One thing I haven't done (or gone to) in a long time is a garage sale. Having Garage Sales
Back when my family lived in Many Farms, Arizona (middle of the Navajo reservation), we used to put on killer garage sales. Seriously, EVERYONE would come and we would sell TONS of stuff. This was for two reasons: one, we asked for REASONABLE (ie dirt cheap) prices for the things we sold, and two, there is not much to do in Many Farms.
After leaving Many Farms, however, we have had only one, maybe two, garage sales. We left Many Farms in 1995. So why didn't we have any garage sales when we lived in Seattle, and only one or two here in Reno? Several reasons. One is that Seattle does not have the best climate for garage sales. Who wants to go to all the trouble of getting all their stuff ready to sell and then have it rain so they can't hold the sale anyhow? Another reason is, we sold the vast majority of our junk in Many Farms. You have to have a lot of junk to hold a really good garage sale.
Here in Reno, I only held one garage sale that I can remember. That was moderately successful. However, these days I'd rather just not deal with setting up, bartering with the garage sale public (here in Reno they are a ravenous bunch), and then tearing down. These days, it's Craigslist or donations to thrift stores all the way for me.
Going to Garage Sales
Although we didn't hold any garage sales in Seattle, and only one in Reno, I have occasionally gone to them. But I have given up on that as well. Why? People believe their crap is worth way more than it actually is.
I still remember the guy who thought he should get $75 for his Super Nintendo! (this was when the latest system was the Xbox) His reasoning? "I paid $175 for it new, plus about $30 for each of the games, so it's actually a pretty good deal." Sorry bud, value doesn't work like that. You could have paid $500 for it "new", it still isn't worth even half of that today.
Another reason I don't like going to garage sales is that people are sensitive about their crap. They get this "hurt" look in their faces when you offer them $1 for Aunt Hazel's favorite 8-track tape that they were asking $10 for. If it's so great why are YOU trying to get rid of it? And people have this INSANE notion that their dog-hair-covered sofa has retained 70% of it's original retail price. Get real.
In Summary
I stopped holding garage sales because I have better things to do with my time (like write blogs about garage sales).
I stopped going to garage sales because people are big sensitive babies who overvalue their crap.
3 comments:
The Internet claims yet another victim.
You know, you would think, right? But strangely enough, there still seems to be a significant population of "garage sale shoppers."
Unless you were referring to myself as the victim (and not garage sales), in which case, true true.
Oh yes, there is a certain type of person who is always attracted to the thrill of bargains and hidden treasures, so garage sales and thrift stores will always exist. It's just that E-bay and Craigslist have diminished both of those outlets to a degree.
But "my" thrift shop used both of those resources to sell specialty items, so there's no reason good garage sales can't continue, and smart sellers can use the Internet for those items they think are "valuable."
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