# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![BlackKnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eb8c5e/32.png) [@BlackKnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlackKnight)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/21 "2011-05-20T13:29:58Z")
> [@automagic](#): > > 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. I’ve been to garage sales that were selling the following from the above list: Pets Windows Wood polish Shampoo 2x4s Roof shingles Cotton balls Military ID card (Ok, it was some identification of some sort from WWII. I don’t know if that’s quite what you mean or not.) Also, I’ve seen garage sales with various car parts, but I don’t know enough about cars to say whether any of them were brake pads or fuel pumps. There was one with a shady-looking fellow selling dozens of car radios. I haven’t seen any wall-to-wall carpeting, but there are certainly floor rugs of various sizes as well as carpet scraps. The strangest things I’ve seen are probably the bizarre number of used breast pumps (seriously, they’re fairly common) and a book about improving your marital sex life. (The couple in question were seated directly in front of me as I browsed through the pile of books.) ---
**Author:** ![Foggy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foggy/32/1082_2.png) [@Foggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foggy)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/22 "2011-05-20T14:47:25Z")
Children. I once had a project where I needed a small boy (girl wouldn’t work - wrong frequency). Couldn’t find one for love of money. In the end it didn’t matter as I was also unable to get all the maple syrup I needed. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/23 "2011-05-20T15:17:25Z")
> [@automagic](#): > > windows, … wall paper, … shampoo I’ve seen doors at garage sales, and windows in antique stores, so I wouldn’t be surprised to see windows at a garage sale. Unless you mean Windows™? I’ve seen rolls of unused wallpaper as well. In fact, what I see most often at garage sales is the leftovers from remodeling projects of various sorts. At (at least) one garage sale I put on, I took the gimme toothpaste tubes that I get from the dentist and put a 10cent sticker on them. I sold them, too. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/24 "2011-05-20T15:26:25Z")
I’ve never found hooker, of the male or female variety. I also never found jackalopes, unicorns or snuff films. And speaking of garage sales… _[The Family Circus](http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/7554/sale03.jpg)_ has covered this on [many occasions](http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/467/sale06.jpg), [many](http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/8598/sale04v.jpg), [many](http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/483/sale07.jpg) occasions ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/25 "2011-05-20T15:26:42Z")
Things you’ll never find in my garage sales are my entire collection of comic books or my [vintage Lionel Train Set](http://www.toytrainstuff.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/Lionel_Train_Set_Boxed_2_.jpg). This is primarily due to the fact that when I was away at summer camp my sister sold in a garage sale all my comic books and my vintage Lionel Train Set. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/26 "2011-05-20T19:20:55Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > And speaking of garage sales… _[The Family Circus](http://img853.imageshack.us/img853/7554/sale03.jpg)_ has covered this on [many occasions](http://img856.imageshack.us/img856/467/sale06.jpg), [many](http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/8598/sale04v.jpg), [many](http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/483/sale07.jpg) occasions I’m having a hard time believing these are authentic _Family Circus_ comics, and not some satire site using the comics but adding their own captions. Where are you getting these? ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2011, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/27 "2011-05-20T23:34:17Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I’m having a hard time believing these are authentic _Family Circus_ comics, and not some satire site using the comics but adding their own captions. Where are you getting these? [http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2934/fccomment.jpg](http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2934/fccomment.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![classyladyhp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b5ac83/32.png) [@classyladyhp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/classyladyhp)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/28 "2011-05-21T00:11:44Z")
A used IUD An unopened box of condoms ---
**Author:** ![scratch\_llll](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc348/32.png) [@scratch\_llll](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scratch_llll)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/29 "2011-05-21T03:02:32Z")
> [@BlackKnight](#): > > and a book about improving your marital sex life. (The couple in question were seated directly in front of me as I browsed through the pile of books.) And yet you failed to ask them if the book worked. I almost never see old computer games except flight simulator or the Sims. Or old toys from the 60s. Or old lunchboxes. Or telescopes or microscopes. Or decent CDs. Virtually anything that might sell on ebay. ---
**Author:** ![Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/41988e/32.png) [@Tequila\_Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tequila_Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2011, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/30 "2011-05-21T19:59:07Z")
Vibrators and butt plugs. Not that I’d want to find them, mind you. ---
**Author:** ![pete66](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8c91f0/32.png) [@pete66](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pete66)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/31 "2011-05-22T23:12:06Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > 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. Gotta go to an estate sale for those. my boss went to one, picked up an older Snapon tool box loaded with tools. He got a great deal for $150.00 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/32 "2011-05-22T23:14:17Z")
I don’t see many Fabergé eggs at garage sales round my place these days. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/33 "2011-05-22T23:17:50Z")
Garages for sale. Not even prefab ones, still in the box. ---
**Author:** ![salinqmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@salinqmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/salinqmind)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/34 "2011-05-22T23:23:26Z")
When I was young, I went to garage sales with my mom and she bought a little box just chock full of ‘perfume nips’ (tiny thin glass vials, you snap off one end and dab on the drop of perfume inside) with a color coded key inside the lid telling what the fragrances were. That set off a life-long love for, and interest in, perfume. I imagine they don’t make perfume nips any more :(. Now I go to yard sales, look at all the pathetic crap similar to MY pathetic crap and wish they’d run in and bring out mom’s old stash of 'fume she doesn’t use any more. What I wouldn’t give to run across a half bottle of Miss Dior, but no. Not even any shitty Bath & Body Works Fruit Puke! ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/35 "2011-05-22T23:28:52Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You never see anyone selling off their old porn. I guess they don’t want the neighbours looking through it. Not at garage sales, but I’ve seen a LOT of porn at estate sales (Sales by George, Sandra Ziemer, Edna Louise, etc) in your neck of the woods. ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/36 "2011-05-22T23:43:54Z")
> [@Lucky\_13](#): > > Vibrators and other sex toys. Nobody wants to buy a used Hitachi Magic Wand (do they?) In my neighborhood those end up in the random free boxes on the curb. Lord, I wish I were joking. I was out for a walk and saw a Hitachi in a box marked Free For You! This was about 6 blocks from my house. When I returned with my camera it was gone. Not the box- just the vibrator. ---
**Author:** ![Ludy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Ludy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludy)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2011, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/37 "2011-05-22T23:58:25Z")
A diva cup. I had just bought a new one right before I got pregnant. It only got one or two uses before I had to toss it. It seemed like such a waste. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/38 "2011-05-23T01:41:51Z")
> [@Ludy](#): > > A diva cup. I had just bought a new one right before I got pregnant. It only got one or two uses before I had to toss it. It seemed like such a waste. A…_what?_😕 Enhance please, Spock. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/39 "2011-05-23T03:12:17Z")
> [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](#): > > A…_what?_😕 > > Enhance please, Spock. Oh, Bosda. Danger, Will Robinson…:eek: ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2011, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389/40 "2011-05-23T03:49:12Z")
Google tells me it is some sort of reusable menstrual device, rather than a disposable type. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thiings-youll-never-find-at-garage-sales/582389.md?page=3)