'Yard Sale' Economy

**disneysteve** · 01-02-2008, 12:09 PM

Sounds great to me. We love shopping at yard sales, flea markets and thrift shops. It won't be yard sale season around here for 3 more months, but we'll definitely be out hunting for bargains when the time comes. DD needs a "new" bike so that will be first on our list.

**Joan.of.the.Arch** · 01-02-2008, 12:54 PM

For those of you comfortable with pawn shops, I imagine they will be seeing an increase of goods too. In December the pawn shops had more bikes than I'd ever seen. Pawn shops often have a lot of the things that those big four car garages might be stuffed with. Besides bicycles, that might be things like--chain saws, lawn mowers, hedge trimmers, ping-pong tables, skis, tennis rackets, generators, blade sharpeners, power saws of all kinds, tile cutters, tool sets, engine hoists, rototillers.... Some can be a good lace to pick up music instruments. Funny, I never see modern electronics in pawn shops, though.

I need some furniture and will be keeping an eye out at the sales come spring. I've already been watching internet listings.

**MonkeyMama** · 01-03-2008, 08:46 AM

I've had my eye on a 3rd car - sports car. ANyway, I Always figured maybe spend $5k in a few years. I saw some pretty decent buys in the $3k-$4k range lately. I started looking after seeing a blog that pointed out the desparate listings on Craigslist. Of course we live in foreclosure central.

I am with you Joan. Might be a good time to buy some used furniture as well. If things continue like this we will certainly jump on some deals.

This is the upside I guess to living in the land of super expensive. We have always had a pretty strong yard sale economy. I think this is one reason I am much less wary of used cars than the average forum member. There are so many to be had here in tip top shape because the previous owners got bored after a year or 2. I can't imagine buying new with this abundance of "barely used" inventory.

But the recent price drops are amazing. No one's buying; everyone's selling. Woohoo for us.

**scfr** · 01-03-2008, 03:29 PM

Guess how I plan on furnishing my new house (once I've bought it)?

Craigslist, yard sales, etc, here we come!

**LuxLiving** · 01-04-2008, 07:41 AM

Perhaps we should all heed...

"Buy what thou hast no need of; and e’er long thou shalt sell thy necessaries." ~~Benjamin Franklin as Poor Richard

**filifefc** · 01-04-2008, 07:51 AM

craigslist is the best for finding good deals on used items. I always check on there for used furnitures that are in good conditions.

**Joan.of.the.Arch** · 01-04-2008, 08:07 AM

I'm watching Craiglist for the furniture I need and see some nice stuff offered there. But locally, it seems like people have awfully high stated prices, some of which are firm. Then I see some of that stuff linger unsold for weeks, even months on end, getting constantly reposted. Friends in west coast cities have gotten amazing deals off Craiglist, but I do not find them in my midwest city. Boo-hoo.

**filifefc** · 01-04-2008, 09:47 AM

If you live near major cities, it's great. Like in NYC, many people (especially young ones) are always moving for many reasons, and most of the times, it doesn't make sense for them to pay to move the furnitures. A lot of people would sell their furnitures for very little, you just have to look.

**cicy33** · 01-05-2008, 01:23 PM

I love to yard sale but have noticed in my area the past couple of years that the prices are rising steadily and not reasonably. I mean come on a tshirt for a $1!!!! and not even a great one. just a regular one. Its like people are trying to have a second income not just trying to get rid of stuff. Every now and then I come across one that is really great! and I am so excited but I used to see them all the time. Jeans are $5 and up. I can buy them new for $15. I understand furniture and stuff but the regular stuff is just getting ridiculous. I had a yard sale two years ago and everything was .25. everything. I just wanted to get rid of stuff. I sold a lot but did not get rich but that was okay. and people were shocked at the prices. I was thinking, isn't that fairly normal pricing for yard sales? Does anyone else notice the price increase?

**disneysteve** · 01-05-2008, 01:38 PM

Originally posted by cicy33 View Post

I love to yard sale but have noticed in my area the past couple of years that the prices are rising steadily and not reasonably. Does anyone else notice the price increase?

Absolutely. That is the ebay effect. Ebay turned everyone into a dealer and gave everyone an easy way to look up what their stuff is "worth". So now people price their yard sale items based on prices they see on ebay. The problem is price is not just based on what the item is. It is also based on the venue. I expect to pay more for a vintage doo-dad at an antique store, where they have rent, utilties, insurance and salaries to pay than at a yard sale where they might have spent $20 for an ad and a couple of signs on the telephone poles. On ebay, sellers spend time photographing and listing their items, managing their auctions, pay ebay and paypal fees, pack and ship the items. They deserve a higher price than someone selling at a yard sale. I used to buy tons of stuff at yard sales and resell it on ebay. That has gotten harder and harder as yard sale prices have steadily risen to match ebay prices.

'Yard Sale' Economy