Yard Sales!

[Dodie16]

Well, it's getting to be that time of the year when people start gathering up their old junk to try to get rid of it and make a little money by setting up shop on their lawn, garage, or driveway.

So how many of you go to these things, or have set one up yourself? Have you ever found anything that was valuable?

It's been awhile since I held my own yard sale, and I think I'm going to put it off for as long as I can. Last time I had one, there were people trying to buy stuff at 10 p.m.! Geez... Not to mention all the hagglers that come by trying to talk you down from an already pretty cheap price. I'd rather not deal with them, but money is money, though I may just donate all the stuff I don't need/want to the Salvation Army.

Haven't been to one in awhile either. I have a coworker who goes every Saturday morning though, and she buys the most random of junk. xD Last time I spoke to her she bought a patio set... Don't know what she plans on doing with it, since she already has a nice one of her own, but she said the price was good enough that she had to get it. She's one of those hagglers too, so once she has her eye on something, it's rare that she doesn't wind up getting it.

Only "treasure" I can think of worth mentioning is the time my mom bought a whole box of Christmas decorations for a little under 10 dollars, and when she looked through it, she found a crystal vase. It's pretty nice too, though she doesn't really use it. It's locked up in her "This stuff is nice, so don't touch it" cabinet. Okay, it's actually not called that, but that's what I call it.

[loaf]

The only problem I have with yard sales is people don't like the prices I put on my things. Oh well it's to get some cash. I know my mother was planning on having one but we never did it. I don't think I have enough things to sell to people who would want to buy it.

I remember once we moved to Las Vegas we had one, we sold a lot of crap we brought from California.

[RagnaToad]

It's not as popular in Europe as it is in the US. I think front yards are not as common either.

I've never been to a yard sale. I'd like to though. When I see people on the tele buying a cadillac for a few hundred dollars and a Gibson Les Paul for next to nothing, I ache.

I don't think I have enough junk to sell in a yard sale. I've sold stuff on ebay though.

[Pete]

We used to have yard sales at my grandmas house. People would buy the most useless and random shit you would believe. My grandparents were also the biggest yard sale fiends I've ever met. They would make days out of it, going from place to place and buying the most random crap. Sometimes they'd take me and my brother and we'd buy old board games or toys, for like a dollar.

I also sold all my ninja turtle toys and made a KILLING when I was 10. Now I totally regret doing that and wish I could've sold them now. Probably would have made a shit ton more.

EDIT: And Rags, the yard sale is pretty much a dead art in America. People realized they can make more money selling individual items on ebay, as opposed to what the yard sale used to be about; just getting rid of useless shit and trying to make a quick dollar.

[Unknown Entity]

We tend to have car boot sales (car "trunk" sales). I live in a block of flats, surrounded by other blocks of flats, so not everyone even has a garden.

Basically, you pile your car up with all the junk and treasures you no longer want or care for, and drive to a field out in the country. You then set everything up like it's a market, and sell things that way. Every now and then though, I see my old primary school and the church next door open its gates for things like that, sans the car part (you bring everything in boxes, or whatever).

A small drive away here in London, there's a HUGE market which takes place on weekends, where people can rent a space for the day to sell off their junk. It's not a nice neighbourhood, but they do come up with some cool things every now and then. There's a cake stall which do the most fantastic cream cakes too.

I've been to quite a few, but when I was younger. Things I did buy were books. I remember when I was younger, I loved the Goosebumps series, and you could always find them at a car boot sale for about 20p. I think the weirdest thing I've ever seen at one of these sales is probably a car engine.

[Victoria]

Yeah, I've been to my fair share of yard sale setups. The way my relative does it is kind of professional..

However, Dodie... people buying stuff at 10pm? ...Why do you still have the yard sale open that late? If not, why do you leave the stuff out?

Usually people would close up shop at about 4-6pm and pack it back up inside/in the back yard.

That's what my relative does anyway. Usually about 2 days of yard sale... and at about 5'ish or 6'ish, they'd pack the stuff back up and take down the signs.

You probably left the signs up, didn't you? =P

[Dodie16]

^ Heh.. Funny thing. We actually didn't have ANY signs up at all! People just saw the stuff we had set up and asked if we were having a sale. First two days were so busy that we didn't even bother to put one up.

The yard sale that I'm talking about in my OP was really the one that my parents set up, but I put a lot of my stuff in there too. I agree though. They should have just packed everything up when the sun started to set to get the people out of there sooner, but they didn't. *shrugs* It doesn't help that my mom likes to talk to EVERYONE she meets, so that's another reason why people stayed so long.

[Taco-Calamitous]

Back in the day, I used to get really excited whenever we'd have a yard sale. Probably because that's about the only time I'd get extra money (I got $5 a month for allowance.) Plus, it was like an adventure, having all that crap set up outside (kind of like sleeping out back in our tents! Yay! ...I never went actual camping until I was 23.) Every once in a while, relatives or friends have a garage sale, and put stuff up there, and I make a few bucks. So it doesn't thrill me as much anymore.

Sometimes I go to garage sales. Usually without any money, so there isn't much point. But eh. Anyhoo...

Wuv, Yer Mom

[SuperSabin]

Oh dear, yard sales. They're fun only if you're buying something you want from someone else. Setting up your own just to wait around for people to buy stuff is terrible. I hate it ><. The activity behind it is very boring and too much work, I would only do it if I really needed to lose some stuff I don't need. Other than that, I don't like yard sales.

[winterborn86]

We tend to have car boot sales (car "trunk" sales). I live in a block of flats, surrounded by other blocks of flats, so not everyone even has a garden.

Basically, you pile your car up with all the junk and treasures you no longer want or care for, and drive to a field out in the country. You then set everything up like it's a market, and sell things that way. Every now and then though, I see my old primary school and the church next door open its gates for things like that, sans the car part (you bring everything in boxes, or whatever).

A small drive away here in London, there's a HUGE market which takes place on weekends, where people can rent a space for the day to sell off their junk. It's not a nice neighbourhood, but they do come up with some cool things every now and then. There's a cake stall which do the most fantastic cream cakes too.

I've been to quite a few, but when I was younger. Things I did buy were books. I remember when I was younger, I loved the Goosebumps series, and you could always find them at a car boot sale for about 20p. I think the weirdest thing I've ever seen at one of these sales is probably a car engine.

Car boots!! WHOOO!!

I used to hate car boot sales, I remember being about 12 year old and being woken up at 4am to get ready to go to one of those things, hated it with a passion, but now I'm older now and now I love them, because I can get up and go at a more reasonalble hour such as 10am lol.
I love a good bargain, one thing I remember was I brought a white silky summer dress with black flower patterns on it from 'Jane Norman' it still had it's shop tags on and I got it for £3.50, went to the city a week later and what do I find?? The dress in 'Jane Norman''s shop window for £25, BARGAIN

[The Dark Crystal]

So how many of you go to these things, or have set one up yourself? Have you ever found anything that was valuable?

I went to one about 5 month’s ago with some family, didn’t see/find anything worth buying. I also remember going to a yard sale as a child and my grandmother bought me a NES, which came with some controllers, a gun controller, and about a dozen games. Off the top off my head I remember getting Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt, Super Mario Bros 2, Mage Man 3, 5 & I think 6, Jaws <3, Hunt for Red October, Batman, and Contra.

My parents had a yard sale once; it was held because we were moving at the time, and they wanted to get newer decor. Most of my possessions that I got rid of were toys, books, clothing, etc… that I had grown out of and were just sitting in a box taking up space somewhere.

I never found anything valuable (money wise) at a yard sale, but the NES did leave a lot of good memories with family, and games.

[Ethan Blitzball King]

Yard sales huh I been to a few of them
can't say I liked it though

[Treize]

I usually go to a few yard sales every year except where I live they're called rummage sales. I feel like people are selling their yard/garage when they say yard/garage sale. I happen to pass by them, and I figure why not. I might find a deal. I bought my alarm clock at a rummage sale, and I've been using it for probably 7-8 years.

There are a lot of rummage sales around where I live relative to the population size, I think. It seems like a lot of people just have rummages sales every year.

My family had a rummage sale once. I think we made a couple hundred bucks for what we were probably going to just throw away anyway. I was surprised at how many people showed up. The town that I live in has a pretty high population percentage of old people, so I think that a lot of people just look in the paper at the rummage sales every week.

I kind of wonder if I'll ever have enough stuff to make setting up a rummage sale worthwhile. I feel like people wouldn't want my old garbage anyway. <_<

[Cheesevixen]

Only "treasure" I can think of worth mentioning is the time my mom bought a whole box of Christmas decorations for a little under 10 dollars, and when she looked through it, she found a crystal vase. It's pretty nice too, though she doesn't really use it. It's locked up in her "This stuff is nice, so don't touch it" cabinet. Okay, it's actually not called that, but that's what I call it.

That's such a cute little story. <3 I love sifting through garage sales and seeing what weird things people are selling. Things they thought were awesome at the time. Some old some new, and sometimes exactly what you're looking for. Of course...you weren't REALLY looking at all. I can't say I've ever FOUND anything worth remembering.

I do have a garage filled to the brim with boxes of things no one wants anymore. Decorations, cook ware, everything. However, my mother in law doesn't believe in bartering so we have to wait until she decides to come over and price EVERYTHING. Procrastinators.....yeesh