Featured A bird figurine I picked up at a garage sale years ago

It was in the free box. Just sharing.

 

Lovely little piece.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/126216765173

 

Nice freebie!

 

Jens Peter Dahl-Jensen

 

Very sweet, and very Danish with that colour scheme and beautiful glaze.

 

Thanks for the ID Marote and Tiquer!

 

It amazes me sometimes what people think are worthless items that end up in a free box and at the same, ask near retail prices for things I wouldn't take if they paid me. Also why someone else hadn't grabbed it. Maybe most people don't recognize a valuable piece.

About 20 years ago I stopped where there were boxes by the side of the road marked FREE. Probably leftovers from someone's garage sale. I picked up 3 Goofus glass vases that no one else had recognized as vintage glass.

 

A resale shop near my work closed one year while I was out Xmas shopping. I was in my 2 door Jeep Wrangler. I pulled over when I saw boxes and tubs out by the road. In one tub I could see a vintage Hot Wheels redline.. I packed every single box into my Jeep that would fit. There were so many items of value in that score. It's days like that when I'm proud of my insanity.

 

Apparently there were 2 birds. The figurine is known as the "Pessimist" because its tail is pointed downwards.The "Optimist" version has its tail pointing up. I have the "pessimist".

 

Nice

 

Another find in a garage sale freebie box - a barn motif teapot:

 

I would have done the same thing. Kept the good stuff, and the rest could get donated somewhere.

 

I don't "normally" dumpster dive or curbside pick. But, there have been a few occasions. A notable occasion was about 15 years ago on our street. It is a very quiet neighborhood in a recreational area; although our home is within the city limits. One of the summer cottages on our street was owned by an elderly gentleman, who was a noted sportsman in the community. He lived nearby, but out in the country and he told us that he was moving to the cottage that fall. He built a big 2 stall garage that summer; but never moved in. He and his wife never had any children. It turns out that he'd had a stroke and went in a nursing home and his wife was also infirmed.

So for years that cottage sat as they left it. Maybe 5 years later, I noticed a big dumpster next to the garage and thought..."something was cooking"! But weeks passed and there was no activity. On 4th of July, we were on our way out for the day; but I noticed trucks and people about. When we came home late in the day the dumpster was full.

Our street doesn't even have any streetlights... or people... so I decided to check out the dumpster. I pulled armloads of stuff - vintage fabric and lace, local collectible items, art and craft supplies, a BEAUTIFUL Deco era black and white enamel ring box (which I shouldn't have sold right away) along with dozen's of other items.

So meanwhile the dumpster sat there - no more activity. Finally a small sign went up. I never saw any other advertisements about it; but the sign stated that the property would go up for auction on such and such a day. Under that in small print it stated that the house would be open for viewing on such and such a day (a few days before the sale of the house) and under that in very tiny print: Contents of the house will be sold the day before the cottage auction. OK, cool!

So, the day came for the viewing and of course, I had to go. Partly to see what the inside of the cottage was like, what - if anything - was for sale inside AND to see who my new neighbor might be. Although the cottage had contents, they had thrown out EQUALLY, if not nicer items in the dumpster already. Interesting. The "crew" who was responsible for pricing what was left took pre-printed stickers and apparently without rhyme or reason stuck whatever sticker they saw first on the items that remained. Of course, nothing was for sale that day; but, I had my eye on a couple items.

The next day was the sale of the cottage contents. I normally, am NEVER the first person at a sale - just don't want to fight over items and I prefer to take my time and look around when things have slowed down. BUT, this was on my street and I KNEW what I wanted... so I took my lawn chair to get there first. Not a lot of people were there when the door opened, but I'd instructed hubby as to what to look for in the bedroom - ONE item marked $5. I had my eye on two other items in the other bedroom and whatever else I saw that was still available that I'd liked.

In hot pursuit behind my husband was aggressive Mr. Picker #1 - my hubby got to the item first and aggressive Mr. Picker #1 offered him $10 for it, my husband declined.

I got the jewelry box I was interested in, full of jewelry for $5 - which included the 5 diamond (small diamonds) deco wedding band that probably came in the black and white enamel Deco ring box - which I'd unfortunately already sold. I ended up with a few other great items for dirt cheap. A huge box of 1950's hats for $5 and two 50's prom dresses for about $2 each. Also a wonderful "text book" from 1930 which was instructional home decor - that included samples of wallpaper and photos of coordinating carpet and linoleum (even though it was a small book, it weighed a ton!) But the coveted item that aggressive Picker #1 STILL asks if I'll sell him; is a beautifully made "folk art" Fox cleaver with the tail for a handle...worth at least a couple hundred and more with the past owner's provenance (he was very well known in town).

Now the rest of the story: The next day was the sale of the cottage. We went over early and just happened to walk into the yard behind "dude" in charge. I'd encountered him at past sales and auctions and didn't like how he ran things. So as he enters the yard - he starts yelling at staff: "what are all these ^&**%%^* flags up for?? who put them here?" I answered, "the old man who lives next door who has mowed the lawn here for decades, undoubtedly put them up to keep people from parking on the lawn". He never acknowledged me, but kept yelling at staff. "Is the cottage empty? No? Get all that CRAP out of there and into the garage... get rid of ALL of it before the auction!!! You have 1/2 hour!!"

So you guessed it: staff went into overdrive hauling what was left in the house out to the garage. I instructed hubby to go back to our house (3 houses down) and bring his truck...where as they GAVE us whatever we were willing to take. I got a beautiful Sears all metal heavy duty sewing machine in a cabinet - working condition; vintage Christmas decorations; more vintage clothing; household items; art supplies; a number of nice paintings that the lady of the house had done....

My final statement: this "dude" auctioneer should be avoided by heirs like the plague; as he clearly doesn't care a whit about contents, treats his staff like trash AND he has no scruples about auction protocol. He'll sell stuff right out from under someone's feet if he feels like it. On the other hand; if you can stomach being near him...you can probably get a good deal on something.

Cheerio,
Leslie

 

Wow!

 

WOWWOWWOW - I'm betting the stuff they tossed would have sold for almost as much as the house if done properly, but then you wouldn't have hit the score of a lifetime. It's not often you can just say 'back the truck up!"

 

Last spring, a neighbor passed away. I was able to "rescue" some items that ended up in a dumpster or set by the curbside. I got some heavy tables for my garage sale that another neighbor help carry to my garage (no pics of them) and some other "smalls".

 

I'm sure @evelyb30 !! The way he handles sales just doesn't make sense to me and although this particular sale had to go through probate (as there were only a few cousins); the fact that he dissed so much of the estate infuriated me! I've disbursed many estates and we tried our BEST to recoup every dime of the estate for the decedents... this guy just made me mad!

I offered to walk through another estate for a young friend of mine. I told her that I'd give her suggestions as to what had value and what didn't; and I wanted nothing for my services. She chose not to. They had the Amish come in and do an auction - and I get that - as they had a lot of farm equipment and machinery, barn items, etc. BUT, the house was full of collectibles and old country items.

The house was our good friend's relation - through the woods from his property and off the main road. I knew they had moved a dumpster in and I was curious as to what they dumped. So, picking berries one day, I wandered back there and @@ eyeballs popped out of my head! The HUGE dumpster was absolutely full! And come to find out, the friend had "helped" by patting down the stuff in the dumpster with the back hoe! So the collectible statuary on top was smashed!

Well, I _had_ to look! I pulled out musical instruments, scouting gear, collectibles, vintage fabric and trims, a huge box of vintage 1900's Christmas ornaments, all dry items... the list was massive! I filled my van. Then went home and called the friend (he was working) and told him what I'd done and he said "they won't care - they threw it out!" Apparently, they didn't.

So, I guess sometimes, it pays off to be in the right spot at the right time.
Cheerio,
Leslie

 

Backhoe!((sob!)) It's too bad you didn't have a semi and couldn't just haul off everything bu the busted stuff.