I love garage sales, but I never have them. I live too far in the country with no near neighbors and I don't feel comfortable having strangers around, under the circumstances.

I usually won't haggle at a yard sale, but sometimes the prices are really outrageous. People who want to get rid of their stuff should put a fair price on it, but, for example, I have seen tee shirts for $8. I don't care what you paid for it in the first place, but the highest price I will pay will be a dollar and it would have to be perfect for me to pay that. Usually I pay 50 cents or less.

When it comes to collectibles, which is what I mostly buy...if you are going to put "book value" on it, you might as well take it back in the house. People go to yard sales expecting deals. I bought a teapot yesterday for $35, but only because I knew the value was over $200, and it was in mint condition.

Love going to them....hate having them.....I hate it when you've marked everything at rock bottom prices and people want to give you half of that!
Sometimes I'd rather give it away to Good Will than to someone who's too cheap to pay 1.00 for something that probally cost 30.00 to begin with.

I like going to yard sales. But anymore it seems like there is one good one to 6 or 7 crappy ones. Maybe I am just getting pickier? lol

I'm having a sale this year, my DM will bring things as she usually does and the garage will be packed with stuff. I usually start a week ahead of time setting up tables and marking things. The majority of leftovers will go to charity. I would like to quit having sales here and instead just take a carload of things when they rent spaces (church flea markets). The big ordeal of dragging things up from the basement, the cleaning and pricing, working of the sale - it is all so exhausting to me anymore.

I love to go to them,but also hate having them.I used to have them in the past,and when i did,like the other poster i'd go out by 6:30 /7:00 to set up.and after the first one and the early birds,the first thing i did was LOCK my gate and put a sign on that said "Opens at 8;00.So if they came they couldn't get in.Problem solved!!
Kathi

I love going to them but stopped last year because I simply don't need any more stuff. I agree, I hate having them because many people try and haggle you down even when you are practically giving things away. When people drive up in brand new vans and try and give you a nickle for something that is worth about five dollars it really gets my goat! I've also had valuable things stolen at each garage sale I have had no matter how careful I am. The last sale I had, a digital camera went missing right out of it's box. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

I'm not looking forward to them but we have to have some garage sales this year to clean out our junk hmmmmmmmm treasures. ;-) What is left is going to the Big Brothers/Sisters second hand store.

Our credit union organizes one in one of the buildings of the local fairgrounds... Which works well for me and a gf as we usually share a booth. Especially since neither of us live in areas where people can park & walk up to your garage... deep ditches on both sides of busy road...

I prefer Estate/auction sales, but do drop in on garage sales, but then at my age, I need to get rid of stuff, instead of collect. If I see something I really like , and the price is fair, I just pay it. People go thru too much to get the hassling they get.
I don't do sales, due to bad luck several years ago--spent $$ (my own) to advertise, even though it was a city wide sale and ended up with no one from my own city coming. They said --oh I did not know you had one--even had signs and balloons.
Now I just leave on day of sale.

Love going to them, but hate having them. I price the stuff I'm selling really low because my intention is to get rid of it. It kind of irks me when I'm almost giving it away and someone wants me to lower my prices even more. I am going to have one more. I had one a couple of months ago, but there was still stuff in the attic I needed to bring down and some stuff in the shed. It snowed last weekend and rained this weekend. I won't have it next weekend because of the holiday so I'll have it the following weekend. I'm so ready to have it and get it behind me. It will probably be the last one I have. I've been decluttering since I retired in early December and after I sell this next batch I should be pretty well decluttered except for Bob's stuff. he's a packrat and it's out of my control.
Linda

I like going to them. I've had several over the years. Not too many people try to haggle for less. I think I've learned from going to others, what the pricing should be. People are looking for specific items, and will hit everyone early.
I quit going because I don't need anything else in this house. I miss it though.

When we lived in OT, our neighborhood had one every year and every danged year I relented and had one, too. And every year swore I'd never do it again, but DH would talk me into it, promising he'd do all the work. Haha! Plus he thought everything we owned was worth a million dollars and got miffed that I didn't charge enough.

Can you tell I really, really don't like them?

Hate them. DH used to go to them and was always bringing back stuff that he never used, never fixed and just took up space in our garage. Then we'd hold a few back then to get rid of the junk he'd collected. He finally learned but it took awhile.

I love going to them but hate all the work having them. It has been over 10 years since I had one and I told Brian today we really need to have one. So I might have one this spring we will see. Stacy

I tried one...complete waste of my time. I'd rather give the stuff away. I do that now...put it out front with a "free" sign or bring to a local charity.
As far as going to them...no way. I got enough junk of my own.

I love going to yard sales. I hate having them. Too much work.

Linda

I used to go to them a lot until I decided I had enough "junk" and didn't need anybody elses. My son needs some furniture b/c he came out his divorce with nothing, but I haven't shopped for him yet. I hate giving them and will never do that again. It's more trouble than it's worth. I have bought a lot of books at garage sales--children and adult books. To me, that's about the best bargain.

I don't have them anymore. Too much work. A Goodwill store opened up near here and now I just give my stuff to them. Lots easier that way!

I love going to garage sales. You never know when you'll find a treasure! I like to buy paperback books and try to buy enough to last me all winter. But I ran out this year. Garage sales will be starting soon in my area now. There was ONE this last Saturday, but when April gets here there will be more and more. I like to spend my Saturday morning hitting 10 or 12 garage sales. Sometimes I don't buy a thing all morning, sometimes I buy 4 or 5 or 10 things.

Love them too much. With little kids I can say honestly that at least 80 percent of my kids clothes and toys have come from garage sales. Doing this allows me to stay at home with our 3 (will be 4 in November) kids while my husband is a teacher. I really really need to have a garage sale. I have so many collectables, like a 50 gallon tote full of stuffed Boyds that I haven't displayed for 5 years. If you would see my basement, you wouldn't let me near a garage sale, but I can't wait til the season starts again.

Stacie

Hello again, everyone,

If someone wants to haggle, say that you feel that, rather than putting the stuff at the roadside with a "Free" sign, you put a lot of work into setting up, the price is quite low, and that if he's unhappy with the price as marked ...

... that you've found that Good Will offers a decent/higher price on a receipt.

As for putting the stuff into some agency's yard sale ... you have to do about as much digging, sorting, dusting, washing, pricing and packing into boxes to go to another sale as to set up for one of your own, don't you? And you manage your table(s) there, don't you?

Patti43,

What's "OT" ... "Oregon Territory", possibly?

ole joyful