Garage Sale -- Slices of humanity

Had our first ever garage sale today -- all in all, it was an interesting and entertaining experience. We netted $450 (2 big items; the rest was $1-20) which is not bad for a few hours work. Of course we shouldn't try to guess how much we paid for those $450 worth of items new... It felt great to get rid of perhaps a thousand pounds of stuff that we would otherwise feel obligated to haul across the country; and extra good to have those items not end up in a landfill.

Garage sales seem to bring out some interesting personality types. Here are some that I observed today:


The Chatty Grandparent

Probably has nothing much else to do, so this person (usually female but not always) sidles up next to the register and shares some tales about where they came from, how the neighborhood changed, and what old country singer or actor you my look like. Perhaps they buy a $1 item (but they ask to get it for 50 cents, of course) -- likes frilly things.


The Pro

Gets there at least 15 minutes before you open (even though your ad says you will kick any early-birds square in the nuuuuuts), and exhibits a laser-like focus as they scan for under-priced merch that they can resell on eBay/etsy/craigslist. No time for chit-chat; though sometimes they call their lackey to check the value of a particular item... I had one of these folks drive by a full 50 minutes early as I was setting up the first table, and shook their head in distain that I wasn't ready for them. (They also pillage the "free table".) Get a new hobby, people.


Latino Families

Usually with kids in tow, but not always... they are the group that really get into the grand tradition of haggling. First they'll talk amongst themselves in Spanish about how much they like something or where they would use it; then they offer exactly half the tagged price. This must be an oral tradition; because the first offer was almost always exactly half. (The funny part is I can understand Spanish.)

I even witnessed the passing of this practice to the next generation. A mother had her little girl approach the cash box with a $1 trinket and asked (with big eyes) "50 cents?" ... Way too cute to resist.

Bonus Latina story: I had 2 bigger electronic items that I set a mental reserve price for; 75% of what the tag read. Early in the day a senorita tried hard to get me to agree to 50% of the tagged price; I just didn't feel good about parting with the item at that price... felt sure that (a) it was worth more, and (b) I could get more on craigslist or ebay... so I said sorry, no. A couple of hours later the same senorita came by, acted like it was her first time seeing these items, and offered the same bargain -- because clearly all Mexican people look alike to me, si?


The Shopper Girl with Whipped Boyfriend in Tow

Self-explanatory. These are common to every retail establishment; but it was really entertaining to watch a few come by today.


Surprisingly Pleasant Neighbor

They aren't really shopping, but take the time to come by and say "hi". We met 3 seemingly great new neighbors today; should have done this much sooner... the conversation sort of stalled out after we said we were moving away soon... definitely should have done some kind of neighborhood event sooner.


The Free-coholics

We had a "free table" today... some stuff that we really just didn't want to go to a landfill, but which didn't seem to merit a real price tag. Odd mismatched logo glasses, not-fun-at-all books, things like that. Certain people seemed unable to resist the charms of this table; after verifying that indeed these items were "really? free?" their eyes glazed over and they were unable to resist whatever dreck was on offer.

Here's why it really amused me -- there were a great many $1 items at our sale today. As the morning wore on, I moved a few things at a time (which weren't getting much action) over to the free table. Once they hit the free table it was a feeding frenzy! (And sometimes, it was the same people.)

If something is not worth paying $1 for, why would you possibly want to bring it into your home?


The Free Vulture

This type was a bit of a surprise to me... toward the end of the sale I put away anything that I didn't want to just give away, and left the rest with a "free stuff!" sign and went inside; just hoping to have these things become someone else's problem. At least 2 or 3 people come around right at the end of the day, apparently looking for just such a helpless dead carcass of a sale... and yes, almost everything left unattended for that 10 minutes was taken. I guess this practice offers all the benefits of the "free-junk-to-sell-online" without the nasty need to actually interact with another human being.


So in any case... garage sale was a success. One more step in getting ready for the big move across the country... and really some great people-watching as well.