanted to haggle her down further. At the end of the day, the shoes were all gone though .

Not for sale!

Some jackass tried to buy the chair that my boyfriend's mother was sitting on...cue a VERY prominent "NOT FOR SALE" sticker on the chair 5 seconds later when my boyfriend took over for his mother.

On a similar, but unrelated story, I ended up purchasing a couple of things from them prior to the garage sale (which are going to be used in my classroom). One of the items was a chest of drawers that's going to be used to store English and Maths manipulative items (dice, flash cards etc.). I wrote a very prominent "SOLD" on the price sticker beforehand. My boyfriend still put it out in the morning.

Still, they ended up raking in $200 from that day alone. Half of it is going to charity, the rest is going to either another charity or towards expnses for the new house.

[Draco]

I wrote a very prominent "SOLD" on the price sticker beforehand. My boyfriend still put it out in the morning.

I'm kind of sad that my first thought to that was "more story?!" Because I half expected someone to claim that they were the ones it was sold to and they were there to pick it up. :P

[Kit-Ginevra]

And then you get the ones who think it's a regular store and you have the stock out the back-'I like this jumper,but it's not really my colour.Do you have it in a black?'.No.What you see is what you get....

[Mr Hero]

And then you get the ones who think it's a regular store and you have the stock out the back-'I like this jumper,but it's not really my colour.Do you have it in a black?'.No.What you see is what you get....

Are you sure? Could you check in the back?

[dalesys]

Are you sure? Could you check in the back?

Sure. Come back with me, the roo in the pasture hasn't stomped anyone this week is lonely.

[Sapphire Silk]

It's a garage sale, not a store!

Some guy randomly asked me if we had video games. even if she WAS going to sell off video games, they wouldn't be to some random guy at a garage sale who is most likely going to hawk them at the nearest EB Games anyway! (I did offer to test out a PS One my boyfriend's mother had, hawk that and split the difference with her. She agreed )

I could see some people asking with the honest plan of buying for themselves or a friend. Even used games are expensive at game stores or used book stores.

My rule for yard sales is this; if I can't sell it at the used book store or on eBay/Craigslist, then I sell it at the yard sale. I offer fair prices, but my goal is to move the stuff. My mother told me that the purpose of a yard sale is to get rid of stuff you no longer want without having to take the trouble of driving it to the dump. Getting money for it is just a bonus.

I still won't take a bad deal on something I know has value. If, at the end of the day, I can't get a fair price for something, I'll then truck it down to Habitat for Humanity, Goodwill, or the Salvation Army. Used books or videos that I can't sell go to the public library.

[EricKei]

You could have been selling those shoes for ONE dollar per pair and I can guarantee you that some people would still try to haggle on them.

[Mike Taylor]

What I love is when you clearly post your hours for the yard sale in the want ads and on signs-- and the dummies come rapping on your door in the early hours of the morning wanting to buy stuff.

No, you idiot, it's six o'clock and the yard sale starts at nine! I haven't even gotten a shower and had breakfast yet, let alone set things up for sale! GO AWAY!

[Indigo]

Doesn't even matter if you park a full sized pickup truck across your driveway to block the early birds from coming in. They will still squeeeeeze their car onto the narrow strip left, just to get out and ask if you're open yet.

I told that if she wanted to shop that bad she better have coffee and donuts - or she was getting charged double. Cue cat-butt face and a flouncy exit.

[fireheart]

I could see some people asking with the honest plan of buying for themselves or a friend. Even used games are expensive at game stores or used book stores.
.

There's a pawn shop and 2 game stores that sell used games within a 500m distance of the house. The pawn shop prices are considerably cheaper-as in I've picked up Pokemon games for $25 each. The two game stores tend to generally vary on price but are still fairly cheap.

In this case, the only game-related thing we vaguely had was an old PS One, which I offered to trade in and split the difference with my boyfriend's mother rather than have some guy buy it and pawn it off anyway.

Also the guy ONLY asked "got any video games" without asking for a specific console. If he'd been more specific, I could understand the guy wanting to buy them for a friend. But the fact that we were within spitting distance of 3 shops that will take used games and his overall demeanor gave the impression he was going to pawn them anyway.

Doesn't even matter if you park a full sized pickup truck across your driveway to block the early birds from coming in. They will still squeeeeeze their car onto the narrow strip left, just to get out and ask if you're open yet.

We surprisingly didn't have this. Partially owing to the fact that we had chucked some furniture into the driveway ANYWAY. I also ended up moving across some old sofa chairs to further block access to the driveway so people weren't likely to try and poke around in the shed. Luckily they didn't.

As for people bitching about stuff, there's a chronic haggler who tends to go to garage sales around her area and tries to negotiate SUPER low prices on a lot of stuff. He tried it with my boyfriend's mum, she politely told him no. Amazingly he didn't show up at the garage sale. We like to think that he didn't like being told "no".

[starsinthesky]

My dad is useless at a garage sale. He doesn't would let everything go for a quarter and almost sold a milk glass vase of my moms because someone wondered into the garage, took it, and asked my dad how much.

[Demolition Man]

It's a garage sale, not a store!

Some guy randomly asked me if we had video games. even if she WAS going to sell off video games, they wouldn't be to some random guy at a garage sale who is most likely going to hawk them at the nearest EB Games anyway! (I did offer to test out a PS One my boyfriend's mother had, hawk that and split the difference with her. She agreed )

Well to be fair I have seen a number of stories on Cheap Ass Gamer with people doing this very same thing at garage sales. You'd be surprised at how many people who are sitting on game systems thinking nobody wants to buy the older stuff. Not to mention stores like Gamestop are only interested in the current product on the market to stuff like your old Nintendo, Sega, and Atari systems are of no interest to them.

[fireheart]

There's a game chain over here very well known for taking the older stuff. While they tend to be on the pricey side in some cases, they only take stuff that's in VERY good nick and they don't get a lot of them.
By pricey, I mean that a Dreamcast console is likely to go for $100+ and the games for similar prices to their current-generation used items. Usually though, in the case of said console, it'll be "as if it was new"-that is, all the cables and controls are there.

[EvilEmpryss]

In this case, the only game-related thing we vaguely had was an old PS One, which I offered to trade in and split the difference with my boyfriend's mother rather than have some guy buy it and pawn it off anyway.

Also the guy ONLY asked "got any video games" without asking for a specific console. If he'd been more specific, I could understand the guy wanting to buy them for a friend. But the fact that we were within spitting distance of 3 shops that will take used games and his overall demeanor gave the impression he was going to pawn them anyway.

What is your issue with people reselling stuff they buy from you? You come off as really hostile about this. Once you sell something, it's not yours to dictate what someone does with it. I have purchased things at yard sales in the past and turned around and sold them on Craigslist/eBay for a nice profit, but it's none of the original seller's business if I do that or keep it for my personal use. I could see it being rude if the person tries to give you a sob story about some sick kid in the hospital wanting to play D3 before he dies, only to hock the game for $5 at the local pawn, but if you sell it, it's out of your hands.

And maybe the guy wanting games (like my family) has multiple consoles, so if you have any games, he might be honestly interested for his own family. So what if there are stores nearby that sell them? I've got a Big Lots that regularly sells new PS/GB/DS/Xbox games for $10, but if I see something I like in a yard sale I'm not going to leave to go see if I can find it at the store.

[protege]

What is your issue with people reselling stuff they buy from you? You come off as really hostile about this. Once you sell something, it's not yours to dictate what someone does with it. I have purchased things at yard sales in the past and turned around and sold them on Craigslist/eBay for a nice profit, but it's none of the original seller's business if I do that or keep it for my personal use.

Unfortunately, there are some resellers who are greedy...and cop an attitude if you won't come down on price for them. I've dealt with resellers like that. They suck. They come in and waste my time hemming and hawing over a $2 item. They complain that "$2 is too much" because the item (usually something that can easily get more than $2) is "used" or "dirty." Either buy the item or don't. I think that's what the OP is getting at.