Thursday, March 3, 2011

Estate Sale Madness

I love a good estate sale.  Unfortunately, with the economy the way it is these days, many estate sales are charging such high prices, they compare to new things at TJ maxx and Home Goods.  The great deals are harder and harder to find. 

I got up at 5:30 to go shopping at one that sounded promising.  Armed with a wad of cash, shopping bags and a determination to find garden stuff, I headed out.  It started at 6:30,  When I got there at 6:00, there was a crowd standing outside the garage peering in... The Estate sale guy, a very hip, bald headed, earringed bohemian wearing a beret, says "OK, start pulling the boxes out, this is how we do it." and it was complete madness... I beelined for a chandelier hanging in the garage, and saw a couple of dealers pawing through boxes. I could hear glass breaking everywhere as people literally threw boxes to each other.  Many of them worked in teams.  Whole families working together digging and passing boxes like a bucket brigade.  We were bumping in to one another and  some were elbowing others out of the way.  I tried to get more things, but my hand was full with the chandelier and I didn't dare put it down.  I put my things in a pile on the driveway, the designated spot for all claimed things, and started digging through boxes.  As I unpacked things and sat them on the ground, this lady was scooping them up and running off with them, and my :"hey, I wanted that" went unheard.  I was digging through a box of stuff a dealer had passed on, Franciscan Desert Rose china, a full set... and another guy comes up to me out of the garage, sees what I have and says "Oh, that's mine" He was nowhere near it... and said it after he saw what it was... because I had been standing in that same place the whole time... but whatever... He paid a lot for it all... I have been looking for that china for a long time, but it was out of my price range.  In all the hubub, I still managed to get some cute things... Many of which will be going up for sale on my ETSY site...  So check it out in the next few days.




1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I can't believe how rude some people can be! Maybe it's the bad economy. People used to have some etiquette even at thrift stores and garage sales. I know that even at my $1 sale people leave each other's piles alone, but a couple of weeks ago, I took my stuff home, only to find out that someone had gone through mine and taken out a cashmere sweater (brand new) from Nordstrom that I had gotten for my hubby. I was pretty ticked. But I learned my lesson. Pay up front when you find a treasure.