Yard Sales, Thrift Stores and Flea Markets

[Mr. DS]

Do you go to yard sales, flea markets or thrift stores?  I do whenever I can.  I find stuff that is either useful to me or stuff I can flip online for a minor profit all at a decent price.   I bought a really nice pocket knife the other day for $1.  It probably retails in the store for $20 and up. 

Are you a person who pays full price or will talk people down?   I tend to talk people down if I can.

[Derf]

I don't normally go to yard sales, but I love flea markets and thrift stores. I love finding "junk" and fixing it up into something nice. I've done that with much of the furniture in my house. I also like finding half-broken knick-knacks and cannibalizing them, making something useful out of trash, and then selling them. I must admit, though, that I don't normally try to talk down the prices. I'm more of an act-like-I'd-like-it-but-not-at-that-price kind of guy. I let the owners offer me a lower price, which I normally take. I don't make an offer.

[The Burgomaster]

We go occasionally.  As for yard sales, I have rarely, if ever, found anything I wanted to buy.  I sometimes find stuff at flea markets, but not often.  But I enjoy looking around.  I think the last thing I bought at a flea market was a metal file cabinet (the kind they have in office buildings).  That was probably 7 - 10 years ago and I think I paid about 10 bucks for it.  We still have it and its full of documents like old income tax returns. 

[Jack]

Never go to flea markets or garage sales.  We have a neighborhood garage sale here once a year and I can usually get a few pennies on the dollar for selling old junk I haven't used in years    As far as haggling the price, there's a rather loud and self-assured salesman at work who charges a percentage of however much he saves you for going along while you're buying a car.  I always use him since I have an extreme aversion to that stuff myself.  He's a really nice and funny guy actually, just a consummate alpha-male.

[Venomx73]

I go to Columbus farmers market (inside/outside flea market)

We often buy a huge jar of local blueberry honey and then inside some pizza for lunch!

Outside you can find some cool deals, old Gameboy games, NES, Atari... workout equipment, etc...

[tracy]

I love them all...you can sift through some junk and find some good stuff.

[FatFreddysCat]

I love hittin thrift shops, flea markets and yard sales. I'm usually lookin' for cheap CDs and/or DVDs but I've also picked up my share of other random junk.

[Pilgermann]

I haven't been to a yard sale in a long time but I do love thrift stores and flea markets.  It's fun looking through junk that people have for sale.  I'm about to head out to vendor's mall right now, yay!

[Newt]

Yes!  We have found some fun/cool/unusual/useful stuff at sales.  (I come home with a lot of books, usually)  We save a lot of money that way, too.   I tend to be like Derf - I let the seller suggest a lower price.  My husband is the make-an-offer guy.

One weekend years ago, I did make an offer: on a rather top-notch pony saddle.  And got it.  (It was still a good chunk of cash) Then later the same day, I had to keep my mouth shut when my husband made a deal on a boat and trailer he spotted on the way home.  Fair is fair!

[JaseSF]

I'm soon having a yard sale of my own actually where yes there will be a few bad movies for sale no doubt. Honestly I rarely go to them myself simply because I rarely carry cash. Did use to visit flea markets back when I lived in the city.

[Allhallowsday]

I have always been lazy about thrift stores and yard sales, but I do go to both and sometimes find something to buy.  Flea markets are a project for me as I have to get through all of it as quickly as possible.  That does not rule out second look.  I sometimes find stuff to resell...  the best is when stuff is out on junk night... I find great things trashed and resell them at the flea market...  

I do like used record stores... many are boring, but sometimes you can really find things... antique consortium can have buys.  Vintage clothing stores can be interesting, though I haven't been in one of those in a very long time.   I was always in those used record stores... and head shops.    

...Are you a person who pays full price or will talk people down?   I tend to talk people down if I can.

If I have the opportunity to dicker, I'm unashamed to go there. 

[Mr. DS]

Quote from: Mr. DS on July 09, 2012, 07:36:44 AM
...Are you a person who pays full price or will talk people down?   I tend to talk people down if I can.

If I have the opportunity to dicker, I'm unashamed to go there. 

I find if you do it respectfully people generally budge.  At yard sales I usually use "I was on a walk and only have a dollar, will you take that?"

[bob]

I had a garage sale about a month ago. You'd be surprised how many people are trying to negotiate over stupid things. The best example is that there were more than a few people trying to buy items that were a buck for 50 cents.

Really? You're too damn cheap to spend that extra 50 cents.

[the ghoul]

I love thrift stores, flea markets, and antique stores.  I usually don't go to the flea markets and antique stores anymore unless I am out-of-town.  I live in Las Vegas, and this isn't the best place to find cool old stuff reasonably priced.  Back east you can find very cool antique stores with flea-market prices and lots of room to haggle.  Especially if you explore the small towns and rural areas.

The garage sales around here are a complete waste of time.  I gave up on that.  When I lived back east, it was a completely different story.  Lots more people there have cool old things to sell.

I really love ebay.  It may not have the same charm or thrill of the chase as picking through garage sales, flea markets and antique stores, but you can't beat the selection and availability.  It's also the only way to really get my fix in this town.

[claws]

They don't do yard sales here in Germany (none that I'm aware of) and thrift stores are rare for some reason. However, flea markets are blooming and always drawing huge crowds.
That said, I do not go to flea markets unless I'm selling stuff which I did a few times back in the mid 90s. We sold old useless and even broken junk (stuff I personally wouldn't have taken for free) and made quite some money. I also sold about 90% of my vinyl collection for good money, something I do regret now.