posted on May 29, 2001 08:30:23 AM new
I love garage sales but I hate the way some people have them. My biggest pet peeve is the one line to pay sale. They have a calculator and will add two items. Then they have to write it down or take the stickers off and have to put it on the right persons page.
Garages that smell like cats!
Smokers. Especially in an enclosed area!
Music blaring!
People that think they should price stuff like they are a real store. Then they whine because no one will buy it.
No prices on anything.
Any kind of whining by the sellers.
posted on May 29, 2001 09:08:00 AM new
I turn around and get back in the car if they are smoking.
Same if nothing is marked.
Add-
Dog loose to jump up on you.
All items in a box one price then they try to up it when you go to pay.
Kids making change who do not know how.
Stuff thrown on the driveway with nothing under it.
posted on May 29, 2001 09:37:07 AM new
Junk, junk, junk... stuff I wouldn't give to Goodwill. Tupperware w/no lids - geez. Cracked dishes, pottery, porcelain - with the price taped over the cracks.
Overpricing in general, but sometimes, if you go back the second day, you'll find some of the overpriced stuff has suddenly become reasonable.
Advertised as yard/garage sale, but really retailing their "crafts." (I wouldn't have those stupid wooden & gingham geese in my home if they were free.)
Still not set up an hour after it was supposed to start.
What I love: Avid readers cleaning out their bookshelves. Children of avid readers disposing of parents' estate. Anything weird. People who know that yardsale prices should be about 10 cents on the retail dollar. Kids selling lemonade & coffee at the fifth yardsale I've been to that day when I really need it. Paintings by unknowns. And of course, that ten cent item I find in the bottom of a box that brings me $50 on eBay!
And, hey! what about yard sales where they love to tell you what you MISSED!
I HATE THAT!
"plants? oh, we gave them away free this morning. One lady took them all."
"books? oh, there WERE 10 cents each, this ol' fella came in and loaded up his mini van this morning."
"wire fencing? oh, it ain't worth much, we have a 50' roll on the free pile.... Oh, looks like it's gone now."
"coffee cups? oh, we dropped that kind of junk at the goodwill."
posted on May 29, 2001 11:14:30 AM new
GaRaGe sAlE PeEvEs:
Signs that are a week old. Follow them for two miles or more only to find out the sale was last week.
Nothing marked with prices.
Priced book price - owner watches too much Antiques Roadshow!
New items marked antique.
Box lots that aren't. They're just things thrown in a box and when asked how much, they price each item individually.
Items that have been left out in the rain - uncovered.
Red ants!!!!!
Price stickers put over the makers mark. Couldn't peel them off if your life depended on it. Just how long were they on there?
Sellers yelling after you when you turn to leave.
Sellers hovering over you.
Sellers that put ads in the paper without phone numbers or directions, just say "at the home of Joe and Josie Jones" Right! If I knew either one, I'd know how to get there. Give us a CLUE please!!!!!
posted on May 29, 2001 03:29:15 PM new
You just reminded me of another one. Sellers that write prices on their junque with ink or marker. Or my favorite one I saw last week. A very collectible item still in its original box marked in permanent marker "Collectors Item".
posted on May 30, 2001 06:54:46 AM new
Everything thrown out on tarps and blankets on the ground and unmarked. Well, why mark it anyway? Nobody wants your old stuff that's been sitting 2 years in the garage or shed getting moldy, dirty and full of bugs!
Hey, anybody ever done the turn around in the driveway without even getting out?
posted on May 30, 2001 07:02:38 AM new
I went to a garage sale where a man was selling record albums. My husband is a huge collector and a maniac about touching the record. You know, only hold the record my the outside rim - never touch the record itself ...
Well, this man insists he must show us each record himself ... then he takes the albums out, grabs them by the middle with his dirty hands .. ARRRRRGH!
I would never dare touch an album jacket with dirty hands, much less grab it in the middle of the play area ...
Of course, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to educate the man on how to properly hold an album
posted on May 30, 2001 09:23:38 AM new
My Pet Peeve is a little differant. I have garage sales often and price everything accordingly and fairly. I HATE when people (around here they are usually from another country) come to my Garage sales and argue over the a price (ie: want a nearly new mens sweater that is very high quality) for 50 cents and get nasty about it when I say no.
posted on May 30, 2001 09:46:23 AM new
I go to few garage sales. I guess my pet peeve is no prices, and when I ask they smile and say "make me an offer." My natural tendency to avoid angering someone is now a disadvantage to me. Do I risk insulting them or offer more than I think it's worth? Usually I just say, let me look around a bit more and ease on to the car.
9 time out of 10 I see a garage sale and look at the items and I think to myself, "good thing they are close to the curb, they can just leave this for the garbage truck."
Everytime I go to a yard or garage sale, I have to ask myself this question. How much would I ask for this item if it was mine? Everytime I have one, I ask myself, what would I be willing to pay?
I expect clothes to be greatly reduced at garage sales mainly because they were worn. I've seen clothes in nearly new condition that I know I could get on sale new for the same price as asked or at a consignment shop for less. I don't think I'd get nasty but I would turn around and leave without buying anything at all. Once I'm turned off at a sale, there's no turning back for me.
around here they are usually from another country
Does this matter much? Money is money and it spends just as well as money in my pocket. Most folks around here are from another country (at least those who visit yard sales). They're ex-migrant workers who now work at the carpet mills making more money than the average Joe to send home to family. They usually buy more than the everyday yard saler. They're not looking for collectibles, they're looking to dress their kids and themselves without going broke.
posted on May 30, 2001 01:38:08 PM new
It's funny... I actually don't mind the Tupperware lids (as long as they aren't completely warped), since I manage to lose the lids long before the container kicks the bucket. I despise looking through trash, though, and will usually keep driving if it looks like that's all they have for sale.
My personal pet peeve is overpriced merchandise, be it baby clothes or computer equipment. Especially stained clothes and broken or obsolete computer equipment (although I do enjoy poking through the old stuff to see if I can find something for my old Macs).
Another peeve is the permanent yard sale, where the homeowners keep the tables and signs up all season. How good can the stuff be after it's been out in the sun/rain for months?
My favorites? Avid readers with boxes of books for 10 cents each, old cassette tapes for a quarter (so it isn't a big deal when my car deck eats them or if they're left in the sun too long), velvet Elvises...
Okay, I'm just kidding about the velvet Elvises. How about those giant wooden spoons and forks, though?
posted on May 30, 2001 01:38:41 PM new
One of my pet peeves are the signs that try
to list EVERYTHING in the sale....and then
an itty-bitty address at the bottom that
practically requires a magnifying glass to
read! In traffic, going 25 miles an hour,
you don't get a chance to read any of it - much less the danged address!
posted on May 30, 2001 03:03:43 PM new
"NO EARLYBIRDS!" and when you go at the exact time, the place is cleaned out from the dealers that cant read and were earlybirds and allowed in.
posted on May 30, 2001 07:33:25 PM new
LOL You guys have given me better advice for my yard sale this week end. Even Though I mark things with removeable stickers. You gave me Ideas how to "price" things also $1 for whole box and ec.. I like yard sales my self and really get aggrevated when things look junky and not worth the time. I get make me an offer also. Well they wanna know I give it to the real cheap. .50? ROFL They will know better next time than to ask me. Better tell me what you want for it then to ask me what I will give them for it.
posted on May 30, 2001 08:50:33 PM new
People that have piles of breakables for sale, and not so much as a newspaper to wrap them in. We learned to carry a box full of wrapping with us.
The seller who's so busy talking to her neighbor, or on the phone that you can't get her attention to ask her anything.
The seller who has to tell you about this other piece of china, has to get it out and show it to you-then when you ask the price, tells you it's not for sale!
posted on May 30, 2001 10:05:19 PM new
Met a wonderful lady at a garage sale this weekend ...
She noticed my daughter was picking up Mudd jeans she had priced at $1 so she went upstairs and brought down some more ... Calvin Klein, LEI, Nike, Mudd, Tommy, Gap, you name it....
Bought a whole new wardrobe for her for $42. Then she asked for my number so she could call me when she cleans her daughter's closet out.
I paid her with a business check so she won't lose my number. She was happy - I was thrilled. Can't wait for her visit
posted on May 31, 2001 07:17:29 AM new
I drove 7 miles up a dirt road the other day to get to this moving sale. Everything was outside with a big sign telling how much most of the things were. Of course, those listed on the sign were no longer there. No one was around. We poked around for about 15 minutes and didn't see anything we wanted so we left.
As we were driving down the dirt driveway, we heard this guy yelling and whistling at us to stop! I just kept going, figuring that if his stuff wasn't important enough to be watched then he wasn't important enough to stop for. We didn't have anything of his in our possession but I'm sure he went and counted everything.
posted on June 3, 2001 03:13:57 PM new
I have a new one - who'd a thunk?
This weekend, it started to rain (light drizzle) where I was yardsaling. I'd driven to a sort of out of the way sale, and the two women were packing things up. One said, "I'm sorry, we're cancelling because of the rain."
Ok, maybe this was pushy, but it looked like they had about 20 minutes worth of packing up left to do, so I asked, "Do you by any chance have any hardcover books you'd like to sell?"
Really snotty and rude (I've been known to be sensitive), she growls, "They're all packed up!"
Sheesh, here I had always thought that folks had yard sales to get rid of things and make a couple of bucks.
So, while not a pet peeve, rude stoooopid b*tches are at least on my list.
posted on June 3, 2001 03:48:13 PM new
I don't go to yard sales much anymore but when I did it annoyed me to go a sale in a well-to-do neighborhood and discover that the person holding the sale had invited several of his/her friends over to sit around on the patio, drink wine, and make sport of the people picking through the boxes in the driveway. I swear, these callous morons had Brie and crackers and grapes and wine on the table and they would sit there pointing, "Oh look at that one, boy can she root!" Then people would have to approach the table of bon vivants to ask them how much a certain item cost, and the joker running the sale would hold it up and display it to his cronies and say "What do you think, gang? A dollar? Two dollars?" and the bastards would sit there and crack jokes about the worthlessness of the item despite the presence of the person who wished to buy it. I saw this sort of thing happen more than once -- in fact, I began to wonder if the perpetrators go to yard sales and see other people having these parties, then get the idea to do it themselves.
posted on June 3, 2001 05:26:49 PM new
I live 60 miles from the next major city, so it's an hour long drive just to get there. Seems like lately most of the garages sales I've been aren't even worth stopping at. I can peruse 80% of them in about 2 minutes flat--but it's taken me the original hour, plus another 15-30 minutes to find their address. As an example, Saturday there was one advertised to begin at 7 a.m. (means I have to leave home at 6) but it sounded pretty good "Big Moving Sale! Everything Must Go!" When I got there the lady (who was talking on her cell phone the whole time) had one cardboard table full of dead and dying plants, one cardboard table full of kitchen mugs, and a larger table full of crafty Christmas items. There was also a truck tool box, and a float tube. I asked about the furniture she had listed, and (in-between talking to her friend on the phone) she said she had a couple couches and a table in the house. AND THAT WAS IT! Why did she even bother????
posted on June 5, 2001 09:40:49 AM new
Last week I spent 20 minutes in the rain trying to find an estate sale in an exclusive neighborhood. Difficult because of all the windy roads. Finally found signs that pointed us to the house. We saw the woman standing in the doorway of the house. By the time we got up the drive way the door was closed.
So we rang the doorbell three times. Finally she answered and "sweetly" said that the sale was yesterday and that it was over.
I replied that the paper had it listed for three dates.
She had the gall to tell me that I was wrong and the paper only listed it as one day. Now since I had spent 20 minuted looking at the ad trying to find the place I knew she was flat out lying.
Why do people have to be so rude and nasty!! All she had to say was, we sold everything yesterday.
posted on June 5, 2001 09:59:34 PM new
The last garage sale I had, I had TONS of stuff because my grandmother passed and we had cleaned out her house. Great furniture, appliances, etc. It was all stuff that was too big to ship so I couldn't sell it on ebay.
90% of my customers said "Do you have any...ummm...OLD, UNIQUE items? I collect them." I say, "What EXACTLY do you collect?" They reply, "Well...I will know it when I see it, what do you have?" So I learned to just say, "Are looking for ebay stuff?"
Very reluctantly, "Well yes." some replied. Others just swiftly walked away.
I had this exact conversation no less than 20 times in one day. I HATED the "I'm looking to rip you off BIG time, I can use a computer, you're a dummy attitude".
So it was a flop because that's just about the only kind of customer I had. Need a good couch, bed, toaster?
T
posted on June 12, 2001 10:38:05 PM new
I am only 21 so I HATE it when someone says "Sonny, I got the perfect set of golf clubs for you over on the driveway" or "You're a young buck. These speakers would be perfect for your dorm room". I mean come on! If I want the damn speakers I will buy them! Stop trying to be a salesperson and let me browse. When this happens I am highly unlikely to buy anything from them at all.
I also hate it when there is a large crowd sitting around the patio eating lunch. Someone should always be tending the garage sale and assisting customers.
I also hate people that are offended when I try and bargain with them. Some people are so nice and say somethink like "I just can't go lower" and give a reasonable offer. Some people have the nerve to say something like "No way!" or just laugh in your face. This really makes me angry and I just leave them laughing.
And one last pet peeve of mine is when someone lists a garage sale as being "HUGE" or "GIGANTIC" and you ride by and it has three cardboard tables full of junk.
Oh, I also hate it when cheap people sell free stuff! Like checkbook covers, phonebooks, and AOL CD's.
[ edited by cartoonglassfreak on Jun 12, 2001 10:43 PM ]
posted on June 14, 2001 09:36:18 PM new
Fun discussion! One kind of sale I've learned to steer clear of--the organization fundraiser such as Scout Troop #xxx. You can tell by looking at the merchandise that Scout tells busy mother he has to donate some items to the sale. Busy mom says, "Oh, take that pair of your sneakers that I was going to throw out. And here's a toaster that doesn't work any more."
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