On Knowing the Value of What You're Going to Buy

When hosting a garage or yard sale it's always important to evaluate the importance of selling an item versus receiving "top dollar" for it. Sometimes Mom & I would peruse a sale & basically say to one another, "It doesn't look like they really want to part with their things. An item which might have made the most sense being a dollar, was marked for $3.00, maybe $5.00.

Mom & I weren't big on bartering either. We might see something &, if it were marked for say, $4.00, & we thought it could be something good for us, yet didn't really want to spent four. whole. dollars., we might question the sale's host, "Would you take $3.00 for this?" Or, even less.

It's also good to know the value for the condition of anything you might be looking to get. This was helpful during my yarn purchasing phase. I knew which brands (some were super old) like Wintuk & Murphy's Mart, weren't worth much at all. While some, like Red Heart, Caron, & Lion Brand, are. I'd also have to scope out to be certain the yarns weren't smelling of four-legged friends, or just having been stowed away in a damp area & reek of bad moisture.

If you're checking out your neighborhood's yards for a first apartment's (or dorm room's) furnishings, then you might be looking for a kitchen table or modest dining table. You also might be looking for a simple couch. End tables optional 😂. You might be looking for one of these, or any of these. You'll have to decide (possibly based on how many visitors you expect you might have) how dinged up you care that the furniture is, or maybe you'll decide the shape or size of the furniture you find wins over.

One year I desperately desired to get a dining table, that was wooden, that came with four matching wooden chairs. Dad came along with Mom & I this particular Saturday. Mom's list of garage sales included more than one multi-family neighborhood. Dad figured it might be a good day for tools & other items which perked his interest. Dad kept joking that, once we found the table & chairs I wanted, we'd find them at every sale.

Sure enough, I happened to notice a wooden table & chairs like this; I was sold. Mom was so thrilled for me that she paid for them. Five bucks a chair & the table was twenty; the set was forty bucks as a whole. That's priced to sell; we found no reason to barter.

We came upon this yard sale after walking through a few streets of this neighborhood's sales. The next three houses following this one all participated in the neighborhood sale too. And each of the three had a complete kitchen/dining room table & matching chairs. Dad couldn't stop chuckling. The thrill for me was that the one I'd gotten was what I'd been looking to get; I'd not settled for less.

At another garage sale, on another day when Dad decided to tag along, we came upon a couple. There were numerous tools & tool storage units. Mom gave Dad the go-ahead to pick out what he'd use & decide how much he wanted to spend. He quickly realized that it was the woman selling the tools & not the man who sat with her, obviously, literally supporting her. She negotiated all of it with Dad, though it was obviously a strain for her at times. Dad decided their story must have been that the man was dating the woman who'd lost her husband & it was her husband's tools that she was parting with, which was her apparent & obvious emotional struggle. The man encouraged her softly & well.

Whenever Dad would find a few things, he'd ask about the price, suggesting an offer. She mainly agreed, for the most part increasing his suggestion amount by just a few dollars. Then Dad would see a few more things & ask to add them on to the already set amount. If she added more dollars on, it was fewer each time, to the point that Dad spent a "garage sale 'boatload'" while there, on many things he knew he could use. We filled the back of the minivan with all of these tools & supplies. Dad gleamed the whole way back to their house. ...in much the same way he gleams when Mom lets him stop at a roadside vendor selling fresh peaches.

It was a good thing that garage saling day wasn't the same as the one where I found my table & chairs. The back of the minivan could only hold so much! 😂

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