Featured Ladies and gents it is bad out there in tagsale land

This was an improvement on last week. Sort of.

The tag salers are out there and hungry, but we're not finding much. One area near my house use to be Ground Zero for good tag sales. Now there are just zero. Got up in the middle of the night, so my body says, for a neighborhood sale in the next town. Hit up one sale near the others first that advertised jewelry. It turned out to be a multi-family (kind of like boot sales but much smaller and usually to be avoided) and the jewelry wasn't there yet. Off to a neighborhood sale I went with no hopes up. Just as well - got the map but the sales weren't open yet. Back to the first sale..modern costume at high prices. A lady (ahem) and her familiar who think I'm a waste of oxygen showed up at that sale too and walked empty-handed.

The neighborhood sale was all houses that showed a last sold date of 2012 or later, except for one. I went because that house was there and might make the sleep deprivation worthwhile. Houses that have sold recently tend to have newer stuff and not as much. One guess which sale bailed entirely. I went past the house three times and...no signs of life whatever.

Only the last sale had any jewelry at all. Bought a tangle and paid over the asking, a whole $5. Turns out there was a Spanish-made Tiffany chain in the pile and an 18k chain that weighs a whole gram. Not the worst thing to ever happen. I just wish I"d started there and not wasted the time and gasoline on the rest. Those who were after modern kid/baby stuff made out fine, but the rest of us might as well have stayed in bed.

Hit another no-hope multi-family on the way home and spent $5 on watercolor paper, and a last that advertised old bottles and glass. Zippo there at all, to no one's surprise.

So 18 sales and only two had something really worth buying, and only one other advertised sale (baby stuff and a ways away) anywhere close. And this was a good week.

 

That's tough picking! What an ordeal...

 

Last week was worse. I found precisely one pair of earrings for sale last week. Admittedly they were sterling with gold posts, but it was a true dead zone. Last week I spent $13 total and may break even. May.

 

Its grim here in N. Fl too. One thrift I used to frequent,and one of the few private thrifts left,got a new somebody in there who decided their stuff was priced far too low. They are absolutely crazy now,and of course nothing is moving. I keep hoping they'll get the message but 2 months later ... Goodwill has been picked clean for quite some time now. I refuse to be one of those who shows up the second the doors open. Ergo,I aint finding diddly ! I just cant stand when thrifts are heaving with people.

 

I call GoodWill Ill Will. The local one usually has plenty of empty shelf space for fresh merch, which stays empty. Sometimes you can get lucky but it means getting there when the doors open. If you're there when they "roll carts" later you're doomed to disappointment. For a long time I said I was lucky if I hit $20/month in there; now $20 is a pipe dream unless Target seasonal candy comes in. Some of the prices are stupidly high and some are cheap...because someone priced things at what they're worth.

Last week I saw empty shelves and giant full bins of donations. They all went elsewhere, and any jewelery at all goes on line. I've said it before and will again that I'll be heartily surprised if the store is still there after the current lease ends.

 

Around here there have been some estate sales, but from what I see... junk I do not want.
No tag sales, yard sales, garage sales to speak of. When I first moved here 30 years ago, there were garage sales on almost every block in my neighborhood. All I had to do was drive aound some and look at Craigslist and I was busy till I dropped.
And the estate sales are pitiful.

Oh well saves me some money on gas.

 

Damn your a hard-worker Ruth. It's like a fever in your blood when the antique mosquito bites Us !

 

As someone relatively inexperienced in tagsale land, I have a naive question: How do you explain this dismal state of affairs?

 

@Ghopper1924

I can only say that some has to do with the weather, some has to do with people just not wanting to spend nice weekends in their yards selling stuff, some people have moved taking all the great stuff with them or they already got rid of it years ago. . After covid things changed a lot here. Many estate sales now only do bidding rather than in person. Those are my best guesses.

 

Anyone want some good news? Michigan Tag sales/yard sales/garage sales and flea markets this month have been FANTASTIC! So far this month....

Gorham Chantilly sterling set (flea market). Paid $400. Scrapped for $2755.00
Gucci Driving Shoes (New) (yard sale). Paid $30. Sold for $450.
2 Smith Corona Clipper vintage typewriters (yard sale). Paid $30. Sold for $450 EACH
12 vintage slot cars paid $10 (flea market). Sold for $955.00
64 Pieces Waterford Lismore Wine Glasses (yard sale). Paid $100. Sold for $875.
Box lot of 35mm film 1990's point-and-shoot cameras (auction). Paid. $40. Sold total $875
Little Eva cast iron stove (yard sale). Paid $25. Sold for $300
Suzuki Omnicord Synthesizer (flee market). Paid $50. Sold for $479.
Tub of 45 different vintage 1980's & 90's fire fighter t-shirts from New York (yard sale). All came from different fire stations. Paid $15 for all. Haven't listed yet!!

I now have a 60-day backlog of inventory to get rid of.
I did pay full asking price for all items.

 

Holy Moley.

 

WOW! Michigan looks like it was here about 15 years ago. The t-shirts here would never make it to a tag sale. They'd know what they had and not put it out. I vote we move to Michigan. That's where all the stuff went!

I'd bet on a combination of things.

The Antiques Road Show Effect, of course. People look up anything they think is worth money and then figure out quick that yardsale prices are about 10-25% of retail. I think antiques head to auction or stay in the house, and items with eBay price pages attached don't sell. People find that one out the hard way. I had one woman tell me today that her grandma's old costume jewelry is valuable and will go to an antique dealer for evaluation. It won't be out at a tag sale. I found a bit of silverplate today, but even the flatware was stainless. (cued a reseller in on some in the box still in their plastic, because some stainless sells. Bet that vanishes next.)

Around here they're too busy to bother. People are too overscheduled to throw a yard sale, unless they're staying at home with little kids. Or even if they're not; kids outgrow a pile of stuff quickly. That's why kid s*** stuff sales abound when others are thin on the ground or nonexistant. I once saved a nice mid-60s factory art painting from the dumpster when a family cleaned out a house and just tossed everything. Didn't even donate. Just threw it.

No one wants to deal with it, including antiques. Just can't be arsed, even if they have the time. Sometimes they publish one and bail for whatever reason. I'd love to know why one family wasn't in today's tag sale. THeir house was on the map, but even at 10AM the house was closed up tight. No one home and the paper on the lawn.

The economy is scaring some. They're keeping what they have instead of going out and buying new. This year was supposed to be good for sales. Not around here it isn't.

 

Big Congrats Vitry-Great eye & awesome scores sir ! This is a total anomaly in my part of the country-1970's to 80's selling prices for the West Coast.

 

how did u even know know to pick up the slot cars ......?

good eye ....good times......

will u take me shopping someday ???....

 

Been selling since '99. Plus it came with 40 or so Testors paint bottles with 19 cents on the caps. I knew it was sumfin' special!

 

Of course, I have to mention the days when I found absolutely nothing!

 

Most in my area of NE Ohio USA are terrible for my interests, and have been for quite some time. The majority of the good stuff goes to online auction platforms, and I don't like bidding on items to resell, especially when there are a ton of collectors trolling around.

Most of the in-person sales are cookie-cutter, cleaned out sales with a lot of furniture pieces and staged miscellaneous items. One company I refuse to even go to brings in shelves and puts all of the smaller items on them. The guy looks everything up on eBay (asking prices, from what I gather) and prices accordingly. No thanks. I'm a digger and love filthy basements full of hidden treasures. Gone are the days of filling a box with goodies and getting a price on the whole box.

My resale business is in the dumps

 

Ditto Sabre-I don't have to sell anymore to eat (thank **** God !). Generally the market's constantly being stripped clean-too much free available data out there for amateurs & pros (& picking shows).
Vitry's monthly finds in todays world are IMHO-a pickers Tut's Tomb,at least in my part of the world.

 

Sidebar.......

Here's a thought....
I wonder, if I went to thrifts in your area..... any of you..... & you came to thrifts..sales... in my area......... if you would find items that I'd miss, and I'd find items that you'd pass by...???

Same goes for local sales....... would the stuff I put out in my yard sale..... be grabbed up....in your area..???

Just a thought.........

 

I don't attend many garage/estate sales as I find them too hit or miss and I am not necessarily a morning person.... I am finding more merchandise at the thrifts of late as the leftovers from these sales make their way in. Some of the items I buy have garage sale stickers still on them. I often hit the thrifts between 2:00 and 4:00 PM to get a shot at the second wave of new merchandise for the day. I am sure that I am missing a lot by not hitting the opening times. However, there is less competition the way I do it. The early bird does not always get the worm.