You can’t leave without buying something

It was our last stop of the morning, and the estate sale, being run by the family, was pretty much deserted at that point.  After looking around, we decided to leave, empty handed, when a family member uttered those words.

We’ve been told that before, but what she said next made us stop in our tracks.

“Come back tomorrow around 1 p.m. Everything will be given away.” 

Well, that was a horse of a different color.  So, we decided to take another look inside the house to see if we wanted to come back on Sunday. It was mostly household items, with a fairly large collection of knick knacks, ceramic pieces, and photo albums.  Oh, did I mention the Franklin Heirloom dolls?  I usually don’t pay attention to ceramic dolls; the owners typically have an over-inflated sense of their worth.  Still, the prospect of a freebie made me give them a second look.

There were 15 of them, mostly fairy tale related, including Rapunzel, Alice in Wonderland, etc., and according to my on-the-spot research, worth at least $20 each.

I called the family member over, and asked how much for the dolls since they would be free on Sunday.

“How much will you give me for them,” she asked.

Crap.  I hate it when that happens.  Usually, the negotiator who makes the first offer gets the short end of the stick.

So, I threw out a low-ball offer of $1 each, $15 total, knowing that it wouldn’t be accepted. Surprisingly, she countered at $20 total, and the deal was done.  I thanked her, and told her that we would be back on Sunday.

The next day, we got there about 12:45, and looked around some more.  True to her word, the family member announced at 1 p.m. that everything was free, and the few customers, like me and Ella, began putting things in our totes.  About 20 minutes into the feeding frenzy, a young couple with four kids came in and began sweeping things into boxes, determined to take everything.  At that point, we thanked the family profusely, and left.

I’m not sure we really got anything worth keeping, though.  I’ll have to sort through everything when we get back from the Memphis Film Festival next week.

Speaking of which, Ella and I spent most of Sunday making last minute preparations, including sorting and pricing DVDs, for our western memorabilia vendor adventure this week.  Looking back at the time, effort and money that we have spent on this, I’m having second thoughts about the wisdom of this venture, but will reserve judgment until all is said and done.

Provided the casino has adequate Wi-Fi, I will be uploading pictures and short blog posts throughout the week.  I can’t guarantee it will be worth reading, though. 

Happy trails, everyone.