I'm not a big yard sale person, but I have been known to frequent them on ocassion. Here in my big red neck part of the world, yard sales are a dime a dozen. They are big here. Huge. There is a yard sale on every block pretty much every Thursday, Friday, Saturday and yes, even on Sundays.
I have also been known to hold my own yard sale from time to time. Alot of time and energy goes into gathering unwanted household items and clothing, cleaning them up, organizing them, marking each item practically free with a very reasonable price, and setting up and displaying them in a marketable way. My earnings never ever outweigh my efforts. I think the most money I ever made at a 2-day yard sale was $150. While I am not complaining about my profits, it is hardly worth all the work!
In all my years of yard sale-ing, the one thing I've learned is that there are alot of professional yard sale hagglers out there. I feel slightly uncomfortable in haggling over a price. What if the seller says, "No, that price is not acceptable". Do I walk away? Do I barter again? I once came face to face with a buyer who bartered on an item I had marked .25 cents. For crying out loud...why don't you just take the item for free?! Now that I think about it, why would I try to sell an item that was only worth .25 cents? This is probably why I never made a huge profit and this is also why I don't like to hold yard sales anymore.
However, this past weekend was an exception. My mom's development had their community yard sale and at the last minute, I was able to gather some unwanted items I had stashed in the basement for the Good Will. I took the items to my mom's house and made a quick $50 bucks!
That quick $50 I earned did not stay in my pocket for long. I spotted 2 wooden woven chairs for sale that I HAD to have. Other than the paint chipping a little on both chairs, they are in excellent condition.
I have researched the chairs to figure out the type of weave and what they could possibly be worth. I have come up with nothing. So, if any of you know anything at all about these chairs, please let me know.
What I paid for chairs - $45
Type of weave - Spanish Hemp ??
Total worth of chairs - ??
Total worth of chairs - ??
9 comments:
Love the chairs. I'd say they're certainly worth more than $50. I'm with you on yard sales. My work never outweighs my profits. They are fun to visit, though.
I don't know what the chairs are worth. The rope is in good shape as far as I can tell. That's unusual in a yard sale chair. They're often such a mess.
Once on a 95F day in August, I was manning my half-sister's yard sale. Two ladies pulled up in a top-model Lexus. They collected salt and pepper sets. We had a set shaped like chili peppers marked 50cents. The ladies offered me a nickel for the set. I said no, just on principle. A nickel? Past the age of about 6 years old, who even transacts business in nickels?
Besides, it was hotter than hell that day. I don't think that kind of weather is a good time to bargain with anyone!
Not a chair professional, but it looks like you scored a deal! I hear ya on the yard sale haggling. I like the humorous way you describe it...
Yep your right...if its marked 25 cents they want it for 10 cents. Dont forget the people who wait until the yard sale is over and we put the stuff at the curb with a free sign on it...boy does it disapear fast! I would love to know more about those chairs also.
I like the chairs; not sure what their value would be. I'm always the one charging very low prices at garage sales, but here's how I look at it. I want to get rid of the items, might as well allow someone to pay me to haul them away for me. I usually don't even price items individually. We usually sell out about 90% of our items within the first hour of our sale because of low prices too. One day I was at a garage sale where this lady wanted to give $1.00 for a child's hat. The owners said $3.00 so potential buyer didn't buy the hat. Drove by several times throughout the day and the hat was still there. I would have said fine and moved it.
Sounds like you did great though with making some quick cash!
betty
They are pretty! I love yard sales.
I have no clue what the chairs may be worth. I used to be a yard sale aficionado, but not so much anymore. Amoeba simply will not stop. He says, "If it isn't good enough for them, we don't need it, either.")
I think it's the same chair Steve Martin used in the movie The Jerk?
I dont see y one would barter at a yard sale in the first place. The prices r already marked far below what u would have to pay for an item in the store.If ya see something u want, buy it for what its marked or leave it.
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