mapledr1216
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posted on March 23, 2001 06:49:04 AM
Here in NE Ohio, yard/garage/estate sales are just starting up and I'm already discouraged.
I went to a sale yesterday morning and this morning. Both stated "NO EARLY SALES" in their ads. I foolishly arrived at yesterday's sale only 7 minutes early and was greeted by folks already loading their cars with their purchases. Today's sale started at 9:00. I arrived at 8:30 only to find SOLD signs on most of the nice furniture and the smalls already picked through.
I certainly hope my entire garage sale season doen't go like this! I don't know why these people bother paying for those three extra words in their classified ads!
Anyone else having this problem?
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jayadiaz
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posted on March 23, 2001 07:13:09 AM
It happens in Connecticut too. People get intimidated by dealers knocking on their door at 5 in the morning. Sometimes they start getting calls the night before and they just give up. But it does upset me as I try to respect peoples rules. But some dealers are very "assertive". Then there are those that stick to it to the minute.
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busybiddy
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posted on March 23, 2001 08:05:39 AM
[ edited by busybiddy on Mar 23, 2001 11:33 AM ]
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nanastuff
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posted on March 23, 2001 08:59:47 AM
busybiddy....just curious? Do you sell on Ebay?
OPPPPPSSSSSS......yes you are....can you spell DEALER>>??
[ edited by nanastuff on Mar 23, 2001 09:02 AM ]
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reddeer
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posted on March 23, 2001 09:06:22 AM
Sounds like fellow dealer sour grapes to me?
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shaani
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posted on March 23, 2001 09:10:38 AM
Anyone who resells can be considered a dealer. When my husband and I used to run to lots of yard sales we always liked the signs that said "No Dealers". So as we walked up the driveway we would sing really quiet "Here come the dealers, here come the dealers". 
How would they know we were dealers? It wasn't like we were wearing "dealer" signs on our shirts! In fact we never argued prices, didn't push or shove or bang on doors really early. Maybe we stood out because we were so polite?
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nanastuff
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posted on March 23, 2001 09:20:55 AM
shaani..LMAO I have seen that also...too funny.
Yes I am a dealer and one or two times a year I have a garage sale. I welcome early birds!! I also put that in the adv. in the paper. Now tell me I am stupid, but to me a garage sale is to get rid of crap around the house that you don't want anymore and just might want to make a buck (not a fortune) on it and really don't care what it is. OR.....if you are a "dealer" then you get rid of the crap that didn't sell and you have made profit on other "stuff"...
Now as far as GS that say NO EARLY SALES....there was a law suit in my town in Ohio and the potential buyer won!...because of what was advertised in paper and was sold early. There is where you have to be careful....WHEW...sorry so long.
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shaani
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posted on March 23, 2001 09:49:20 AM
Hi nanastuff,
I am just tired of "dealers" always getting the bad rap when many people don't seem to realize that they are doing the very same thing a dealer is doing.
I agree that there are good dealers as well as some bad ones. Many times a year we are invited over to yard sales the day before because the people tell us that they know we will pay more than the general public. They also bring items into our shop first instead of putting them on the yard sale.
I still love the feeling of standing in their garage or house and looking at all the goodies and there is NO competition. But you have to earn the reputation of treating people fairly.
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nanastuff
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posted on March 23, 2001 10:14:13 AM
shaani..well many of us don't own a "shop"...
"I still love the feeling of standing in their garage or house and looking at all the goodies and there is NO competition." So you are saying that the gs ppl let you in early to look at the goodies because you have a shop?? If that is the case, then you are a step up on the rest of us "dealers" lol....good for you. All is fair in love and war....and that is the point of the originator of this thread.
Yes, mapledr1216...."The early bird catches the worm"?? YEP..you bet!
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mrssantaclaus
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posted on March 23, 2001 10:47:24 AM
I got it figured out. I sleep in, arrive late - no parking hassles - and all I get is the bargains (oh, and the stuff they forgot to put out at first.)
Keeps me happy - AND I bring home a whole lot less "stuff"!
To avoid early sales at your garage sale:
Get ready early the day before, then black out the windows of your garage AND shut the door. Only open it at your planned starting time.
After my last fiasco, I now donate all excess stuff!
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noteye
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posted on March 23, 2001 10:53:41 AM
In my area of the world - NO EARLY SALES - means "I do not have the gumption to tell you NO! so, please, please don't come a knockin' 'cause I could never tell you NO! and will most likely let you purchase things before the sale actually starts".
So, it's like a RED FLAG - get there as soon as you can - the night before if possible.
noteye
My thoughts on this issue have gone 'Un-Surveyed' and may not be of importance to the P.T.B.
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jayadiaz
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posted on March 23, 2001 11:00:37 AM
Around here the notices get longer; "ABSOLUTELY NO EARLY BIRDS WILL LEAVE DOG LOOSE UNTIL 9 AM". Personally it cracks me up how everybody pretends they're all friendly, and they'd cut each other's throat to get the first number. I was thinking; I'd have a garage sale, let anybody who calls in the days before (without having a number in the ad) in, take their picture don't let them buy anything, and then by morning I can have their pictures posted on the garage door as those who secretly tried to beat out their friends.
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shaani
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posted on March 23, 2001 11:04:29 AM
Hi again nanastuff,
I guess what I am trying to say is that when word leaks out (and it usually does) that a "dealer" has been at the sale first people automatically assume that the nasty dealer was pushy and got there first. At times dealers are given a special invite before the sale and were probably unaware that there was even going to be a sale.
This happens to us for a variety of reasons. Sometimes people think they have a valuable antique worth a fortune and before putting it on a yard sale they want to know what a dealer will offer. Many times their expectations are so unreal that we never buy anything. Other times we have been recommended by their relatives or friends. Usually we had no idea that there was ever going to be a sale.
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nanastuff
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posted on March 23, 2001 11:21:07 AM
mrssantaclaus...couldn't agree with you more if I tried! Amazing what is stuck under the tables!! lol
shaani...yes, been there done that..it is what I meant about garage sales. People think they have something wonderful and usually what is old to them (and it probably is) is worthless and if they have an item that they KNOW the history then the price is soooooo rediculous!! The garage sales where ppl. are just getting rid of their "crap" are few and far between.
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lotsafuzz
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posted on March 23, 2001 02:10:43 PM
Hmmmm.....around these parts it means: Show up early and be prepaired to pluck buckshot out of your rear-end.
My folks use to run the yearly Boy Scout garage sell (held in the Ward's parking lot....back when there still was a Wards). The stories they tell!! I was a beanie dealer and figure I can handle just about any crowd....but I will *never* hold nor attend a garage sell again!!
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mcbrunnhilde
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posted on March 23, 2001 02:47:24 PM
Maybe this is just a Southern California thing, but I have seen on MANY garage sales a sign that says "Early birds will pay double price"!!!! Personally, I would charge TRIPLE if someone knocked on my door at 5:00 a.m. to intimidate me into selling stuff!
Without eBay, I might have a real life... 
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nanastuff
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posted on March 23, 2001 05:56:02 PM
I DO go to garage sales very early, but never never have I ever knocked on anyone's door.....If the adv. says 8am, I am there at 6 and you would be surprised how many times it is already open! (shhhhh.....I sure do look in those garage windows though hehehehehe)
I, too, am in NE Ohio.
[ edited by nanastuff on Mar 23, 2001 05:56 PM ]
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nanastuff
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posted on March 23, 2001 06:04:26 PM
Okay, call me crazy, but when I have a garage sale, I not only put a time in the paper, but I also put "EARLY BIRDS VERY WELCOME"...will open early for anyone...bottom line; show me the money I don't care who you are and I want to get rid of my crap. There lol
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squinkle99
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posted on March 24, 2001 04:32:01 AM
Early Birds have always been welcome at my sales. My signs always say that I start at 7 am and I am always ready for business at 6:30 am, but I let people look as early as 6:00 am. I host the sales with my husband or brother, so there is always someone to watch the merchandise, money, etc. I LOVE early birds (that day, not the days before). I have actually gotten a reputation for welcoming them, so they come to my sale first now on their route.
My rationale is this:
I get them when they still have a pocketful of cash. My competitors get them when they have spent a good chunk of that cash at my sale! Woohoo! I'll take a customer with a full wallet over one with a thin wallet anyday! Anyone who turns away an early bird just an hour before the sale is supposed to start is turning away $! And most of those early birds usually spend a lot!
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gravid
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posted on March 24, 2001 04:43:46 AM
I held a garage sale in our last home before the condo and someone not only pounded on the door at the crack of dawn they went around behind the house and fell over our garden tools and made a racket. I finally did get up and I did turn the dog out on them. He was a 140 pound Shepard mix with God only knows what and they had a heck of a time holding him off until they got in the car. I watched from the window to make sure they were not more than he could handle. Thewn went back to bed.
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nanastuff
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posted on March 24, 2001 05:56:42 AM
squinkle99.....couldn't have said it better!
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Muriel
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posted on March 24, 2001 08:31:35 AM
I live in a subdivision in NW Ohio that surrounds a lake, and twice a year everyone has a garage sale on the same day. We always see people cruising the subdivision the night before looking to see who is setting up. It's a game to us. The whole subdivision starts at 9:00, but some people open early just for the early birds. We always get ready the day before with the garage door CLOSED, and then we get up on Saturday morning, and open the door when we're ready. If it's before 9:00, fine. If it's 9:00, that's fine too. It helps to have others participating on the same day.
[ edited by Muriel on Mar 24, 2001 08:32 AM ]
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