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It’s not flea market season, but I’ve been thinking about them because I’m in a cleaning spurt and I’ve been setting aside my junk (a.k.a. treasures) for a possible spring garage sale. But we’ll see. They are a lot of work to prepare for to make only a little pocket change. You kinda have to love the process. Fortunately, there is a church thrift shop near me that will accept everything I’m ready to get rid of if I don’t want to do a sale this spring.
I’ve done a couple garage sales. They are an interesting study in people. Of course, everyone is looking for a bargain, so you price everything just a tad higher than what you really want for it. I once had a woman negotiate five or six things separately and then after I totaled her up, she asked for even more money off. Nope. Bye-bye. That stuff will go to thrift first. She eventually gave me the original negotiated price. Gotta know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em. Also gotta know how bad you just want to get rid of stuff! At the end of another garage sale I found the top of the double boiler I had put out. The friend I did the sale with apparently sold only the bottom. You really can’t do a sale alone. When it gets busy, you need help and when it’s slow, you need company.
I occasionally cruise a garage sales. I’ve found some great things. The trick is to not need a thing. I have cool old painted farm table that I found on Long Island. Until then I thought I was looking for a pew for that space in my house – which was proving much harder to find. This past summer I found a serger (a fancy sewing machine) that I always thought would be cool to have. I knew I didn’t really have time to figure it out, but I bought it anyway because the price was so good. I can be completely content garage-sale-ing even if I don’t find a thing I want. It’s just fun.
Flea markets are close kin to garage sales – but even better because you don’t have to drive between tables. I’m always up for a flea market and have done some huge ones, like Brimfield MA, that you can’t possible see in a day. At those I’m pretty sure you could go with a shopping list and with enough patience, find everything on it. You wouldn’t believe what people try to sell. One of my in-the-event-of-a-fire-I’d-save-this things actually came from a flea market…the watercolor in this photo. When discovered, it was sitting in the dirt, in a crappy old frame, leaning against a table leg. But I saw the potential and now I just love this find. Finders, keepers!
I’ve done a couple garage sales. They are an interesting study in people. Of course, everyone is looking for a bargain, so you price everything just a tad higher than what you really want for it. I once had a woman negotiate five or six things separately and then after I totaled her up, she asked for even more money off. Nope. Bye-bye. That stuff will go to thrift first. She eventually gave me the original negotiated price. Gotta know when to hold ‘em and when to fold ‘em. Also gotta know how bad you just want to get rid of stuff! At the end of another garage sale I found the top of the double boiler I had put out. The friend I did the sale with apparently sold only the bottom. You really can’t do a sale alone. When it gets busy, you need help and when it’s slow, you need company.
I occasionally cruise a garage sales. I’ve found some great things. The trick is to not need a thing. I have cool old painted farm table that I found on Long Island. Until then I thought I was looking for a pew for that space in my house – which was proving much harder to find. This past summer I found a serger (a fancy sewing machine) that I always thought would be cool to have. I knew I didn’t really have time to figure it out, but I bought it anyway because the price was so good. I can be completely content garage-sale-ing even if I don’t find a thing I want. It’s just fun.
Flea markets are close kin to garage sales – but even better because you don’t have to drive between tables. I’m always up for a flea market and have done some huge ones, like Brimfield MA, that you can’t possible see in a day. At those I’m pretty sure you could go with a shopping list and with enough patience, find everything on it. You wouldn’t believe what people try to sell. One of my in-the-event-of-a-fire-I’d-save-this things actually came from a flea market…the watercolor in this photo. When discovered, it was sitting in the dirt, in a crappy old frame, leaning against a table leg. But I saw the potential and now I just love this find. Finders, keepers!