posted on March 1, 2004 10:02:46 AM
Another reason for "restricting" or managing attendance is because some sales sites (condos, places with limited parking, gated communities, etc.) cannot just allow swarms of people in. These types of sales will have you make an appointment or give you a specified time to come. The handing out of numbers is to keep long lines of people from standing on the lawn (again, usually in the tonier neighborhoods), and to manage the flow of crowds into the house (for security purposes). Again, this all varies by selling team/area.
I assume the reason for wanting to shop these sales is to find merchandise to resell on eBay. And those who suggest over-the-counter remedies might try getting their own heads out of the affected area.
posted on March 1, 2004 11:26:48 AMThere is one person I know that holds them for people. She said the reason she slways advertises them as "Estate Sales" rather than rummage sales or garage sales is get a higher price for items.
Please tell her to reconsider. There is nothing stopping anyone from taking her signs down. In fact, where I live having garage sale signs on utility poles is against the law.
I went to an "estate sale" once where I spent 20 minutes pawing through boxes of junk to emerge with one vintage (not even antique) teapot Christmas ornament. Went to pay for it and the lady said, "Oh, we're not selling that. It's a family heirloom, part of a set" and took it from me.
I went around the neighborhood and took down all their signs.
"It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."
posted on March 1, 2004 12:13:50 PM
To answer a few questions, the shop is called Shag, and is located at 1422 NE Alberta in the Alberta Arts District. We do a little of everything, except antiques. Our focus is mainly furniture from the 50's - 70's, along with records, games, barware, lamps, pyrex, etc. We also are now selling functional art (tables, coatracks, clocks, etc) along with traditional artwork from local artists. I just started selling on ebay some of the things we have here in the store, though my other business focuses on apparel.
I believe there was a comment about this not being about ebay, which I also see that the original poster answered.
And finally, regarding me being a dealer who ruins it for collectors... I would completely disagree with you on that one. If I was ruining it for collectors, I wouldn't be sharing my experience on this board, and I wouldn't be giving tips to succeeding in Estates. Everyone has a right to buy and sell items on an open market. There are many venues that we use to buy-sell-trade-collect, and we all have a right to participate. Many, if not most dealers are also collectors. We are one of the pieces of the pie when it comes to collecting. Value is often created by dealers and resellers. That statement is really only meant to attack what someone does for a living. Those who use Vendio and Ebay to sell are no different than myself. If it wasn't for dealers, many people would never find what they are looking for. I suppose your neighborhood grocery store ruins it for the neighborhood consumers. They serve as a local venue to purchase goods so that we don't have to drive to the shipyards or farms to pick up our groceries. Keep in mind that many "collectors" don't shop at Estate Sales. They don't care to wake up at 7am and be part of the hunt. My shop mainly serves as a venue for our neighbors to find furniture and housewares that fit within the older homes in the area. I would say that perhaps 10% are true vintage collectors, whereas the rest are casual shoppers.
posted on March 1, 2004 12:29:32 PM
I might also add that many collectors who go to estate sales get the same good deals on antiques and collectibles as do the dealers. There is no favoritism when it comes to purchasing items at an Estate Sale. If you want to be first in line, then get their early. You'll be there waiting like other dealers and collectors. You may even learn a thing or two when you get up that early.
posted on March 1, 2004 03:05:08 PM
In my area Estate Sales are a waste of time as they seem to be controlled by one or two brokers who handle the transactions for the family. Better off looking at garage sales in more affluent areas.
Friends don't let friends vote Republican!
posted on March 2, 2004 02:52:43 AM
They can be great or NOT.
Once spent $400 at one on a ton of stuff. The first thing I sold was a $5.00 deck of playing card - It sold for $375.00 - it was all uphill from there. Never really added it up but I bet it was over a $1000 in profit.
Then the other day I sold a vase I got for a discount of $65.00 at an estate sales. After 3 listing I let it go for $25. Win some and lose some.
But boy are they great fun.
posted on March 2, 2004 06:15:04 AM
In my oh so humble opinion advertised Estate Sales are 98% Glorified Garage Sales.
The other 2% are usually overpriced Glorified Garage Sales being run by dealers.
[ edited by getkicksonrte66 on Mar 2, 2004 06:19 AM ]
posted on March 2, 2004 06:47:00 PM
Maybe worth noting, if you go to estate sales. My late father had 7 kits for building wooden ships from "Marine Model" of Halesite, NY, from 1948, when he had a mail order hobby supply business. With time, the box covers had gotten sort of dusty/sooty, the cardboard ends were split - but the kits inside looked great. They went like gangbusters on eBay - the range was $71 to $152.50.
The kits that were being made in the 1940's had big solid wood hulls. Later on, the wood for the hulls became too expensive - these days, most kits have plastic hulls. Also, my father's kits were "complete with fittings" - the brass portholes and silver anchors and so on. During WW II, the kits were being made "without" because of a critical shortage of metals.
My mother was going to throw the kits out because the boxes looked old and dirty. But the only thing wrong with them was the box covers.
It's the kind of thing where if you saw those - and you weren't a shipbuilder - you might easily pass over them.
Also, with the model railroading books, the big "Cyclopedia" books from Simmons-Boardman have done well.
Interesting, but a lot of my father's collectibles have gotten eager bidding from other parts of the country, including the West Coast. I'm in NYC, and my father lived in NJ, but I guess a lot of these hobbies are bigger elsewhere, where people have more time and space for them.
But keep an eye out for shipbuilding kits from that era - there were 3 other major companies at the time. The shipbuilders really love those, and they must be around. I've seen other people on eBay offering kits from "Marine Model."
PS ...I wish my father had kept more. When an auction has 17 bids, it's a lot of fun.
I'm sorry I wasn't an eBay person earlier so he could have seen the auctions. He would have loved it
