Exactly two weeks after much of this area was paralyzed by a snowstorm, Wednesday night and Thursday morning are forecast to be another icy/snowy mess. Granted, some of my readers are saying no big deal, but for Georgia, back-to-back cold white stuff is unprecedented, in my humble opinion and rapidly fading memory.
At least this past weekend was reasonably temperate, although a no-nonsense garage sale proprietor did raise my blood pressure just a tad when I showed up for his sale 15 minutes early.
I’m not pushy, but I do live by the old thrifting adage that the early bird gets the bargain, and I’ve learned that “no early birds” is more of a guideline than a rule. When I show up before the appointed starting time, I always apologize for being early, and most sellers are more than happy for me to start pawing through their stuff. Besides, if you advertise an 8 a.m. starting time, and you aren’t ready by 7:45, you are running late anyway.
But I digress. The seller in question was working in his garage when we walked up. He looked at me, and said that he specifically stated no early birds, and that the sale would not open until 8. Fine, I said, looking at my watch. 7:45 a.m. I then asked if we could just stand outside the garage and see what he had to sell. No dice. He wanted us to leave. And we did, and didn’t come back.
Apparently, his “no early birds” rule was more important than potentially making a sale. His loss.
At least this past weekend was reasonably temperate, although a no-nonsense garage sale proprietor did raise my blood pressure just a tad when I showed up for his sale 15 minutes early.
I’m not pushy, but I do live by the old thrifting adage that the early bird gets the bargain, and I’ve learned that “no early birds” is more of a guideline than a rule. When I show up before the appointed starting time, I always apologize for being early, and most sellers are more than happy for me to start pawing through their stuff. Besides, if you advertise an 8 a.m. starting time, and you aren’t ready by 7:45, you are running late anyway.
But I digress. The seller in question was working in his garage when we walked up. He looked at me, and said that he specifically stated no early birds, and that the sale would not open until 8. Fine, I said, looking at my watch. 7:45 a.m. I then asked if we could just stand outside the garage and see what he had to sell. No dice. He wanted us to leave. And we did, and didn’t come back.
Apparently, his “no early birds” rule was more important than potentially making a sale. His loss.
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| Felix the cat The wonderful, wonderful cat Whenever he gets in a fix He reaches into his bag of tricks |
Because this seller wouldn’t let us view his wares, it caused us to be early for our next sale at a nearby church. A lady was still putting out items, but she was more than happy for us to begin browsing. She didn’t have much for sale, but I did find this Felix the Cat bag, new with tags. Sorry for the picture quality; I will take a better pictures before listing it. I paid $5, and hope to sell it for at least $25.
Earlier on Saturday morning, we visited another church, and found some odds and ends, including a Lookbook wireless E-book reader for $5. I may have wasted my money on this item, because it powered up at the sale, but for some reason, doesn’t seem to be charging properly. If it finally charges and works, it’ll sell for at least $25.
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| Another RAD robot! |
At a Humane Society sale, I picked up this RAD robot for $8 while Ella was busy petting the puppies. I already have one that Ella keeps bugging me to sale, so now I have two, much to her chagrin.
Our last stop of the day was an estate sale that I had picked clean, media-wise, on Friday. I was hoping that the sale had gone to 50 percent off, but it had not. Still, I had noticed a bunch of snapback caps, for 50 cents each, that I wanted to look at more closely. A recent podcast over at ebayscavengers.blogspot.com mentioned selling caps, and while not exactly my bailiwick, I decided to give it a shot. I found two Jack Daniels caps, which have a high sell-through rate; a slightly dirty Oakland Invaders cap (defunct sports team memorabilia always sells); a Tuskegee Airmen hat; and a Green Jacket cap. The Green Jacket was one of Macon’s premiere restaurants, visited by most celebrities when they happened to be passing through the city. I think it might have enough historical value to sell for a buck or two.
Our last stop of the day was an estate sale that I had picked clean, media-wise, on Friday. I was hoping that the sale had gone to 50 percent off, but it had not. Still, I had noticed a bunch of snapback caps, for 50 cents each, that I wanted to look at more closely. A recent podcast over at ebayscavengers.blogspot.com mentioned selling caps, and while not exactly my bailiwick, I decided to give it a shot. I found two Jack Daniels caps, which have a high sell-through rate; a slightly dirty Oakland Invaders cap (defunct sports team memorabilia always sells); a Tuskegee Airmen hat; and a Green Jacket cap. The Green Jacket was one of Macon’s premiere restaurants, visited by most celebrities when they happened to be passing through the city. I think it might have enough historical value to sell for a buck or two.
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| Are caps a good addition to my inventory? |
Sales over the weekend again were anemic, with most of my sales coming from Amazon. I’m still nowhere near my goal of $100 per day in sales across all venues.
On a somewhat related note, I’m toying with the idea of renting a booth at the local antique mall. I talked with the managers last year, and they were adamant about keeping flea market-style inventory out of the mall, but upon looking around the place, their idea of antique was open to interpretation, and they couldn’t/wouldn’t explain how a booth featuring nothing but new bed sheets fit the image the mall was trying to project. Still, Ella and I probably will have some vintage western memorabilia leftover from our vendor booth at the Memphis Film Festival in June that will fit the bill. I actually think Ella would enjoy decorating/merchandising a booth, especially since it is only minutes from our house.
Does anyone have any experience or words of wisdom that they can share about this?
Have a great week.
Sorry about the weather. There's a winter storm watch for northern Alabama as well. I just have to be thankful I'm not in PA this winter. They're getting hammered with snow.
ReplyDeleteI think it's time to move to Florida.
DeleteThinking of you today (2/12) and hoping all is well.
DeleteBesides two iced up outside AC/heater units that I had to thaw late yesterday afternoon in the rain/sleet, all is well. No power disruptions and just minimal road problems in my area. Thanks for thinking of me.
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