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Garage sale etiquette.

As totsuka stated, "the golden years are gone". I suppose it's accurate. The sales my parents operated are nowhere near what's being offered now. It seems they are cookie cutter. From garage to garage the items DO appear the same. Yes, a good find is still out there, Blue Ray players are really cheap now. I know someone that bought a pair of Canton speakers, (3 way), for $20.00 because the owners were upgrading to Bluetooth, and did not want them. I don't mind going to sales, I just hate driving to them.
 
I think the good days are gone if only for the reason that it's been a good 20 years of mass produced throwaway products filling up everyone's houses.
Unless you are buying from an older or higher class neighborhood you're likely to see little of value.
I've had good luck at sales this year especially considering how infrequently I go but I have also driven by many piles of baby clothes and strollers.

Still, the hunt is fun and I'll keep on going because I enjoy it.
I've also never been in a fight or had a disagreement with anyone at a sale. I am a fairly big guy with a lot of tattoos so maybe it keeps the mouthy quiet.
 
I only witnessed one jerk. Went to go buy some records and this is one of those guys you see from a mile away. Pulls up in a beater truck goes straight to the pile of records and proceeds to hem, haw & huff & puff. I watched him count the records and he stated "30". How much he ask. The seller asked for a $1 each. He wanted a discount and was aggressive about it. The seller pushed back stating ", those are in good condition". Which they were all in thick outer sleeves etc. The seller then ask the buyer to stand aside and he counts 33. See what happened?
After which the buyer offers $25! He not only tried to steal from this guy but then attempts to negotiate after a failed steal.
Unbelievable.
A gent tried to sneak my Klipsch Bell's from me after I had paid for them as I had went to get a U-Haul van. Luckily the estate sale helper on that floor remembered me and denied the guy.

The other was my EARLY estate sale green behind the ears go at being "first". I was first alright but come 5 am a gentleman pulls up and asked if there was a sign up sheet. I said no. Nobody has been here but me. He then points to a piece a paper tacked onto a wall BEHIND the gate. As it turns out after being filled in by this veteran estate sale gent he said "After posting the address the night before at 9 pm he and all the friends on that list (five in total) ran around town and posted the sign up sheets. He'll show up exactly at 8 and attempt to go to the front of the line".
I wasn't phased. He did indeed try that but by 6 am there was 25 people who had waited for opening and he got yelled at. He was adamant that he was first as he was on the list first. I simply asked him if he had written his name on it. He said yes. I then pointed out to him all five names were the same hand writing. I asked him if he could write his name again. You see, not to say a guy can't have great handwriting but it looked like a girls. So I called him out. Repeating what the veteran said and I asked him if it was really fair to those who had waited in line since 5am for you to just walk up to the front of the line". The person holding the sale got a whiff of what was going on and let me in and everyone that followed blocked that guy going in. He was last.

I don't know about etiquette but I do believe in a sense of fairness.
 
The other day I went to a local yard sale way after it had opened. Stuff was grouped in sections outside and there were just a few people there. I poked around a while and picked a bird feeder to see if all the parts were there. As I picked it up a guy over in another area of the yard sees me pick it up and rushes over to the owner and says how much do want for the bird feeder that guy is holding and buys it. It didn't crush me that he did because I wasn't sure I wanted it anyway but it shows the gall some people have. It seems all civility is suspended when yard saling.
 
goodolpg said:
I was nice, the seller was nice, no bad feelings.
About 12 miles round trip for me (seller was from the city so much longer trip for him), I played hookey from work for an hour (but I'm self employed so it's ok I guess).
Seller knew about recapping and the like, heck may even be an AK member.
Just wondering about next time (and sales with stereo stuff listed are few and far between in my neck of the woods) and if I should be "that guy" who tries to buy stuff early.
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Don't hesitate to contact them.
I had a sale and someone sent me a text saying please don't sell, I'll buy it.

Thats rare though.

Early bird usually gets the worm or they have placed false photos for attraction.
 
DublinTrader said:
The other day I went to a local yard sale way after it had opened. Stuff was grouped in sections outside and there were just a few people there. I poked around a while and picked a bird feeder to see if all the parts were there. As I picked it up a guy over in another area of the yard sees me pick it up and rushes over to the owner and says how much do want for the bird feeder that guy is holding and buys it. It didn't crush me that he did because I wasn't sure I wanted it anyway but it shows the gall some people have. It seems all civility is suspended when yard saling.
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In my book, hands-on holds it, at least until you set it down; after that, it's fair game.
 
I went to 1,000,000 yard sales.

The best stuff was there for me when I got there.

The rest?
Not mine to have.

Too many times I tried to go for the "bait" in the ad and almost never got it.
So I just let life do what it will.


Once I stepped back from the pack and took a look, I became ashamed of my species.


You guys and gals are OK though.
 
I'm going to remain an old fuddy duddy who plays by "the rules"
There's nothing audio that I really need or must have.

Too bad some people are motivated by
1 greed
2 me, me, me
3 poor manners
4 no respect for others
5 insert your own observation here

Note- the numbered items are in response to the "horror stories" other posters have told in this thread.

It's been some interesting reading for sure.
 
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FastG said:
I attended a estate sale in a local town, walked thru the basement and spotted a pair of AR2AX's in nice condition. It was a professionally run estate sale so there was a assistant on each floor. I walked up to the assistant and said I will take the speakers. Was handing over the $20, when a big guy came up and said I will take the speakers. The worker said sorry there already sold. The guy was livid stood about 2 inches from my face and demanded "i want those speakers". I did not move a muscle and after about 30 seconds he just walked away. The worker was just frozen and did not say a word. Great speakers after re-foaming.

Graham
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Jeez what an a-hole. Good for you for standing your ground! The poor assistant must have been horrified. I just can't believe the complete lack of manners shown by many these days...
 
Oh my goodness, I cannot believe the stories in this thread. I had absolutely no idea there are so many rude, nasty people attending yard, estate and garage sales!

Awesome thread, I particularly love the visual of the fat woman blocking the door while her equally fat husband looks inside. :)
 
Snow said:
Etiquette manners consideration for others is all but vanished and has been replaced with rudeness insensitivity carelessness and general crass behavior across the board in pretty much all of society not just yard sales. I have little tolerance for rudeness especially hostile rude people think 0-5% when I was younger I would just open up a family reunion size can of whoop ass on you if such behavior was displayed as I have gotten older and less capable of such behavior I now carry a can of bear spray that I will use without hesitation on your sorry ass :D


Regards Snow
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The end of the day. If buyer is happy they made a presale and seller got the goods before anyone else and is happy, then the rest is just playground whinning over spilled milk! First rule in fight club, is there are no rules....my 2 cents
 
nolasally said:
The end of the day. If buyer is happy they made a presale and seller got the goods before anyone else and is happy, then the rest is just playground whinning over spilled milk! First rule in fight club, is there are no rules....my 2 cents
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I agree with regard to pre-sales, but not with regards to the stories of people bullying each other. There is no good reason for that.
 
With the popularity of selling online, I've met buyers who go to yard sales/estate sales to make a living. They are very aggressive because what they sell is their income. I actually met a woman who quit her job to concentrate on her internet sales. There are a group of them around here. They are demanding, rude, threatening and basically just very unpleasant people.

There is one guy who shows up at every sale about 45 minutes early and tries to bully his way in before the owners are fully set up. He tried it with my wife once at a sale we were having while I was out putting up signs around the neighborhood. My wife told him no and he got in her face. She raised 5 kids and worked as a floor nurse in an inner city hospital for years and she gave him the attitude right back.. He left empty handed. When she told me what happened, I gave her a hug and took her out to eat after the sale was over. She's a keeper. :thumbsup:
 
nolasally said:
The end of the day. If buyer is happy they made a presale and seller got the goods before anyone else and is happy, then the rest is just playground whinning over spilled milk! First rule in fight club, is there are no rules....my 2 cents
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Geez, I didn't think I was whining.
I thought I was just asking what others thought.
The strongest word in my original post was "disappointed".
Evidently disappointed = whining.
Thanks for setting me straight.
 
markshan said:
I agree with regard to pre-sales, but not with regards to the stories of people bullying each other. There is no good reason for that.
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So far I've yet to see the police roll up and pull people apart but it's a fresh summer and plenty of it left.

/still time
 
goodolpg said:
I'm going to remain an old fuddy duddy who plays by "the rules"
There's nothing audio that I really need or must have.
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This is how I go out and look, I don't need any of it. There is no pressure that way. I do have a rolling mental list of things I will buy if the price is right. Can't tell you the last time I bought linseed oil, propane cylinders, or a pound of nails at a hardware store. If those aren't in the free pile they are priced near that around me.
 
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