posted on April 22, 2001 02:22:31 PM new
Hey. Horse people and book people have couth.
BTW...I spent some time in Lebanon...shopped the Souk. I was informed later, how deeply I had offended some of the sellers there by not haggling. I found out one of them cursed me...! Who knew?
posted on April 22, 2001 02:29:30 PM newHey. Horse people and book people have couth
Right ON!
After you've faced down 1200 pounds of angy horseflesh who woke up on the wrong side of the stall & is determined there is NO WAY you are going to put that saddle on HIS back, it's nothing to take out an overweight big haired woman at a garage sale.
posted on April 22, 2001 02:32:14 PM new
I'm not sure what these rude people are succeeding at. They are paying a heavy price in the satisfaction of their life, running around like maniacs. I'd just as well pay full price if that means I can stroll at my own pleasure, and not having rude people sworm me.
I've done well with my purchases at rummage sales without resorting to rudeness. I wait until the crowd dies down, then head in and grab all my "steals" and normally no one has a clue that the items I am holding are worth a small fortune while they are fighting over some worthless item.
posted on April 22, 2001 02:39:58 PM new
You folks have inspired me to dust off and revise my short story---heck, I might even write it as a movie script. Tell me now if you don't want to be a character in it. Not that it will stop me. I just want to know to whom to send fruit baskets when it sells.
posted on April 22, 2001 02:47:24 PM new
LOL, eventer!
Thank god I didn't know she'd cursed me 'til later...I got in enough trouble over there. Remember hot pants? Well, I made the grievous error of wearing them to the movies. I'll spare you the truly gruesome details...
As for horses...they pitied me and were kind... My hard-ass instructor's warmblood...who couldn't be bridled without some serious discipline...put his head down for me.
posted on April 22, 2001 02:57:23 PM new
I am sorry but if someone ripped something out of my hand I would proceed to smack them in the face with my fist until I felt better. It might take awhile. That is what they have reconstructive surgeons for.
posted on April 22, 2001 03:08:21 PM new
Gravid: you are definitely in the movie. I hope Clint Eastwood is available to play your part. I can't stop laughing at the image your comment brought to mind!
posted on April 22, 2001 03:50:08 PM new
Brighed! I just found this thread and was charging to the bottom to speak up for you.... then I found your new post. You can take care of yourself! and you said it 10X better than I would have been able to! BRAVO!
I am so very sick of those expounding on how "we" oppress women, "we" neglect children, "we" are prejudiced, "we" ruined the oceans and invented fluffy white bread. Some folks see a soapbox when it was only a steppingstone.
posted on April 22, 2001 05:08:10 PM new
Wow, this was great - and I'm happy to see I'm not alone in how I perceive these folks.
To those who talked about confronting the person: I might in some cases, but in this case, I had gotten there first, and had gotten the best the table had to offer, so I let this one pass.
gravid, I never smack anyone smaller or stupider than I. This woman must have fallen into one of those categories.
julesY, I am thinking of adding new items to the things I sell, but my love is collectibles and just plain weird stuff! (Know anywhere I can sell an antique moth exterminator?)
spazmodeus, I'm like you in the temper department. Once I get going, it's hard to shut the floodgates. I'd have ranted at the stoopid *itch, probably ending with something about her parents being related before they were married, and I'd have come off looking like the bad guy/person.
ashlandtrader, if you'd have seen her face, you'd have known she knew exactly what she was doing.
neeceebaby, I'll probably put them down for next weekend (since I partied in my 46th last night and am too tired to list much this week), but I've taken down your email address. I love chenille also, but my love is the bath sets - is that you driving up the prices on eBay lately? lol
brighid868, I can totally relate to your story. A kind of upscale friend of mine tried a yardsale where she was selling mostly pristine Oshkoshb'gosh ( sp? ) clothes at $1 per. When someone in an older car would come up, she would sometimes throw in extra stuff for them. She said she was getting so pissed at the women in the BMW's asking her to lower her prices to 50c that she finally looked at one of them about 2 hours into the sale, and said, "Yardsale over - I'd rather give them to charity than give them to rich people!" Might be the shortest yardsale in history.
kathyg, I'm a strong believer in karma also. Problem is that when it hits the person who wronged us, we're rarely there to see it! Rats.
to the poster who mentioned "large women with big hair," (I can't find the post right this second), well I laughed... then looked in the mirror, and thought, "Well, I have straight hippie hair, but is that my ass that's now the size of Montana?"
I've loved these posts, and they've given me a bit of incentive to keep the behavior bar high at these things. We will prevail!
Happy yardsaling folks - don't let the buttheads get you down!
posted on April 22, 2001 07:33:19 PM new
One day I was walking through a flea market when I spotted a bowl I had always wanted. I rushed over to the table to get a better look. It was perfect and I was ready to buy it, when out of nowhere two women pushed me aside and started shouting it was theirs! Luckily for me, the dealer saw what happened and told the two women to get lost.
Now, I act real cool when I see something I want. I do not get excited about.
posted on April 22, 2001 07:47:41 PM new
popnrock:
>Now, I act real cool when I see something I want. I do not get excited about.
Heaven's no. Either it's it's such a good deal you just pay for and leave before you laugh, or you have to act like you are going to walk away if they don't drop the price. Very little of what I buy for re-sale do I pay what I would consider a "fair wholesale price". It's either so cheap I can't hardly keep a straight face, or I have to haggle, and end up paying a little more more than I really wanted to. (Not to much more, I'm not into losing money, or breaking even for that matter.)
posted on April 23, 2001 06:38:43 AM new
Last year at a neighbor's garage sale, there was a woman royally pissed at me (and she let me know it verbally, too) because I was standing at a table full of books and after I'd pick up a book, turn it all around to judge condition, scan the dust jacket for content, and then give it to my husband to take over and put it in a pile next to the neighbor to pay for them on the way out. Now, I did nothing to prevent this woman from also looking through the books on the table. I didn't need to get every book, I didn't care how many books I got out of what was available. But she was just standing there watching me take just about every book I picked up (well, they were all in great shape and had saleable content IMO) and she felt that I should just stop taking all the books and let her have some! Well, after she chewed me out, I told her calmly that I wasn't preventing her from looking through them, she was more than welcome. She glared at me and proceeded to start looking, but couldn't seem to find anything she wanted anyway. There were still a ton of books to go through and she just about walked away empty-handed, while I still kept finding more I wanted after she'd walked away.
So you don't even have to be rude to be accused of being rude, you just have to be there taking something that they haven't looked at yet! http://bjgrolle.freehomepage.com
posted on April 23, 2001 07:12:17 AM new
I am *SO* enjoying this thread! I believe I've been to almost all of the sales mentioned so far!
I just thought I would mention about one estate sale I went to in the small town of my upbringing (pop 5000 or so). We lined up outside of the condo, about 20 people or so. Some small talk here and there but we were clearly intent on the activity we could spy through the windows. About 10 min before the sale was to start, a dealer walked out with his arms full of good looking stuff. A groan went up from the growing crowd. The doors opened on time and we all slowly filed in. Thirty people in a small 2 bedroom condo. We were bumping elbows here and there, and do you know what??? Everyone was saying "Excuse me, so sorry... " !! An elderly woman wanted something from a shelf, a younger man chivalrously interrupted his browsing and took it down for her. People were actually stepping aside to let someone else look at a table of glassware!! It was the strangest thing I had ever seen. And probably the nicest sale I had ever been to. I picked up about 30.00 worth of stuff and turned it into about 150.00 worth of stuff, so it was all in all a very good sale!
My point is, NO ONE should have to be rude. There are plenty of bargains to fit every taste. Every one of those shoppers that day walked out with a box of goodies, there was no stress and no hassles! *sigh* I just wish every sale could be so nice!
posted on April 23, 2001 08:27:28 AM new
I just plan my yard sale strategy to avoid the rude people. I've noticed that most rude buyers are encountered at the first sale of the morning - almost always when it's a sale that has a listing promising many fabulous antiques. So I almost always put those sales at the bottom of my "hit list" (I also find that most yard sale sellers who list "antiques" tend to have them at too high a price for me to resell anyway). While the antique dealers are busy scratching out each other's eyes at those sale, I'm zipping around the other sales, picking up resale items at dirt-cheap prices with a minimum of competition. I've picked up some terrific resale stuff at yard sales that didn't look at all promising in the classified listings.
Also, I know a lot of people say that yard sales are picked over by 10:00 but that's not always so! By about 9:30, most of the dealers around here are making tracks to the local estate auctions. That means that they haven't had time to hit all the yard sales, especially during the summer. And when the heat and humidity start setting in, a little persistance (and a lot of sweat) can pay off as the competition turns tail for the air conditioned auction houses. I've picked up items that have sold for $100+ well into the afternoon. Be kind to each other and let's be careful out there!
posted on April 23, 2001 09:34:41 AM new
No, you don't have to be rude. Two weekends ago I went to a yard sale and spotted a much longed for wish: an antique Featherweight sewing machine. They "go" for a lot on eBay (between $300 and $650) so we aren't talking cheap.
Asking price was $75, but I had no money with me. I told him how beautiful the machine was, acknowledged that it was worth the price he was asking, but pleaded with him to sell it to me -- I'm a stitcher, and have wanted a small machine for ages.
Anyway, he agreed to my offer ($50) because he knows I'm keeping it. It wasn't just the money, it was for him (so said his wife when I returned with the moolah) knowing that his Mother's treasured machine (she bought it in 1945) would be used and loved.
So, rudeness doesn't pay. I'm sure if I had said "it's old and icky" I'd not own this little beauty.
When I've done yard sales the folks who genuinely want things and ask NICELY get rewarded. Organic Life Forms who denigrate my things aren't going to get the sort of price reduction (none as a matter of fact) that others will. And kidlets are always offered an activity -- we buy colored chalk which they can use to draw pictures and on the sidewalk. It keeps 'em occupied, and allows mom to shop longer/ spend more!
Anyway, enough rambling. I'm ever so grateful to the gent who sold me his mom's sewing machine. This is one machine that we (the Kidlet and I) will use and love for a long time!
posted on April 23, 2001 09:53:59 AM newjanice142 - I like the chalk idea, thanks for posting it! My parents just closed down their video store and I will be helping them to sell several thousand videos at a garage sale in a couple of months (whenever we get everything ready) so that tip will come in handy.
posted on April 23, 2001 10:35:06 AM newjanice142, some might say that offering $50 for a $350 sewing machine is rude, whether such offer was made with a smile or not...
posted on April 23, 2001 10:53:00 AM new
Fountainhouse... I disagree. IF I were purchasing for resale especially knowing the eBay "value", THEN to offer less than his asking price would have been... well, um, not polite.
I cannot afford a Featherweight. Well, that's not exactly true. I have a 1951 feather which I cannot afford to repair. This one I'll TREASURE -- it's the last gift my Daddy bought for me. It's special because of that, and because this machine was well-loved by the owner's Mother. And, if he had chosen not to sell it to me for $50, I would have accepted that an another person could have bought it.
Life is not all about taking advantage of people. I'd like to think I didn't take advantage of the gentleman. Yes, eBay value is much higher, however this item will never see the auction block. If my life were judged by it's acquisition of cash, I would be sorely lacking. However, in the coming years many times I will celebrate the generousity of the gent on Sombrero Isle who knew how very much I wanted this unit and agreed to sell it for what I could afford(and yes, the money came from Daddy's wallet)....
posted on April 23, 2001 11:05:09 AM new
I am just wondering what the guy would have done if another buyer would have offered $100 or $150 for his mother's treasured machine while janice142 was running off to get her $50.
posted on April 23, 2001 11:32:10 AM new
Last summer I was at a flea market where some #%$*@! beat me to a stack of Silver Age romance comics by about five minutes. They looked to be in excellent shape, and some primo titles. They were marked $2 each -- which is very cheap, seemed to me they could easily be sold for 4 or 5 times as much, some possibly for much more than that. All I could do was hang behind him, looking discreetly over his shoulder, and wait till he was done picking through them, to hopefully pick up a few of the leftovers - of which there were none when he was through. But then I heard him dickering with the woman who owned them - would she take $10 for the whole stack (working out to about 50 cents apiece)?? They went back and forth a bit and she finally agreed.
I was hugely tempted to step up and say, "I'll give you four bucks apiece for them" if for no other reason than to see his reaction, to see if he would do a sudden about-face and try to "outbid" me. But it seemed like that would be rude, so I let it go. Then spent the rest of the sale (and I guess most of this past year) kicking myself for not being more aggressive about it.
posted on April 23, 2001 12:04:49 PM new
"IF I were purchasing for resale especially knowing the eBay `value', THEN to offer less than his asking price would have been... well, um, not polite."
Oh yeah, let's have another riff on you-evil-dealers. Haven't heard that one in, oh, thirty minutes at least.
The interesting thing about selling new goods, which is what I mainly do now, is that people can't figure out how to demonize me for it. I buy my goods from a willing seller for a price I've determined to be fair, and I sell them to willing buyers at a (higher) price they've determined to be fair.
Oh. Wait a minute. That's what antique dealers do, too. Never mind.
posted on April 23, 2001 12:10:25 PM new
My husband and I were at a craft show and one of the crafters was selling home made quilts. There was the most beautiful aqua/rose/white king size quilt that I had ever seen and the colors were perfect for our bedroom. I wanted that quilt, but we were second in line and stood quietly behind the couple in front of us for a long time while they looked at every quilt there. They finially decided on the quilt I wanted and offered the crafter a hundred dollars less than he was asking. He said no, he couldn't take less, and the couple keep badgering him. Finially my husband (who is not a patient person) said in a loud voice, "Sir, we will pay you the full $850.00 you are asking for the quilt". The crafter said "excuse me please" to the couple in front of us, and sold the quilt to my husband and I.
The person in charge is the person with the goods.
posted on April 23, 2001 12:48:24 PM new
Bettylou.
"Oh yeah, let's have another riff on you-evil-dealers. Haven't heard that one in, oh, thirty minutes at least."
I meant no offense, to you or to any dealer. Just because YOU can do what I cannot does not make any difference in the world. Every one of us must decide for ourselves what constitutes proper behavior, and many things play into that: venue, the circumstances of the sale, etc.
At a charity benefit sale I'm more apt to pay *above* the asking price than at a yard sale. An estate sale with over-priced goods would certainly see more realistic offers from me rather than the asking price. I think we we all have ideas of value and worth, and each of us makes these decisions on the basis of our own individual value system.
Each of us must decide how we wish to treat others. At this particular yard sale (where I bought my sewing machine) I feel comfortable with my offer. Yes, he could have gotten more, however he CHOSE to honor me by allowing his Mother's machine to go to a good home. It wasn't about money -- it was about how valued this old machine would be by the new owner.
Maybe I am too sentimental. I keep many things that have no monetary worth, but I like them. Haven't you ever given something away just because the person loved it? I have, and I believe most folks have done so too. It's not about what we could "get" for it at auction -- it's about how much the new owner would love it.
Bargaining in and of itself is not a bad thing -- it IS something that bothers me though, in *some* respects. It's from an old saying that says something to the effect of "don't bargain with a man's price, because you will get what you pay for." It's an old family saying, and has to do more with work provided than items sold. (shrugs)
Anyway, I am generally uncomfortable stating prices, though I can ask "what will you take?" quite easily. By Sunday noonish (I wasn't there at the crack of dawn on Saturday!) we both won -- the gent had $50, and I have a gift that will be treasured for a long time. Daddy left us on Tuesday, so this is essentially his parting gift to me.
Hope this clarifies things and please know that just because you can do what I cannot means little in the total scheme of things. I'm comfortable with myself and hope you understand that I wasn't attacking you OR anyone else. Professional dealers are great at ferreting out really interesting items, and I always enjoy perusing......
posted on April 23, 2001 01:53:06 PM new
IMO (ya, I know... everybody has one), the definition of "rude" is to interrupt a buyer and seller who are dickering over an item to make an offer of your own. It may even be detrimental to your well being- I have seen people nearly come to blows over such a situation.
You don't think that prospective buyer ahead of you is being fair in his offer to the seller? Trade places with him, and tell us how you would feel to have an item you were in the process of attempting to work out a deal on sold out from under you.
Just because you want something, doesn't make it right to use an "anything goes" approach. There's a saying about treating others as you would have them treat you... maybe you've heard of it?
posted on April 23, 2001 01:58:05 PM new
Given the number of actual views each of our auctions receives in a one week listing, I find the quarter more than worth the marketing value received. It's all about exposure and getting your name out there! I'll gladly fork over the extra fee.
