garage sales

[breakwall]

It's kind of a guilty pleasure of mine. I find great camping equipment that people practically give away.
I got a great antique Primus stove for $15.

However, sometimes I question the judgement of people who put things out for garage sales. In fact the last time I went out, I jotted down a list of some of the more questionable items.

-An unopened package containing a Summer's Eve douche. $2
-a ziploc bag full of mens boxer shorts, clearly worn. 25¢
one downhill ski. $5
-a set of six plastic "Mac and Me" promo cups from McDonalds. (That in itself isnt odd, but the price is: $15)
-a Christmas tree made from lawnchair parts and green garbage bags. no price.
-four Mexican Flamenco dancer dolls whose arms are made from stacked up bottle caps. Sold as a set: 50¢
-a box marked "Porn" that contained National Geographic magazines. Free.

anyone else do yard sales?

 

[Matthew Craig]

Nobody Cares

 

[HappyMisha]

Ewwwww... Summer's Eve?

It blows my mind sometimes. People sell really worn-out shoes and broken tea cups. What's up with that?

 

[LoisLane]

The Goodwill and the thrift stores are more my forte..

What is the saying....One man's junk is another man's treasure...

 

[Damariscotta]

It's kind of a guilty pleasure of mine. I find great camping equipment that people practically give away.
I got a great antique Primus stove for $15.

However, sometimes I question the judgement of people who put things out for garage sales. In fact the last time I went out, I jotted down a list of some of the more questionable items.

-An unopened package containing a Summer's Eve douche. $2
-a ziploc bag full of mens boxer shorts, clearly worn. 25¢
one downhill ski. $5
-a set of six plastic "Mac and Me" promo cups from McDonalds. (That in itself isnt odd, but the price is: $15)
-a Christmas tree made from lawnchair parts and green garbage bags. no price.
-four Mexican Flamenco dancer dolls whose arms are made from stacked up bottle caps. Sold as a set: 50¢
-a box marked "Porn" that contained National Geographic magazines. Free.

anyone else do yard sales?

You *did* snag the christmas tree, right? Talk about a steal.

 

[breakwall]

You *did* snag the christmas tree, right? Talk about a steal.

no, and I kick myself for letting that one pass by.

However, I do have four Mexican Flamenco dolls gazing down jauntily from the top of my bookshelf.

I can hear the mariachi music in my head...

 

[KRCummings]

I love garage sales. Hidden treasures and useless shit but you can walk out with a truckload for 20 bucks and next year sell it your own sale.

 

[Fabala]

I love garage sales. Sometimes for the bargains, sometimes just to reassure myself that I'm not the craziest person out there.

I'm simply amazed at the number of people who honestly believe that $8.00 for a Beanie Baby isn't insane, and that Happy Meal toys are resaleable items.

On the plus side, I can usually find books, movies and CDs for nearly nothing.

 

[Damariscotta]

I love garage sales. Hidden treasures and useless shit but you can walk out with a truckload for 20 bucks and next year sell it your own sale.

Which is why my mother always had three or four a year, to get rid of all the useless crap she would pick up every weekend at other peoples' sales.

 

[bg23]

i buy books at garage sales. it's awesome...i love well read books, paperbags that have gone floppy with age...

people have a disgusting habit sometimes of spilling the foulest stuff inside books, though. it's repulsive.

 

[KRCummings]

I love garage sales. Sometimes for the bargains, sometimes just to reassure myself that I'm not the craziest person out there.

I'm simply amazed at the number of people who honestly believe that $8.00 for a Beanie Baby isn't insane, and that Happy Meal toys are resaleable items.

On the plus side, I can usually find books, movies and CDs for nearly nothing.

Those happy meal toys are worth a few bucks if still in the wrapper. Pick 'em up when you find them and check ebay. Hell, the sales usually have them for a nickel or a quarter so it's not like you'll lose anything.
The beanie baby thing I just can't explain.

 

[Damariscotta]

i buy books at garage sales. it's awesome...i love well read books, paperbags that have gone floppy with age...

people have a disgusting habit sometimes of spilling the foulest stuff inside books, though. it's repulsive.

Books and cd's are about the only useful items I have ever found at a garage sale. With the exception of the image scanner I picked up from my neighbor for $5.

 

[KRCummings]

i buy books at garage sales. it's awesome...i love well read books, paperbags that have gone floppy with age...

people have a disgusting habit sometimes of spilling the foulest stuff inside books, though. it's repulsive.

Good books are hard to find but once in a while I'll run across somebody who's got a few boxes full that aren't all harlequin.

 

[bg23]

Books and cd's are about the only useful items I have ever found at a garage sale. With the exception of the image scanner I picked up from my neighbor for $5.

i forgot about CDs.

we used to have a laserdisk player. when they went out of mode i used to pick up enormous boxes full of them for like, five bucks.

was fun.

 

[FinePhilly]

I'm a garage sale junkie.

I bought a queen sized air mattress for $5 just a few weeks ago. It's great for tent camping.

 

[busybody..]

Every year the local development has a huge yard sale

about 100 or so participants

We went, as usual

A lotta fun

We came upon the following!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, this is true!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Guy had 6 chairs, a dining room table for sale...............looked in great condition

the price tage said

"Six chairs, Dining Room table........hardly used.........$200.................


ONLY $75...........IF YOU TAKE MY WIFE!!!!!!!!!"

The wife was fat and short........we didnt buy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Fabala]

Those happy meal toys are worth a few bucks if still in the wrapper. Pick 'em up when you find them and check ebay. Hell, the sales usually have them for a nickel or a quarter so it's not like you'll lose anything.
The beanie baby thing I just can't explain.

Ohhhh no. I'm talking the ones that mom obviously just cleaned out of the mini-van the night before. Know what I mean?

The last yard sale I went to though, had an Alex's Lemonade Stand. My best purchase of the day was a $3 cup of lemonade.

 

[DeuceB]

Garage sales rock. Half my hand tools are from garage sales. Every once in a while you can find Craftsman tools and such for next to nothing.

 

[breakwall]

Books and cd's are about the only useful items I have ever found at a garage sale. With the exception of the image scanner I picked up from my neighbor for $5.

I find that the same books are for sale at all garage sales:

Victoria Holt
Tom Clancy
Stephen King (and always a series of his, but with books 4, 6 and 9 missing)
Jackie Collins

and of course the classic outdated University textbooks like
Punchcard Coding: an Introduction
Fundamental Economics: Living On the Gold Standard
Transcendental Meditation for Medical Applications

 

[Fabala]

Punchcard Coding: an Introduction

There was one entire summer in the early 90's when it seemed that every yard sale I went to had punch card art for sale.

Weird shit.

 

[FinePhilly]

I find that the same books are for sale at all garage sales:

Victoria Holt
Tom Clancy
Stephen King (and always a series of his, but with books 4, 6 and 9 missing)
Jackie Collins

and of course the classic outdated University textbooks like
Punchcard Coding: an Introduction
Fundamental Economics: Living On the Gold Standard
Transcendental Meditation for Medical Applications

Don't forget John Grisham!

 

[breakwall]

There was one entire summer in the early 90's when it seemed that every yard sale I went to had punch card art for sale.

Weird shit.

...and those pictures of sailboats and stuff made from running thread around nails? Have you seen those?

 

[Damariscotta]

I find that the same books are for sale at all garage sales:

Tom Clancy
Stephen King (and always a series of his, but with books 4, 6 and 9 missing)

It's uncanny. It's like we grew up in the same locale or something.

Still looking for book 5 of the Green Mile collection if anyone has it...

 

[breakwall]

Don't forget John Grisham!

I always like people who have the "good" author, and then the less-talented poorer cousin author.

Tom Clancy and Martin Cruz Smith
Grisham and Scott Turow
any mystery writer ever and Dick "I really REALLY love horses" Francis.

 

[breakwall]

It's uncanny. It's like we grew up in the same locale or something.

Still looking for book 5 of the Green Mile collection if anyone has it...

I don't. But I do have a slide projector with six carousels and a pair of crutches, hardly used.