Goddamned old people

[Guest]

So I'm yardsaling, taking a break right now, and my biggest headache is old people.

I had one guy just try to do the change-raising scam on me, and before him was a geezer who wanted to pay me a dollar each for cast iron fencepost-stake things. I agreed, loaded five in, and "I thought you said fifty cents each".

Let him have them just so that I wouldn't end up arrested for assault, and got his ass out of my driveway.

[cosine]

Hey Blackburn, I'm a young squirt (18) and I assume you've got a few years on me, so you know that makes you one of those "old people."

Oops. *looks around warily* I'll be seeing you 'round. *runs and hids from Blackburn's wrath*

[BobR]

That is why I adamantly refuse to allow SWMBO to have a garage/yard sale.

The first time someone tried to talk me down from fifty cents to a quarter, I would explode. It is 50 cents for christ sake, not the national gold reserve. Pay the pittance, or move on, don't try to jerk me around.

bob

[Perd Hapley]

My first yard sale, last summer, we started setting things out about 7 or 8 in the morning, and already had people looking things over before we could even lay out our stuff.  Ours is not a high- traffic street, but we put signs out the previous midnight.  

Also, we was robbed.  My wife had a tiara she had decided not to wear in the wedding.  She thought it would bring twenty-five, but instead somebody walked off with it.

[cosine]

Neato! My local mayfields delivery dude (he's the guy who I see stocking mayfields milk and icecream etc, that's like the Maytag guy except cooler) showed up, found out he repairs lawnmowers and does ponds.

I have a broken riding lawnmower and a pond with a waterfall that should be made to work. We worked some stuff out much to our mutual benefit.

Sold his kid some toys for a dime each and my old NES system + games. Kept the gun. Gun is too retro-hip to part with.

I am so tempted to grab a pair of maracas, turn up the mariachi music, put on a Burger King "King" mask and dance wildly until more people are drawn in.

Darn. Blackburn, you must be in a good mood. You didn't take the bait.

[Guest]

not to highjack your thread too much, but does anyone notice the old bastards car of choice is the pewter buick century (i assume, fondness for the number that the car is named after), and none of these particular cars are capable of more than 30mph,  no matter what the actual speed limit is on any given road?  

sad part is, that besides the lousy driving skills, i have nothing but respect for that generation.  beats the hell out of the most pathetic GenY (and parts of gen X)

[Moondoggie]

Big 10-Roger on the septegenarian Buick owners.

In our small city full of older folks it's a joke between wife & I "What's Buick gonna do for customers in another 10 yrs?".

My 83 yr old MIL next door drives a LeSabre...go figure!

[grampster]

Blackburn,
     If you could spell better, I would not have had to sit here for two hours conjuring up a vision of you on a skateboard holding onto a clothesline pole with a sheet attached trying to work up enough speed to catch the old guy in a Buick.  I had to wait for some other posters to catch on to the fact you were selling something.

You're original post seriously did not make any sense to me...but then...I thought this IS Blackburn.  

[280plus]

not to highjack your thread too much, but does anyone notice the old bastards car of choice is the pewter buick century

While I never attributed it to the AGE of the driver I have noticed that big Buicks always seem to have the worst drivers behind the wheel. I'm not sure why that is. I DO know if I'm following one that has a little bitty white head sticking up just above the steering wheel it's gonna be a loooong haul...  

[cosine]

not to highjack your thread too much, but does anyone notice the old bastards car of choice is the pewter buick century

That's what my 75 year-old grandfather drives. I don't think his car is capable of 30 mph. He likes speed. Driving with him can be quite an adventure.

[Guest]

Cosine-

I hear ya. my grandfather is the same way in his chevy pickup.  2 wheel drive 1/2 ton with a big 350 had lotsa giddy up.  his standard is a flat 60, no matter what the speed limit is.

[Guest]

I guess it's just that none of the old guys in my town are as cool as the ones on APS or THR,

Thank you!

[Art Eatman]

Hey, take whatever car you want to the track.  Do a hot lap.  I'll climb in, cold, and beat the time.  If I can't, I have a buddy who's a year older than I am who most likely will beat it.

Pet peeve:  Drivers of whatevr age who don't seem to have a clue how to drive through curves and corners.  God forbid I have to follow one of the clots through some esses!

, Art

[Vodka7]

For the price of several beers I helped my friend and his father run what we called an estate sale but was really just a fire sale so we'd have left to pack when he moved out.

An advertised estate sale will bring out the absolute scum of the earth--the sale was advertised to start at 9am Friday and we had people showing up at 3pm on THURSDAY, the vast majority of them asking questions like "who died?", "who died?  did they have antiques?", and "who died? did they have jewelry?"

We were also asked if we were taking numbers--for anyone who, like the three of us, has no idea what this means, apparently it's like a reservation.  For three single men, the idea of placing reservations to go shopping at 9am on a Saturday was a new one.

People started showing up at 6am, and almost trampled over each other to get inside, where they eagerly bickered over the prices of such things as somewhat used cans of spraypaint, two bar chairs that looked like they had been out in the rain since they were made in 1973, and a small wooden chair whose only possible purpose in life could have ever been to support a young boy in a dunce cap.  All of which sold.

[Lo.Com.Denom]

What we have here is the seedy underbelly of capitalism, friends. I have a strong suspicion that all those people haggling over 25 cents are going to be selling this crap on, probably at a "general sale" at an auction house. Don't blame them -- it's how they make their living. Vultures serve a purpose in nature, just lke everything else.

Auction house general sales will usually sell just about anything that's legal. Filthy, rancid, grease-smeared detritus that nobody in their right mind would want. Yet someone invariably will take a punt on a random "Box of sundries", making a few quid/dollars for the seller, who got it for next to nothing (or sometimes nothing at all). If it doesn't sell, the auction house will dump it. Whereupon some dumpster-diver will probably find it again and it will go on to another auction house.

"Dead estates" -- old folks who have died on their own with no relatives -- make up a sizable portion of general-sale auctions. Sad but true. Often these old folks will have lived in absolute squalor, hence the grubby state of most general-sale items. You can't afford to be emotional about this stuff when you sell it -- old family photos, love letters, diaries, they all go out in the trash. No resale value, you see.

So who buys this crap from the auction? People who can't afford new stuff; people who have spotted a rare first edition in a box of mouldering paperbacks; folks who want a restoration project; folks who just hoard junk. There's a whole micro economy going on around this stuff.

[Art Eatman]

There's a whole micro economy going on around this stuff.

And my wife is a prime customer.

After my father died, my step-mother kept their furniture in Austin--for which I was properly grateful.  The old family ranch house down at Cuero was another matter.  I kept a few pieces that were "old family stuff" and let an antique store lady buy the rest at an adequate price.  

After my mother died last year, I gave her furniture--but for a couple of pieces--to the battered women's center to use or sell.

Hey, anybody want a couple of Eames chairs?

, Art

[Azrael256]

I have never understood other people's junk sales.  I have plenty of junk laying around (although three moves in two years cut down on it considerably) without adding other people's crap to the pile.

I did see a gun at a garage sale once.  A guy offered me a filthy and tired Carcano that he called a "Lee Harvey Oswald Special" for $200.  He even offered to throw in a bandolier of ammo.  Heh.

[K Frame]

My mother bought me a Winchester Model 1200 at a garage sale for $50. Even had all 4 choke tubes and the wrench.

I paid a quarter for a print in a nice wood frame. It was by an artist I like. I found out later that it's a stone lithograph from the artist's studio (not signed, unfortunately) and is worth probably $750 to $1000.

Mom bought an ugly as sin little vase at a sale and 2 years later sold it at Southeby's of New York for well in excess of $3,500. It was by a very collectible art potter.

Lots of trash, but the occasional treasure.

[Art Eatman]

Then there was the guy who bought a "rock" at the Tucson gem and mineral show (IIRC, Tucson) for $10, maybe less.  It turned out to be the largest topaz crystal ever found.  Brought $3.5 million.

, Art

[Larry Ashcraft]

I enjoy those auctions and estate sales, and always manage to bring home half a pickup load of "junk".  Then again, my dad (who is a GENUINE old person) is an antiques dealer and restorer.

Dad bought a red vase back east a few years ago at a yard sale for $20.  He had recognized as a Heisey prototype.  The last one sold was at auction in 1988.  It sold for $3500.  He recently bought a "wall hanger" damascus shotgun (a nice one) for $400.  It turned out to be a Joseph Lang, made in England.  Book price is about $25k.

His trick; know your stuff, and always be there.

[cosine]

I enjoy those auctions and estate sales, and always manage to bring home half a pickup load of "junk".  Then again, my dad (who is a GENUINE old person) is an antiques dealer and restorer.

Dad bought a red vase back east a few years ago at a yard sale for $20.  He had recognized as a Heisey prototype.  The last one sold was at auction in 1988.  It sold for $3500.  He recently bought a "wall hanger" damascus shotgun (a nice one) for $400.  It turned out to be a Joseph Lang, made in England.  Book price is about $25k.

His trick; know your stuff, and always be there.

So, does your dad keep the stuff or does he sell it? It sounds like he could be making a pretty good living if he sells it.

[Larry Ashcraft]

So, does your dad keep the stuff or does he sell it? It sounds like he could be making a pretty good living if he sells it.

Mostly he keeps it, because he can afford to.  He buys and restores old furniture, and then resells it.  Not because he needs the money, but because it keeps him busy (he's almost 79).

He is just really proud when he snags something special, so he just keeps it as a kind of "trophy".

[bermbuster]

I bought a lovely evening bag at a garage sale for 25¢.  One man's trash.....

[280plus]

As people arrive at the "estate sale" you give them numbers just like at the deli. Then you only let them in that way and it's not a bad idea to have them escorted. If you just let them in as a group and let them run rampant they will destroy your house and steal whatever they can. As careful as we were we let a harmless looking little old lady in because it was cold out there. She managed to slip away unattended, found her way into the room we had closed off with a big cedar closet in front of the door and scoffed up a crapload of change that we had collected from around the house. We didn't discover this till hours later.

As far as auctions. I used to live for the box lots af "smalls" that nobody wanted. I'd always manage to ebay a couple of the items off for more than I paid for the lot. Box lots of knitting magazines with the patterns in them were hot too. I'd buy a big box for next to nothing. Put them on EBAY 5 for $3 and they'd always go and sometimes they would go big. Plus they were EASY to package and ship.

[280plus]

Hey, take whatever car you want to the track.  Do a hot lap.  I'll climb in, cold, and beat the time.  If I can't, I have a buddy who's a year older than I am who most likely will beat it.

How about one of those RUF Porsches? You'll buy? (I don't really care who wins, I just want to drive one. )

Like Larry said, in order to make the real bucks in this market you must "know your stuff" and there's a LOT of stuff to know!