Garage Sale Shoppers are Rude Cheapskates!

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« JLP Responds - Interest-Only Mortgages | Main | Question of the Day - Frugal vs. Cheap »

Garage Sale Shoppers are Rude Cheapskates!

By JLP | April 9, 2007

I’m not saying ALL garage sale shoppers are like this. It’s just my observation from this past weekend’s garage sale.

This past weekend my wife’s family held a garage sale. This was the first time that my wife and I had anything significant to sell. This year we had lots of baby clothes, a double stroller, a swing, a high chair, a bouncer, a pack-n-play and other things. Once these items were all cleaned up they looked brand new.

My wife arrived at her parents’ house at a little after 6 am. She said when she pulled up there were already six other cars there. And, as soon as she opened her car door, EVERYONE else started getting out of their cars and rushing to the garage! LOL!

During the sale, my wife noticed several people rolling their eyes and making faces when they looked at the price of the stroller ($75). I’m sure they were expecting to buy it for $15 so that they could turn around and sell it for $75 to someone else. I get the idea that that’s what a lot of garage sale people do - find stuff cheap and resell it. I’m sure if you’re not in the market for a stroller, $75 would seem expensive. However, ANYONE who is currently shopping for a stroller would recognize that $75 is a good deal for this particular stroller. Eventually most of the baby stuff did get sold for the prices we were asking.

My wife also told me that one lady switched a $1 sticker with a $.25 sticker. Holy cow! How cheap (and ethically-challenged) do you have to be to pull something like that off?

Finally, she also said that people were impatient and pushy when it came time to pay for their stuff. What is it with people? Why do they lose all civility if a “deal” is involved?

Topics: Miscellaneous |

Comments to “Garage Sale Shoppers are Rude Cheapskates!”

BD Says:
April 9th, 2007 at 2:06 pm

Hmm, some comment spam slipped through.

LOL at “saving” $0.75 by swapping stickers and causing a scene. Personally, I value my dignity at more than 75 cents!

JLP Says:
April 9th, 2007 at 2:09 pm

Yeah, I saw that too. It’s gone now.

udandi Says:
April 9th, 2007 at 2:30 pm

painting with a broad brush, eh?!

no doubt some garage sale shoppers are cheapskates, much like some retail shoppers!

samerwriter Says:
April 9th, 2007 at 2:31 pm

I think it’s interesting though. Many of us do the same thing with retail stores daily. I’ll jump through hoops to get the absolute best price when buying something. Many people sign up for bank accounts for a free gift, then close the account. People at slickdeals will wait for a sale on Dell laptops, buy half a dozen of them, and resell them on ebay.

Why is it different when it’s a garage sale? Because we’re the sellers rather than the buyers?

Heck, some forums even have folks who try to pull the equivalent of price-tag switching with an online merchant if they could get away with it, and then they get all indignant when the vendors refuse to honor the price.

Duane Says:
April 9th, 2007 at 2:34 pm

You are better off in most cases to just donate these items to to goodwill or some charity and take the tax deduction. It takes very little time and you get to deduct fair market value, which is rare to get when selling items in a garage sale.

savvy Says:
April 9th, 2007 at 2:36 pm

eh, I personally think items at garage sales should be darn near dirt cheap. I probably wouldn’t pay $75 for a used stroller unless I was absolutely sure there was nothing wrong with it, it had all documents and parts (it’s hard to be sure), and that it hadn’t been recalled.

I don’t spend afternoons trolling for bargains so I can overpay for someone else’s castoffs.

JLP Says:
April 9th, 2007 at 2:44 pm

“I don’t spend afternoons trolling for bargains so I can overpay for someone else’s castoffs.”

Savvy,

I see your point. However, like I said in the post, this stuff was in really good shape and anyone who was in the market for a stroller could see that to be true.

Udandi,

Yeah, I suppose someone could get that idea. I changed the intro so that people don’t get that impression.

Him Says:
April 9th, 2007 at 2:50 pm

But JLP, they’re being FRUGAL.

Who knows THEY’RE PROBABLY ALL MILLIONAIRES. Especially if they live NEXT DOOR.

AllFinancialMatters » Blog Archive » Question of the Day - Frugal vs. Cheap Says:
April 9th, 2007 at 3:08 pm

[...] I ask this because “Him” left the following comment on my post about how I thought Garage Sale Shoppers Were Rude Cheapskates: “But JLP, they’re being FRUGAL. [...]

db Says:
April 9th, 2007 at 4:06 pm

JLP:

Whenever I do yard sales I don’t sticker anything – I wheel and deal on the spot. It’s frazzling but nobody can switch a tag either.

BTW, $75 for a yard sale stroller is pretty steep for a yard sale IMHO. Maybe you should ebay things like that where you want a bigger return.

Craig Says:
April 9th, 2007 at 4:09 pm

For sellers, a garage sale is nothing more than an opportunity to clear out your junk and make a few bucks for your time. It’s not a place to try and maximize your profits…for that use Goodwill, your local classifieds, and eBay. For buyers, it’s either an opportunity to earn a second income from reselling or a chance to buy stuff you really can’t afford elsewhere.

zen Says:
April 9th, 2007 at 8:42 pm

I’ve never viewed garage sales as typically having items worth their value - especially baby items. I expect deals and maybe an odd ball expensive item - my brother-in-law once landed an antique sewing machine for $100, had it cleaned and polished, and the value sky rocketed to ~$500.

When I come across used baby equipment from people I don’t know, I’m hesitant - much like was stated - recalls, missing equipment, and the like - but then again, I wouldn’t cause a seen, I’d haggle to see if *you* really though it was worth $75, and if I didn’t agree, I’d walk away - the nature of the yard sale. As long as you don’t expect exactly what you were asking on all items, you can’t really complain!

Except for price switching. That just eliminates the ‘haggle’ and goes to ‘pirating.’ Generally, we do either a broad price range (this stuff is a $1 or less, $5, $10, etc) or don’t tag anything at all with a general idea of the items that actually are *worth* money.

But my brother-in-law - he is the garage sale king.

Zachary Says:
April 9th, 2007 at 9:07 pm

Civility unfortunately goes out the window quite often when money is involved.

mbhunter Says:
April 9th, 2007 at 11:02 pm

Vultures are everywhere. That’s part of the territory. I’d probably work you down on price, too.

As for the pushiness, yeah it’s rude but they’re there to buy what deals they can and move on to the next sale. It’s no excuse but time is money.

When I get in “garage-sale mode” I don’t really talk much to the sellers. I look around, pick up what I want, pay, and go. Next!

Switching price tags is pretty bush-league, I agree.

As far as buying stuff cheap to re-sell, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. I do it on occasion. I picked up old shop manuals at the Salvation Army for 10 cents each that will easily go for $20 each on eBay. They could have sold them for $10 each, but they didn’t.

As the seller you can settle for any price you want. You don’t have to accept lowballs. However, people will trash-talk your items, roll their eyes at the price, and look at you as if you have three heads for charging $75! It happens all the time. One of the tricks of the trade.

Did you end up selling the stroller? If so, was it closer to $75 or $15?

john Says:
April 10th, 2007 at 8:03 am

This summarizes my opinion of garage sale shoppers: I once had a nice framed piece of art that cost $55. I was selling it for $20, which I thought was a good deal, since it was new and in perfect condition. A lady misread my sticker, and asked, “Will you take a buck fifty instead of $2 for the picture?”

Jeremy Says:
April 10th, 2007 at 9:39 am

I love to go to garage sales, but I don’t think I’ll ever have one myself. I’d rather pile up all the stuff I want to get rid of, soak it in gas and set it on fire than deal with the people coming to buy my stuff.

I just don’t have the patience.

John Says:
April 10th, 2007 at 9:43 am

Thanks for the laugh, Jeremy!

Michelle Hope Says:
April 10th, 2007 at 4:32 pm

After my mom died (I was only 22; my sister was 23), we had to have a huge estate sale to clean out the house so it could be foreclosed upon (yeah, my mom wasn’t so good with her money). People were arguing with me about every dollar. One woman about made me break down crying. She was being very aggressive with me. I told her I was only selling everything because my mom died and my sister and I weren’t living in stable enough situations to keep anything (I was staying with friends at that point). She said, “I’m sorry about that,” and she went right back to haggling with me.

People can really be crappy sometimes.

Tiffany Says:
April 10th, 2007 at 6:14 pm

This is such a funny post! You are pointing out the exact reasons why I haven’t yet had a garage sale (I’m 26). My parents are avid garage salers, and have a garage sale themselves about 3 times/year. I respect their savvy, but I’ve seen some HORRIBLE people come to these sales! I remember someone stealing a bike once that was for sale while my folks had their backs turned, and people almost threatening force if you didn’t take what they felt your stuff was worth!
Sometimes I wonder if I’m making a mistake my not trying to recoup some money instead of donating (because I don’t make enough to itemize my deductions, yet). But at this point in my life, I don’t think I have anything that is worth the pain of a garage sale!

Jonathan Says:
April 10th, 2007 at 7:17 pm

A lot of garage sale people are like that. There’s a difference between being frugal and cheap, and you know what, many of them are the cheapest of cheap.

Hazzard Says:
April 11th, 2007 at 8:59 pm

We had a neighborhood garage sale a couple years ago. I vowed never ever to have a garage sale again. I found that no matter what price we had on things, no matter how ridiculously low, people would refuse to pay that price. Many of the shoppers thought everything in the place should cost .25 cents. It was such a hassle to set things up and then sit there all day that it definitely was not worth it. For the things that we can’t sell on Ebay, or put on Craigslist, we just opt to give them to a charity.

Mighty Bargain Hunter » Roundup for week of 8 April 2007 Says:
April 15th, 2007 at 5:33 am

[...] All Financial Matters loves all garage-sale goers and yard-sale shoppers. Not! [...]

kristi Says:
April 16th, 2007 at 12:41 am

I agree…come on people..my poor dad who is losing his house had two real wood locking file cabinets he bought new in 1982 for 99.99 each. He kept getting “offers” of ten measly bucks each. If they want cheapo stuff, Kmart or Walmart can be had at their checkout. What gives?? Are these potential eBayers looking for a profit??

Frugalist » Cheap Versus Frugal: 21 Humorous (but Common) Mistakes Says:
May 30th, 2007 at 10:13 am

[...] Bargain or Rip off? Switching the price tags on an item at a yard sale might get you a better deal but at what cost? Cheap people are often so focused on bargain hunting that they forget the people they’re hurting in their quest for a deal. Don’t forego morals for saving money. Frugality is something that you do for yourself to save money, not something that you do to someone else to save money. [...]

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Garage Sale Shoppers are Rude Cheapskates!