Anyone else feel that garage/yard sales are deteriorating?

bettis1

bettis1

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I don't know if it is just in my area or not but I can't recall when I last visited a good sale. They used to all have interesting tools, books, sporting goods, etc.

Now the vast majority of them look like refuse from flood victims...trashy clothes lying in piles on the dirt, broken pieces of "kiddy crap", junk furniture and fixtures that the Salvation Army wouldn't pick up...homeless/jobless/visaless types pawing through the piles...it's rarely worth parking the car and walking over to look.

Every weekend brings out a sale on every corner and evey weekend I am again disappointed.

They have gotten so common that the City has ordinances that you can only have two yard sales a year; you have to secure a permit to have them, and you can only have one off-premises sign. However the folks in code enforecment who should be checking those things don't work on the weekends when most of the sales occur so they are unenforced.

Bob
 
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I've been to a few really lousy ones, but for the most part the garage sales in my area are still pretty decent.

One thing, it seems like kids clothes and toys dominate some sales. If you're not in the market, these are pretty useless.

I've gotten very picky about what tools I will buy -- they better be pretty darned high quality and not abused. You never know what you will find. I once bought a little "screwdriver" for 10 cents. As I recall, it was blued and had a knurled metal handle. I have misplaced it, but I know I have it somewhere in the house.

Sometimes you will find a lady who is selling her kitchen towels, etc., not because they are old, discolored, worn-out, but just because she painted her kitchen and needs new towels to match. :rolleyes: I have bought many of these for 10 cents each. They make great cleaning rags!

Another thing I always look for (besides the obvious gun stuff, hunting stuff, etc.) is serrated kitchen knives. I keep these in the garage and basement. They are very handy for general cutting chores and usually stand up to really rough duty. If they don't, I have others...

So I do think it's worth stopping whenever I see one, if I have the time...
 
Yard sales are much like gun shows or gun shops. You only need to find one that has a gem to make it worth while. But you never know unless you stop and look.

I tend to agree that as the economy tanks, many people are tempted to put their junk out and try to raise a few bucks. It works the first half dozen times. But after that all you tend to see is picked over junk. I prefer the niche markets. Its the spring community sales, where neighbors feel some pressure to conform and be part of the fun. Those are the ones where you see great stuff at sometimes give away prices. The worst ones are the perpetual sales, where they put stuff out every other weekend.

We have a nasty old woman and her daughter 3 houses down. She doesn't even take in her signs. They're up year-round. The first few she had lots of lookers. But they all got the idea a couple of years ago. Now it just looks like junk tossed around her yard.

The deterioration I see I attribute to the owners "pushing" the idea. They're either raiding neighbors trash for new stock, or maybe picking it up at others sales and remarketing the stuff. I had a buddy who used to travel with his father-in-law on Friday evenings and early Saturday mornings. They'd cruise the subdivisions looking for a sale. When they'd see one getting set up, they'd pull in and see what the people would take for everything. Often the sellers would give them a price, a few hundred bucks for all but one or two items. They'd pay up, then load up.

Then they'd travel to a local drive-in movie for the late morning and afternoon. Many times they'd make back their investment and still have over half the crap. Lots of good stories, but they kind of calculated they almost always doubled their money, often tripled it. Sometimes it would take months to finally dispose of everything from a purchase. They did it as much for the fun as for the money.
 
Heck , most gunshows nowadays look like yard sales or flea markets with all the junk they seem to fill tables with. Arts & crafts , beanie babies , turquoise jewelry , cheap import ninja gear , old GI web gear/BDUs and soldier of fortune stuff.
 
I have only gotten into shopping yard/garage sales in the last few years, I am often amazed at the quality of items that people are selling
at giveway prices. It is (like shopping at the thrifts) a hit or miss proposition but if you have cash on hand you can do very well.
 
Around where I live garage sales are mostly old baby clothes and other useless junk. I don't even slow down.
 
Hi
I like everyone else enjoy a "Good" Garage sale, but they are few and Far between these days. I feel a lot of it is The Economic Hard times upon us. People are not so quick to sell anything these days that they may have a use for Later. Then you have The ones that have seen what E-Bay can do for their yard Treasures, so they List the Good stuff on E-bay and set the Junk in the yard sale.:( We have had a few and we always make sure all items are clean and work before setting them out. I also Offer chaser cords to those Buying electronics to erase the thought that something may not work when it left my sale, it is Just Good Business. We have been Hit by the "Garage sale Hogs" that mostly own Thrift stores or antique stores in the area, as they seem to show up while we are Either setting up or before the sale actually Opens. I Run those Types Off, and enjoy doing it as they always want it all for a Very Low Ball price, and we do not like their Pushy attitudes, as they tend to be Rude if they don't get their way Often Telling us as they leave that are stuff will Not sell at the Prices Marked, but have had very Little left at the end of it as we Price it fair. ;) We Often advertise our Yard sales, so it would not be Fair to the ones Planning on coming, Besides I enjoy seeing People that really need it getting it rather than a Shark Looking to Make money off their Low Ball Offers. :) I Have Often set out a FREE to kids Toy Tote, and sadly we have to TELL Adults it is for Kids only , as the Joy of giving the Items to Kid's is to see their Faces light up when they find a Toy they want and it is Free. We sure would not consider doing it , But It Amazes me to see used Woman's Underwear at Other Peoples yard sales, and how it get's actually purchased. I have wondered many times if the Purchasers are Perverts or Just Low Life people that would really wear it ? Either way, it is Just Plain Sick to me as Underwear is Not a high Dollar item, and Needs to be discarded when one is done wearing it, That's Almost as Sick as selling One's Tooth Brush that has been used....:rolleyes: Hammerdown
 
I bought an older Ruger .22 Single-Six for $100 not very long back at a yard sale. I had never seen one of these with a steel ejector rod housing, and black plastic grips before!

Yard sales have always been full of womans and baby stuff. The ones with guy stuff in the minority...always!
 
Estate sales are often the creme de la creme of sales, so if you find yard sales too junky, you may look in the papers for estate sales. Items there are usually priced higher because most are run by people who do estate sales for a living. But you are pretty much guaranteed to see a concentration of good stuff.

Garage sales will always be a pot luck affair, but if you have the time it only takes one good buy to make your day. I have seen yard sales where I could honestly say that you would find better stuff going through a dumpster. :rolleyes: :D
 
I think Craig's List is the best thing going for local bargains around here.

It is truly amazing the stuff you can pick up for pennies on the dollar.

I got a $250 stock tank for $50 from a local church.

Just wish CL would let you list guns and ammo.
 
My hunting buddy and I had a garage sale this past summer. The ad read:

"Real he-man yard sale. Hunting, fishing, camping stuff + tools".
"No baby clothes".
"No candles".
"No potpourie".
"Free huntin' and fishin' magazine with every purchase"

I almost couldn't get the local paper to run the ad. I had to pay up front with a credit card. The ad ran on Wednesday. Thurday morning when I got home from work, there was a landscaping card in my door with "Call me about sale" written on it. OK...

The day of the sale, it was threatning rain. I got up early to find a guy waiting in my driveway(two hours before sale time). I chased him away. I had the yard filled with backpacks, deer feeders, fishing gear, moutned turkeys, you name it. I had those little, toy, parachute soldiers for little boys. (One dad says "I haven't seen those parachute guys in 30 years. I gave him one to play with). Plus fake tattoos for girls. Whenever a kid would come by, I would ask "How old are ya, kid"? No matter what they said, I made believe like they were the first _ year old and had won a door prize.
People came all day long. My street was jammed up for hours. The neighbors still talk about my sale. Well, the truth be known, the sale just added speculation to my eccentricity(and speculation to my wife's sanity for putting up with me.)

So, good sales are still out there...
 
We had a yard sale with another family once, right after part of the town had flooded.

You couldn't beat people off with a stick! Sold just virtually everything that wasn't nailed down! Was searching the house for more crap to sell.

Our little town has an event called 'Crazy Days' every year. Essentialy a town-wide yard sale. The local busineses also participate with sidewalk sales. My son and I hit the streets and usually come up with some decent loot.
 
Depends on what you are looking for. I have done very well. 10 years ago or so I decided I needed a spotting scope, at a yard sale I found a big Tasco telescope, bought a stronger eyepiece for it, the 100 yard targets look like they're 25 yards away.
I like older 1950-1960s US made appliances, I have acquired several toasters, waffle irons, etc., most I paid for one was $10-an old Toastmaster 1B24 like the one we had for 30 years. Lately I have noted lots of VHS tapes for sale as people replace them with DVDs.
My cousin bought a nice 1918 SMLE*, unusual, you very rarely see guns at yard and estate sales here in NJ.
 
We still have some very good yard and estate sales. Our store room is filled with stuff that we got, and never used. Last week, I bought a new, unused, in-the box pair of Red Wing work boots for $35.00 - just my size. The high-roller part of town is having some good ones due to the money shortage. Love them!!
 
Around here, it's pretty much as Evil Dog described it?
Looking at some of the mouth breathing goober kids clinging to their Mothers, I'm not so sure I'd use any toys or clothing that hadn't been boiled first?
 
em-man.. genius. pure genius.

i cant wait till next baby is old enough to not need all this crap. if wife has no girlfriends popping out kids i will sell it all. we just bought a new changing table on craigslist last week for $100. retail it was over $500 my wife wanted it bad. its solid wood, no particle board crap and even has made in USA sticker on it.

no guns sold around here at garbage sales, but i have found some interesting old books though. sometimes tools.

the real finds can be at public storage warehouse forclosure sales. they usually have them 1 or 2 saturdays a month after people dont pay for a few months. cant rifle thruogh stuff but you can get serious deals. i got a buddy that got several thousand dollars worth of craftsman tools and a nice rolling chest for $100. he also had to clear out boxes adn boxe so fotehr junk but it was worth it.
 
When we were newly married I suggested to my wife that we go to a garage sale for something to do on a late summer Saturday morning. She went along, but not without making the comment that she wasen't especially interested in looking at a lot of other people's junk. We were just starting to think about staring a family and when she saw that a lot of the baby clothes offered at some of the sales were brand new with the tags still attached she became more interested. The area where we live has two very affluent neighborhoods on either side, lots of Saturdays my wife could be found shopping the sales in these areas. Our daughters grew up in lots of Osh Kosh overalls and such purchased brand new for only a couple of dollars. They were handed down and after they were done with them they went to the resale store where in some instances we got our money back. The sales were also good for finding kids wagons,play furniture, etc. priced at pennies on the dollar. I went along sometimes finding tools,gun books and other guy stuff.
 
The other day my wife and I went for a ride to look at the fall colors. I took a turn onto a loop road. She said "we've never been on this road before". Wrong. As I drove along I pointed to the house, and then to the digital thermometer on the coin tray of the jeep. I told her I bought it there. She got an awful look and agreed. But its been 2 or 3 years, and it still works, cost 50 cents. Then she asked what else I got there. It was a like new axe. It cost me $5. In the neighborhoods around here, I navigate based on what we bought at yard sales.

They're not all guy things. I buy beenie babies if cheap enough. I got my one grand daughter a mallard duck. That was well over a year ago, and its still on her bed. One yard sale had.....yard goods! ;) The lady must have bought a bolt of red and white checked material. Heavy cotton, good quality. I paid about $5 for 6 or 7 running yards of it. Momma was pleased over that deal.

Down in the country some guy had a bunch of restaurant stuff (it was part of the worlds longest yard sale, 127 from Covington, KY to Gadsden, AL.) I bought a few nice S&W blue table cloths (and some off pink, but forget those). I had my wife embroider the SWCA logo on one of them. It graces my gunshowing table.
 
I've bought shovels, sledge hammers, etc. for a few dollars each. I have a two bladed axe that I also got for about that.

My two 5 gallon "gas" cans were kerosene cans from an estate sale. Both came with two or three gallons of kerosene in them. Good, clean, metal cans, I think they were three bucks each.
 
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