My SO bought me a piano as a wedding gift and he got it from a yard sale. I’d made a comment not long before that about how I hoped someday I’d have a piano again so I could play again and maybe give the kids lessons when they were older. Well, he was coming back from the lake with his grandpa one day and they were stopped at a stoplight by a bunch of storage units. This piano was sitting there and my SO stopped and started talking to the owner about it. The piano and a bunch of furniture was left behind in a house that this lady had just bought. It was in perfect condition, came with it’s original sales receipts and warranties, etc., and she was asking $1,000 for it. My SO talked her down to $600!
The best thing that I found at a yard sale is my world globe. The base was a little dusty but it was in perfect condition. I bought it for $.50! The cheap kinds of world globes cost at least $25 - 30. I’m not sure how much this one is worth but I think I got a helluva deal on it.
I got a 25 gallon hexagonal fishtank, with stand, light, gravel, filter, heater, everything but the water and the fish, for $10.
And a washing machine for $20.
Always try and hit the yard sales in the late afternoon of the last day, when the people throwing the sale have been drinking heavily. For some reason, you get the best deals that way…
I bought a box of books for a Dollar and in it I found a pristene first edition copy of Robert Persig’s Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance worth close to 2 grand… Its in my colllection fo first editions now and will never be sold…
I also found a first edition fo Richard Bach’s ** Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah** also worth quite a bit.
The first was a framed pen and ink print that just nagged and nagged at me even though it wasn’t something I’d normally look twick at. I paid a buck for it, took it home and split open the backing on the frame. Sure enough it had a gold certification seal and number, it was a Salvador Dali! A friend’s dad appraised it for me at around $100. Sweet.
The second was a couch I found at an estate sale. Not just any couch, but a beautiful 1920’s white brocade couch with the swoopy wooden arms, legs, and edging on the back. I fell in love with it at first sight. Checking the tag, I see that it was originally priced at $550, but had been marked down to $300 (this was the final hour of the final day). Being a poor college kid at the time, even 300 was WAY too rich for my blood. Despondant, I lounged on it for a bit, stroked the lovely rich fabric, and pretended I was a decadant flapper waiting for my beau to arrive. Finally, I tore myself away and went upstairs to check out the jewelry and clothing. I ended up buying a few odds and ends, but while I was paying the deceased’s (remember–it was an estate sale) daughter came up to me and offered me the couch for free! She said it was just too big for her to take, and her mother had loved it so much that she’d love to see it go to someone who felt the same way about it. I nearly wept. I still have it.
I found an R390A receiver.
This is what I spent 8 hours a day/night listening to in 1970-71. A truly amazing piece of equipment that could receive almost any frequency.
I only had $20 on me and offered it. They reluctantly accepted my offer. I kept it for a while until 2 kids’ toys etc. crowded it out of our house. My wife insisted it had to go.
I told a radio engineer friend about it, (an ex Navy guy who was also familiar with it) and he offered me $200 for it.
I sold it but will forever wish I hadn’t.
Slight hijack…my husband used to drink a bit. Anyway, he saw all this great “guy stuff” out on the driveway a few blocks from us. He had a snootful, but decided to do some wheelin’ and dealin’ anyway. He looked over all the great stuff and found a nice drill that he wanted to make an offer on. He went up to the owner and asked him, “how much”, and the guy said, “no sale…I’m just cleaning out my garage. There is no garage sale here.” OHMYGOD it was hilarious.
I buy computer/electronic stuff. Like a 3 year old Panasonic VCR for $4 or so. The owner thought it had bad heads but it just needed a good cleaning. Then I sold my crappy old Zenith mono VCR for $10 at my garage sale a few weeks later. I do a lot of stuff like that. Most consumer electronics has very little wrong with it and I fix things for a hobby so it’s more fun than profit. Rarely do I end up stuck with a turkey but it happens.
Recently I bought an old laptop for $3. Needed a new fuse. Not that great of a machine but fun to play with and I won’t get upset if I break it.
I actually avoid the $20 “hey but it works” stuff. Gimme the $2 stuff anytime.
And if you see a Beta stereo VCR out there, let me know.
I just bought an enormous swing set for my kids…the wooden beam kind, with 6 or 7 swings/other riding things, a platform and slide, a merry-go-round thingy, and a climbing net (which I’ll probably remove because I’m too afraid someone will get caught in it). We had a buddy look at it and he estimated it would cost us over $550 to build ourselves. I paid $125 plus a couple of candles.
We looked at swing sets at WalMart…same price range, not nearly as nice. The poetbabies will be thrilled.
~karol
I also got my cat at the local flea market. She’s a real find, too (I have to say that, she’s on my lap as I’m typing this and could gut me with those evil little barbed claws…).
I got an old Godzilla toy (the big rubbery thing that draws blood when you touch the spikes on his back), tons of random stuff in my room, and a cool Captain Morgan three part shelf we use to store the video game stuff. Only cost 20 bucks.
Sold plenty of things I wish I hadn’t at garage sales and such (mostly old toys and books I miss now…sigh).
Had the same thing happen to me. Emptied the garage to give it a good cleaning. Had the stereo cranked up while sweeping cobwebs when I heard a noise behind me. Someone was standing at my garage door and had some of my stuff in his hand. I walked outside and in 10 minutes, at least 6 cars had stopped and about 10 people were digging through my stuff. I chased them all away, a couple of them even got pissed off, and put up a “NO GARAGE SALE” sign.
I have had a couple good deals come my way at garage sales. Picked up a Civil War era bayonet (there is not a lot of Civil War stuff here in Washington) for $5. It is worth a couple hundred today. I was also given 3 large boxes of new auto parts from an estate sale. The recently deceased owned a gas station in the 50’s and kept some of the stuff when he closed. I made about $500 on the stuff on Ebay. $220 of that was for an original Jaguar oil filter. I only wanted $10 for it but a couple of guys got into a bidding war for it.
I’ve gotten some great stuff at yard sales, can’t think of any stories that top these, though. My husband and I found some great antique tools at one. My husband sensed that there might have been more/better stuff at one time (even though we got there right on time) so he asked the seller. She confirmed that yes, some antiques dealer had come through the night before and bought about $300 worth. Ouch! Still, my husband cleaned the tools he did buy and sold them on ebay for a healthy profit.
Not exactly a garage sale, but last Saturday I walked into a thrift store on a whim and purchased a 100% wool suit for $5. No detectable flaws, either. They even threw in a silk tie made in Italy for a dollar. Now if only I had occasion to wear this stuff…
I picked up 4 CorningWare dishes that are single-serving size and have a little handle like a frying pan. Paid $5. They go from oven to table and are sooooo Iron Chef.
I’ve gotten lots of cool stuff at yard sales, rummage sales, etc.
Some of my favorites:
The CD soundtrack for Pulp Fiction for 10 cents. I love that CD!
Tons of cookbooks from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s. My favorite is a Betty Crocker binder style cookbook from the 70’s. It has great appetizers (think rumaki).
I found a set of 3 metal / enamalware serving dishes in really cool bright colors (blue, orange, red). I ruined the blue one (I had pepperoncini in it for too long and the vinegar dulled the enamel in places).
I picked up a set of nice wood / leather tables (coffee table and 2 end tables) for $25.00.
2 large Japanese laquerware bowls.
I have lots more but can’t really think of them all right now.
I went to a huge church yard sale a couple of months ago. I was hoping to find two matching small lamps, maybe glass. I didn’t see anything like that, but I did find two ceramic lamp bases for $1 each that I thought would work. I wired them, attached lamp shades and took them to show a friend. She looked at the bottom and said, “Hey, these are Weller!”. I’m not a pottery person, so I wasn’t familiar with the company, but I went and looked up the pattern on some websites that sell vintage Weller stuff, and if mine were in good condition (they have a couple of bad places that are mostly hidden with the wiring hardware), they’d sell for $125-$150!
I forgot about my dining room table – solid oak, recently refinished, (seats 5) with drop-down leaves, and 4 shaker-style bentwood chairs that match the table. $125.
Not as good a bargain as the cats but way nicer than what you can get for that money.
Another good one was a full set of 6 “Great Muppet Caper” collector’s glasses for $3. I’m mad for collector’s glasses.
