Yard Sale Suck

[PepperElf]

We were helping out with "South 2 Roller Derby" this weekend with a yard sale.

Although we ourselves didn't bring anything to be sold, we did help out with setting up some of the stuff, photos, and signage as well as just hanging out etc.


The suck... the signs we brought are ours.

The big one was left alone. It's a tall, black wet/dry erase foldable easel that opens into an "A" shape with one sign on each side. I'll probably need brighter markers for it next time but the ones I used were fine.


The little one is an LED-lit sign that makes neon wet/dry erase markers really glow. Plug it in and instant interesting sign. We can pretty much set it up ANYWHERE because... my boyfriend has a couple of Vagabond White Lightning battery packs. In a nutshell - a portable UPS, although one that's designed for powering high-power flashes. It works out great at events because we can have some pretty flashy signs wherever we want.

We were still setting up when someone brought the LED sign over to the table to ask about how much it was... It was a bit awkward since ... well yeah it's not for sale.

But that's not what really annoyed me the most. Even when she asked if the power supply was for sale too, still not annoying... What was annoying? When she called over to tell her son that the Vagabond wasn't for sale... And he had already taken it apart to examine it.

luckily he didn't break anything - but really that's piss poor manners in my opinion.


We moved the sign to a table in the back so it was closer to the team. I think the mother & son left soon after that.


Oh and someone asked my BF if his camera was for sale too.

Actually my BF would have considered selling it, except he knew the guy was going to lowball him. No way is he going to just give up a perfectly good - professional - DSLR on a lowball bid.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Uh. Who starts pulling things apart at a yard sale before they buy it - without permission- even if it IS for sale?

What if he broke it before he even paid for it? Talk about rude.

[RealUnimportant]

Could be (marginally) worse; they could have brought them over after they'd already been written on!

[PepperElf]

LOL, yeah I doubt he'd have paid for it. The inverter alone for the Vagabond I goes for $200, the battery charger is $60, and the battery pack is $40. At that point it's probably easier to just spend the $300 for a Vagabond II system. Although that's soon to be discontinued too.

As for the signs... not really a factor since they're erasable (unless someone cracks out shapries). One of the skater's husbands asked if his daughter could play with the LED-lit sign cos she wanted to draw on at the last event. So I wiped it clean and handed her the markers. She had fun with it and did a better job than I do with drawing.

[RealUnimportant]

That's cute What I was thinking though was you could have put appropriate writing up regarding the ongoing sale & they'd still try and buy them without realising they were "working".

[PepperElf]

ahhh. i see. yeah probably. at least with the Vagabond & sign on the table where the team was chilling, the customers weren't able to try further grabs at it.

They sold pretty well though. clothes were $3 for all you can fit in (provided) grocery store bag. No one took a stab at the wedding dresses though. I guess $100 for a designer dress was too pricy.

[Kristev]

I don't understand that. If a dress fits a woman and it's still beautiful, 100 is far from unreasonable to my eyes.

All she'd need to spend beyond that is a few minor alterations and perhaps a dye job, all of which would be rather inexpensive.

[FenigDurak]

If there are pictures and the gowns are still available, I'm in the market!

[AmbrosiaWriter]

No one took a stab at the wedding dresses though. I guess $100 for a designer dress was too pricy.

I don't think it was a case of "too pricy" I think it was the "OMG someone else wore this and it's NOT pricy enough."

I like to watch "Say Yes to the Dress" because I love looking at the designs of the dresses and either "oooohing" or "ROFLMAOing" when I see brides put them on. I've seen plenty of ladies who refuse to pick a very beautiful dress that made them look like a Queen because "Omgawd it's only fifteen hundred, I can't say that I was in a fifteen hundred dollar dress!"

Never mind the fact that women will buy dresses that are 30 grand that look HIDEOUS and pooh-pooh at the $1,200 one that would make people look at THEM and not THE BLINDING DRESS.

[Gurndigarn]

Never mind the fact that women will buy dresses that are 30 grand that look HIDEOUS and pooh-pooh at the $1,200 one that would make people look at THEM and not THE BLINDING DRESS.

Most modern wedding dresses look horrendous. The more expensive, the more likely they are to look terrible.

My wife? $80 in silk, several hours with her sister (and, ultimately finishing the thing in the car as we eloped, sort of (if you count taking her parents and meeting my parents halfway between eloping)). Very pretty dress, at least as good ad a professional could do. Definitely better than a professional could have done with ten days warning.



[The inevitable backstory: she's Canadian, and we were fighting with immigration to get a fiancé visa, plus a few other details. In the end, it was easier to get married and then work on a spouse visa. Plus I won over the in-laws, so they didn't worry about their daughter marrying someone she met just three months before getting engaged.]

[fireheart]

I don't think it was a case of "too pricy" I think it was the "OMG someone else wore this and it's NOT pricy enough."

I like to watch "Say Yes to the Dress" because I love looking at the designs of the dresses and either "oooohing" or "ROFLMAOing" when I see brides put them on. I've seen plenty of ladies who refuse to pick a very beautiful dress that made them look like a Queen because "Omgawd it's only fifteen hundred, I can't say that I was in a fifteen hundred dollar dress!"

Never mind the fact that women will buy dresses that are 30 grand that look HIDEOUS and pooh-pooh at the $1,200 one that would make people look at THEM and not THE BLINDING DRESS.

Ugh, that's just.....GAHH!!!!

I'd go for the $1200 dress. Although knowing me, it'd be a medieval-princess style one rather than a pure white or similar one.

Admittedly though, some of the wedding dresses I've seen in charity shops are horrible. (and because of this thread, I am now making a trip to my local Savers tomorrow for clothes)

[PepperElf]

I don't think it was a case of "too pricy" I think it was the "OMG someone else wore this and it's NOT pricy enough."

Funny thing is, they're actually brand new. From what I was told by the skater, her mom makes them and gave her a bunch of them to get rid of stock or whatever. She's pretty much just trying to make room in her house now.

I do know that I'll probably check them out when I get my own wedding. The one on the top of the pile was beautiful in my opinion.

[AmbrosiaWriter]

Funny thing is, they're actually brand new. From what I was told by the skater, her mom makes them and gave her a bunch of them to get rid of stock or whatever. She's pretty much just trying to make room in her house now.

I do know that I'll probably check them out when I get my own wedding. The one on the top of the pile was beautiful in my opinion.

Popular mindset: Yard Sale = used, no matter what they're told.

I do tend to find that people who design and sew wedding dresses themselves at a smaller scale tend to make much more beautiful ones than the big designers. I hate watching "Project: Runway" (or something like that) because you always get a bunch of snot noses trying to be UNIQUE and so they end up making these crazy, UGLY outfits that no one would wear, ever. (Other than the model on the runway because they don't have a choice.)

Ok wow turned this into a fashion debate. Sorry.

[AccountingDrone]

My friend Tara bought a dress for a couple hundred bucks because the person who originally ordered it decided she hated it Add$150US for a professional seamstress to do a few modifications, and me adding pearls to a set of appliques, and doing pearlwork on a full veil spectacular. Better than may of those hella expensive ugly things on wedinator.

[FenigDurak]

Put me in touch with them, I love supporting Derby! And my wedding is in May!