posted on May 29, 2001 07:30:02 AM new
Went camping this past weekend in Western (rural) New York state, near a state park. Noticed in paper that nearby town was having its annual town-wide garage sale the next 2 days. 100+ homes listed. Happily got up early, got my hands on the seller's map distributed at the one and only food store in town. To my disgust, almost 100% of these folks had overpriced, overvalued and completely innapropriately priced items. Are there any values to be found at yard sales any more? Jeesh!
posted on May 29, 2001 07:38:02 AM newAre there any values to be found at yard sales any more? Oh sure there are antiquealley!...All you have to do is find the hermit, who lives in a cave, who's sellin' off all grandma hermit's treasures!
Seriously tho', I'm a garage sale addict & every now & agin' I run across a sale that has the good ole' fashioned quarter/fifty cents pricing...Burns me how folks think that sellin' an item on their driveway should fetch the same price as it will (read: MIGHT) on eBay...If they want eBay prices, then they should do the eBay work!
You are right! We are avid Garage Salers, starting our weekendss bright and early (usually around 6AM). We also have found the prices have jumped up since eBay. They, the folks having the sale, have told us they checked prices on eBay when we have asked if they would go lower. A couple times we have tried to patiently explain the difference between eBay and a Garage Sale, but they don't listen.
Are there bargins to be found? Yes, but they are few. More and more we are coming home with nothing but an empty gas tank, and at the price of gas, it is becoming harder to get up early and drive around for nothing.
"Real" auctions have, unfortunately, gone the same way. Very few bargins to be found there either. Everyone wants to sell on eBay and have driven prices up. Sad part is, we know a lot of the local sellers and watch their auctions. They are not making any money on the stuff, but they will still be there at the next auction driving prices up. Case in point, my husband got outbid at a "real" auction a while back. The item showed up on eBay a few days later. My husband had the high bid on it (on eBay) until the very end when a sniper came in. End result was still far less than the seller paid for the item.
posted on May 29, 2001 08:01:07 AM new
Antique Roadshow and all the other misc. show on HGTV etc. also have contributed to this. The shows also never seen to stress condition and how that can impact price. Nor the fact that you actually need a buyer to plunk down the cash.
robinsnest: Do you think this trend will continue?? How long can people sell at a loss??
posted on May 29, 2001 08:12:51 AM new
I attended the Illinois Knox County Scenic Drive last fall and it has become increasingly apparent to me that people who live along the Scenic Drive route are renting their yards and garages out to antique dealers for the weekend. It's a little suspect when you see professional looking portable displays, items priced at a steep markup, an electric cash register that gives receipts - on someone's front lawn? The real kicker is being charged Illinois sales tax on a yard sale purchase.
posted on May 29, 2001 08:15:26 AM new
mildreds, I agree that Antique Roadshow and its cable kin have contributed to a greater awareness of antiques and collectibles, resulting in people either asking too much or simply withholding things from the market altogether. But I disagree that they don't stress the condition on AR. Many times they will tell a person, "well, this would normally go for $X, but because of this wear or this damage, it's only worth about $Y." Most of the appraisers are actually pretty good about pointing out the relationship between condition and value, which is something that needs to be drilled into the heads of buyers and sellers and of all types.
posted on May 29, 2001 08:16:56 AM new
I buy my merchandise exclusively at auctions...and rarely sell at a loss. Sometimes I misjudge the price an item will sell at, but not often...most times I make a profit on the items.
There are still bargains to be found at auctions Don't know about garage sales since I don't shop them.
Question on that city wide garage sale...were the sellers selling the items? If so, they weren't overpriced or overvalued....they were just to high to resell on ebay.
posted on May 29, 2001 08:20:07 AM new
mildreds: It has already lasted longer than we thought. We figured it would slow down this year, but it has not. Maybe next year?
We TRY and buy at around 40-50% of what we think we can make. Anything more than that and we are working for peanuts. The trouble is, we are dealing with a lot of sellers who don't seem to care if they make only a few bucks, if any, profit. Considering all the work that goes into each and every item (pictures, descriptions, bookkeeping,packing etc...) We do try and be careful what we spend. If only other local sellers would do the same ::: sigh :::
posted on May 29, 2001 08:49:17 AM new
There was a garage sale that started on Sunday and advertized Jewelry, I can't resist jewelry, so I tried to get up and out early but didn't get there until after 9am. Nobody there and no jewelry, I said that your add said jewelry and she said I forgot to put it out. She went inside and got this small box said everything was a dollar apiece and I picked out what I wanted
and of course she said these items are going to be a little higher because they belonged to her grandmother. Well to make a long story short for $5.00 each I got a amethist
10K ring, just beautiful, The stone is about 1 inch long and just a georgous setting and then a gold locket about the size of a pocket watch. Luck was on my side that day. The items were probably 80 yrs. old.
posted on May 29, 2001 08:52:57 AM new
Lucky me, not many ebayers around here! Unlucky me, this is the poorest county in the state so 80% of the goods at the yard sales belongs in the garbage.
Even without ebay they check the antique shops and think they should get as much not realizing the overhead the shop has.That makes 15% overpriced at least for resale.
So the search is on for the other 5% which is hard to find since it's a big area and gas prices are going higher and higher.
posted on May 29, 2001 09:09:13 AM new
Some things are pretty high here also. I've found that one thing to do is not be the first one there all the time. I've taken a much more laid-back approach lately.
This weekend, I caught a sale on the second day, and got a couple of items for $25 that a friend/friendly competitor/mentor passed on the day before because they were priced at $60.
The pickin's were slim this weekend which is a total turn around from last year when we were tripping over sales on Mem Day Wknd. But I still got my (small) truck full with some good deals.
posted on May 29, 2001 09:26:38 AM new
To reply to an earlier question, the sellers were NOT selling, as far as I could see. To separate the items into "for eBay resale" and "for household use" - the eBay resale items were WAY overpriced. For example, you know those proliferate Fire King white milk glass vases with the raised polka dots and fluted edge - y'know, the ones you see about every five yard sales or so! -- were priced at $15.00 average all throughout the day. For household items, say, ice cube trays - were priced at $2.00 (for used ones!) so in general one or two homes had cheap prices but all others were way too high for my blood, and casual garage salers were out of luck, too. There was ONE fabulous sale, one of the first I attended, where they had tons of high quality stuff at very reasonable prices. Just missed a queen sized down feather duvet - pristine condition - for $10.00!!! Darn, a lady sneaked in ahead of me and snagged it. Still it was a pleasure seeing what terrific items she had and rooting through them all. All books 5 cents, that type of thing.
posted on May 29, 2001 09:33:47 AM new
Basically, here in SW OHIO, we have 2 extremes in Garage Sales.
The first one is the garage sale where the people are trying to make their first million in 2 days, they've checked ebay for pricing ideas and they mark everything at 50% of retail - no matter how bad it is.
The other extreme garage sale holder puts crap out on their lawn that you would be embarrassed to set out on your town's Big Trash Pick Up day. There is no amount of money worth taking this junk and most buyers don't even bother looking at the prices cause you're just not interested.
Some prices:
Very hard to find a paper back under $1.00 here. Hardback books are priced anywhere from $3-$5. VHS tapes(used, used, used) priced at $5 minimum - heck, Blockbuster sells used tapes cheaper than this!
Name Brand baby clothes are so pricey you might as well buy new.
Vintage/Antiques are impossible to find and most items labeled as such are from the 80's at the earliesy.
I very rarely buy to resale any more. I usually just pick up items for myself, my garden,etc.
The good old days of fun pricing at garage sales is over. At least, here, anyways.
posted on May 29, 2001 09:51:40 AM new
Garage sales still have great bargains. I look for old cabinet & furniture hardware at rural sales only.
I have seen some very good buys on pottery & glass at rural sales. (Have bought most of my Greentown glass at rural sales & still do.)
I also like Country Store auctions & Farm auctions. Lots of glass, pottery, old hardware, furniture, cast iron & the list goes on, at this type of auctions.
posted on May 29, 2001 09:57:00 AM new
I haven't been to a garage sale or a flea market since I moved to the East Coast. I have been collecting "treasures" for years. Last year I starting selling my personal items. I was making a nice extra income. Because of my success I was offered a job doing the same thing except I work for a company.
When I talk to friends from home, it seems like everyone is a Ebay seller now and good stuff is hard to come by now.
posted on May 29, 2001 10:04:28 AM new
Just back from Florida, seems everyone is an Ebayer these days, whether it is a shop, flea market or yard sale. Same prices as they compare. Same for here in TN, where in my area books are getting scarce, as people sell online or take them to a very large store here for resell...who also sells on Half and has the prices exactly the same. Even the thrift shops are picked over before it hits the floor.
posted on May 29, 2001 10:52:44 AM new
I haven't been to any garage sales yet, but I attend a weekly auction. Sometimes there is some good stuff and sometimes there isn't. If it is for me, of course, I will bid more. Since I have been attending these sales, I have gotten a little more fussy about what I bid on. I have lots of 'stuff' in my basement waiting for my garage sale. Most of it is decent and is collectible, but it wasn't anything people on-line wanted to bid on. Except for a few things (knock on wood) I was been successful in turning a respectable profit. The only time I really lose out is when I get something for a low price and try to make too much of a profit...and then it doesn't sell. I have to remember two things: 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing, and if I sell 200 items a month and make a 5$ profit on each, that is $1000. not too shabby for a part-time seller.
posted on May 29, 2001 11:11:58 AM new
I can still do okay at garage and estate sales, and I even find much of my best stuff right ON eBay! Why? Because the "wannabes" haven't invested in reference books, don't continually study up on their items, and often don't know what they have -- so while a little knowledge may be power, a lot of knowledge is more so!
I have been to local estate sales where items in my field (vintage jewelry) are often way overpriced. But even at those sales I can often find some real "steals" -- the unsigned designer pieces that go unrecognized to the unschooled, the fabulous piece that is hiding under layers of grime that no one has bothered to clean up, the ordinary-looking item that is actually highly collectible but the Estate Sale Mavens are clueless.
posted on May 29, 2001 11:54:47 AM new
holdenrex: Yes, you are right, they do mention condtion, the trouble is no one pays attention. I have a shop and many times people will call about bringing something in. I tell them it has to be in mint condition. "Oh yes, it is perfect", they bring it in and it has chips, crack, stains, etc, etc,.
posted on May 29, 2001 12:20:03 PM new
I have yet to see one of the pro-looking garage sales (e.g. electronic cash register) in my area, which is pretty thoroughly middle class, and the prices are still the typical quarter to a couple bucks for the typical "junk" (so to speak).
I'd guess one thing that many of the high-priced garage sellers seem to miss in all the eBay/Antiques Roadshow talk, aside from condition, is simple audience size. eBay has millions of users, hundreds of thousands or more of which are actively checking for things in any one week, whereas any typical garage sale would be happy to have more than one or two hundred visitors on a weekend, less if they are not on a major highway or working in a group.
On the last point, I've noticed the residents of several townships in my county have started banding together in large town garage sales of 30-60 sellers, a different town every few weeks, making maps and advertising, yet still selling at classic rummage/garage sale prices). Maybe this isn't a new trend to everyone else, but this year was the first I ran into this.
There is at least some backflow from eBay. I only started becoming a regular antique stores visitor and sometimes garage sale visitor after eBay demonstrated there is a lot more stuff of interest for the finding than I had realized. But I guess that this is what the higher-priced garage sales (and maybe the antiques stores too) are looking for.
----
What's being done in the name of direct marketing nowadays is crazy.
The above are all just my opinions, except where I cite facts as such.
Oh, I am not dc9a320 anywhere except AW. Any others are not me.
Is eBay is changing from a world bazaar into a bizarre world?
posted on May 29, 2001 01:51:17 PM new
I've been noticing this trend in garage sales and RL auctions for at least a couple of years (I've been on eBay since 1997) and it gets worse every year.
I used to be able to pick up a whole box of old books at a RL auction for a buck or two... the last auction I went to they were going for $25 and up. I've also noticed (although I'm not sure this is eBay related) that auctioneers aren't selling as many 'lots' any more - everything is sold individually or 'choice'.
I have occasional good luck at garage sales, but there doesn't seem to be a lot of good collectible stuff being offered any more, or else it's in such bad condition they'd have to pay me to take it away
Of course, even the bad-condition stuff is still tagged at book value LOL!
posted on May 29, 2001 02:26:46 PM new
I NEVER go looking for garage or yard sales. If I can see the sale from the highway or street as I drive by I'll stop if I have the time. Maybe. I very, very ocasionally find something in the antique and collectible line that is worth buying, but 99.999% of what is for sale is crap. There was overpriced junk at B&M auctions, yard sales, flea markets, antique malls, antique shops and antique shows before there was eBay and AR. Uninformed and/or dishonest sellers looking for a sucker.
posted on May 29, 2001 05:59:02 PM new
I was telling everybody on auction watch to quit telling people about ebay LAST year. I had to change my modus operandise about 8 months ago.
For 2 years I sold mostly vintage computers, parts, and software on eBay. (I'm an old hacker that started programing in 1974, should have went to microsoft ) I was finding this stuff dirt cheap, and turning it at 1,000% - 20,000 % profit margins. I would spend 2 days a week on the road hitting every thrift store, second hand shop, yard sale, flea market and computer store within 300 miles of my house. (one week I would go east... Next week, south, etc. Never went West, as this would put me in the Gulf of Mexico... I would come home with a station wagon full of good stuff.
It was real good for 2 years, but the stuff started getting harder to find, and I started doing some of my local (ie boating related) stuff on ebay, and do ok with it.
I've stopped doing the "vintage computer" stuff except when I just happen to come across a good peice, because I can't FIND enough of it any more to justify the time it takes to go out looking for it.
