Thursday, November 10, 2011

Estate Sales

Take a bunch of naturally competitive people who are desperate to get ahold of rare and sometimes valuable treasures, sprinkle in a few crazies and weirdos, add a bit of sleep deprivation/exposure to the elements, and mix in vague, contradicting rules and conventions and you've got a recipe for drama.  Anticipation, disappointment, joy, regret, frustration, conflict - It's all there.

I've only been attending since I bought my first home several months ago, but If you've ever been to an estate sale, you're bound to have a few stories.  There's always the rule-breaker, "the item that got away", fist fights, or people who do some straight-up bizarre stuff.

So let's hear 'em.  What's your best estate sale tale?

My favorite so far was the sale where the family members came in about an hour before the sale started and cleared out all of the decent items in the entire place.  People were LIVID.

source: smugmug

6 comments:

  1. I did a post two or three months ago about the most bizarre guy we've encountered, but just this evening my SIL emailed a guy about a sale that starts in the morning. He said he has no idea what he's going to price things...to come in and talk to him about things in the morning. We're passing on that one. Can you imagine the pandemonium tomorrow morning when all those people come in and he's trying to wheel and deal with about 50 people at one time? If blood isn't shed, it will surprise me.

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  2. I can only imagine. People get so aggressive and worked up about estate sales.

    I was at one a few weeks ago, checking out a pair of vintage Rayban Wayfarers. I had them in-hand and a man walked up and just said, "Give those to me when you are done with them!" I didn't even want them, but I almost bought them just to teach the jerk a lesson.

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  3. I was recently at an estate sale where they would only let you go one way through the house; if you wanted to go back and see something that you had passed, you had to go back outside and go to the back of the line.

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  4. Estate sale can be very interesting. I would probably be pissed too though if I waited outside in the elements, then everything gets cleared out in front of me.

    Bopfish - I can't even imagine a one way traffic estate sale....totally nuts!

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  5. My worst story....sigh....OK....I let my best friend talk me out of a 20.00 wall plate that turned out to be worth over 8,000 dollars. The worst part? Three months later they still ask why I was upset at myself for listening to them and they've still not said they were sorry for not trusting me. Pout.

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  6. LOL. I'd rather check out websites offering estate sales.

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