Anyone like estate/garage sales?

[jayem]

In the last 5 years or so, I've gotten into going to estate sales on the weekends. I don't really buy that much stuff. Mostly I just like browsing and looking through the houses. I have bought books (I paid $3 for a coffee-table book on the art of Margaret Keane, the "Big Eyes" artist. No one realized that she had autographed it.) I buy CDs/DVDs/Blu-rays, household items, (I bought an unused full-sized Cuisinart food processor, with multiple discs for $20) and occasionally clothes (like a really nice maroon Brooks Bros. cashmere sweater in perfect shape for $2.) My single best find was a ballpoint pen. The house was in a somewhat high end neighborhood. The pen was in the back of a kitchen drawer with assorted junk. It was black and grimy, but it still had a smoothly working twist-action. I had no need for a pen, but it felt solid, and just seemed to be a quality piece. It wasn't priced, and I got it for 50 cents. I thought it might be silverplated, so I used some polish on it when I got home. When all the black tarnish came off, I could see the markings: Tiffany & Co. 925. It was a sterling silver Tiffany pen. In almost perfect shape--no dents, no significant scratches. It was still sold on the Tiffany web site for $275. I can't believe someone had thrown that in a drawer and apparently forgotten it.

Anyone here go to these kinds of sales? What treasures have you found?

 

[rockytopva]

Do you ever watch the antique roadshows? Sometimes what you can buy in those places for pennies can fetch thousands of dollars!

 

[Tree of Life]

My wife keeps a close eye on a local estate sale website in our city. She purchases and resells. She's purchased a rug for $25 and sold it for $300.

 

[~Anastasia~]

I enjoy them, but don't go much. I like to remake things, so I like to find something with solid "bones" and incorporate it into something else, or redo, updo it. But I do also like some vintage, antiques, certain stylish things, so sometimes I find those too.

I'm not sure what my "best find" was. I don't do it for financial gain, but because seeing or making beautiful things makes me happy, when they come together as a process.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Yeah, I remember when you first told me your pen story!

The spouse and I go to an estate sale (or maybe two) most weekends. I'm usually on the lookout for old science fiction books, but I think most of the sale agents show libraries to professional book dealers before the sale begins, so there's usually slim pickings left. Occasionally I pick up DVDs or other items.

The One That Got Away: there was a sale in Pasadena that advertised as having a lot of pulp magazines. When I arrived, there was a guy there putting maybe the fifth box of stacks of Weird Tales and Amazing Stories from the 1930s in the hold area, and went off to the bank to get the cash to pay for it. I found 3 Astounding's left in the mess. I paid a few bucks each for them, and I think I sold them on ebay for $20 each or so.

A happier outcome (for me) was one house where the owner had a fair number of 1950s era small press science fiction. Gnome Press, Prime Press, Shasta Press. I got about 10 of them for a few bucks each. I read everything I buy, but some of those books were not very good (IMHO). So some stayed on the shelves, and some of the others fetched $10-$40 on ebay.

When we moved into our new house two years ago, we used to pick up furniture items, but the house is pretty full now, so there's no need for that.

So the main reason now is to expand the spouse's collection of vaseline glass - Victorian through Depression era glass with a yellow-green color that fluoresces under black light. Not super valuable, but we often find pieces for $5 that you can find in antique shops for $75.

 

[Phil 1:21]

Most of the formal estate sales here are grossly overpriced. Garage sales are OK, but more miss than hit. Estate auctions are where I've found a lot of great deals.

 

[Cute Tink]

I've found some fun stuff at garage sales, but I don't go often, due mostly to the fact that I rarely have cash. I've never been to an estate sale though.

 

[essentialsaltes]

Estatesales.net offers pretty good listings for my area. Individual listings usually have lots of photos.

Just a helping hand for anyone who wants to get started.

 

[essentialsaltes]

I'm not sure if my Facebook friends actually like it, but I often post weird (to me) images of the things I see listed at the estate sales.

 

[essentialsaltes]

I'll spare you all the creepy doll photos.

 

[Cute Tink]

I'm not sure if my Facebook friends actually like it, but I often post weird (to me) images of the things I see listed at the estate sales.

These actually look interesting.