# Thiings you'll never find at garage sales? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [May 19, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389 "2011-05-19T01:05:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/1 "2011-05-19T01:05:22Z")
It’s a pretty good bet that at your typical spring or summer garage sale you’ll find plenty of drinking glasses and coffee mugs, clothing, kid’s toys in various states of wear and tear, books, old cassette tapes or LPs, decorative candles. etc.,etc. On the other hand, I would posit that some things you wish you could find will never, ever be for sale. What are some things that (plausibly) someone could not want anymore and want to sell, but you’ll never find them at a garage sale? ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/2 "2011-05-19T01:21:34Z")
nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/3 "2011-05-19T01:25:33Z")
\What is it about coffee mugs? I think they must secretly copulate in the middle of the night continually breeding in my cupboards.\ I’ve seen so much varied stuff at garage sales I’m not thinking of anything right now other than the obvious like fine art or other valuables. Is there something you’ve been looking for but have never found? I read somewhere that you only find something to buy in one of every ten garage sales so it’s a labor intensive shopping method. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/4 "2011-05-19T01:29:08Z")
Do you see iPods at garage sales yet? Seems like something you pass down to grandma, or sell on eBay. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/5 "2011-05-19T01:32:09Z")
You never see anyone selling off their old porn. I guess they don’t want the neighbours looking through it. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/6 "2011-05-19T01:34:03Z")
An old, vintage car that is for sale cheap by the original owners with virtually no miles on it and in mint condition. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/7 "2011-05-19T02:13:30Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You never see anyone selling off their old porn. I guess they don’t want the neighbours looking through it. I was going to say I hope you’d never find a blow up doll. ---
**Author:** ![CT\_Damsel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CT\_Damsel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CT_Damsel)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/8 "2011-05-19T03:39:28Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You never see anyone selling off their old porn. I guess they don’t want the neighbours looking through it. I donated mine to the local library’s book sale.😃 ---
**Author:** ![Al\_Bundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@Al\_Bundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Al_Bundy)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/9 "2011-05-19T11:15:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You never see anyone selling off their old porn. I guess they don’t want the neighbours looking through it. You could see anything at a garage sale. That’s the fun of it. And yes, I have seen porn stashes for sale rarely. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/10 "2011-05-19T11:23:42Z")
> [@Cicero](#): > > I was going to say I hope you’d never find a blow up doll. I could never part with my blowup doll. I call her “Rubberine.” When we go dancing, she’s _so_ light on her feet. ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/11 "2011-05-19T15:23:23Z")
Used bongs? ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/12 "2011-05-20T04:02:17Z")
Ha! I still have a box of old VHS porn in my garage. That would be worth having a garage sale just to get rid of it (an of course to see the expressions on customers faces!) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/13 "2011-05-20T04:05:11Z")
I have never been able to find any laserdiscs at yard sales, but I did find some at the flea market. I still don’t understand what sorts of responses the OP is looking for ---
**Author:** ![Lucky\_13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucky_13/32/13209_2.png) [@Lucky\_13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucky_13)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/14 "2011-05-20T04:09:47Z")
Vibrators and other sex toys. Nobody wants to buy a used Hitachi Magic Wand (do they?) ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/15 "2011-05-20T04:27:18Z")
Garages. You’d think there would be at least one for sale, but no. ---
**Author:** ![automagic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a698b9/32.png) [@automagic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/automagic)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/16 "2011-05-20T04:37:42Z")
I can think of plenty of things: Pets, wall to wall carpets, windows, wood polish, fuel pumps, whale oil, wall paper, wall paper glue, prostitutes (male or female), professional sport teams, cigarettes, shampoo, 2 by 4’s, snapple, chipmunks, beer, roof shingles, rubella vaccines, used brake pads, 1943 copper pennies, cardboard boxes, casino chips, tuna, kidney stones, cotton balls, tickets to a show that has already been performed, and last but not least military ID cards. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/17 "2011-05-20T04:56:45Z")
Slaves. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/18 "2011-05-20T07:05:19Z")
Good power tools. Every yard sale I go to has old, worn out, sparking pieces of junk. One guy was even trying to sell an old drill that didn’t work! I wonder why he thought it was worth $3.00. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/19 "2011-05-20T12:12:48Z")
> [@automagic](#): > > I can think of plenty of things: > > Pets, wall to wall carpets, windows, wood polish, fuel pumps, whale oil, wall paper, wall paper glue, prostitutes (male or female), professional sport teams, cigarettes, shampoo, 2 by 4’s, snapple, chipmunks, beer, roof shingles, rubella vaccines, used brake pads, 1943 copper pennies, cardboard boxes, casino chips, tuna, kidney stones, cotton balls, tickets to a show that has already been performed, and last but not least military ID cards. \<…\>things that _**(plausibly)**_ someone could not want anymore and want to sell, [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/20 "2011-05-20T13:00:12Z")
Really high oomph capacitors. I _DID_ find a killer Van de Graaf generator at Goodwill for $20. They’re $500-$600 new. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389.md?page=2)