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A friend had a rummage sale with stamping stuff as well as clothing and household items.
First I was shocked at how cheap people were. There were 3 deep edge MS punches and she only wanted $5 each. One woman asked if she would take $2 each and she said no. Another woman offered to pay $10 for all three. She said no and both women walked away. She told me she would give them to charity before she would sell them that cheap
Her prices were dirt cheap and the stuff was in mint condition . She had SU paper, SU & other stamps, ribbon and a lot of other things. i don't think she sold $10 in craft things. There were a lot of shoppers as it was held in an open market where you rent a space. She sold some clothing and quite a few household things but almost no craft items. The people who were a bit interested wanted them free.
I walked around to other tables and people were doing the same thing to them.
Almost everywhere I heard people saying will you take 1/2 or less than half of the price that was marked. And not one thing that I saw was over priced . sheesh
__________________ "I have not failed . I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" --Thomas A. Edison
I remember years ago I had a yard sale and I had a pair of purple suede little girls boots. they had little flowers embroidered on them. I had paid about $20 for them just 6 months previously. Had them marked for $4 at the yardsale (they were in perfect condition) a lady tried to talk me down to .50! I am not kidding....I basically told her the same thing....that I'd donate them before I would sell them for that cheap. In the end she walked away...I came to the conclusion that she was a thrift store owner (Virgina has a lot of privately owned thrift stores) trying to get a steal so she could turn around and sell them for $15.
I am amazed at how cheap people can be. I'm doing a fundraising yard sale in a couple of weeks and I hope people aren't going to be too cheap. Only time will tell!
__________________ Shellie G
Aspire to be a better person than you were yesterday
Interesting idea . I never thought that these people may be trying to get the stuff so cheap to resell it. Hum-m-m
Maybe they planned to resell it on e-bay.
__________________ "I have not failed . I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" --Thomas A. Edison
She has never sold on e-Bay and didn't want to bother. She was just purging her over stocked craft room. I did tell her about the Ronald McDonald house craft room . She may send the stuff there
__________________ "I have not failed . I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work" --Thomas A. Edison
It would be better to donate the items and take the write off than sell them that cheap! Especially when churches and schools can use those craft items for really wonderful purposes. But maybe you guys are right and they are buying to resell.
__________________ Be polite to those who are rude to you. Not because they are nice, but because you are.
Owner- Gina K. Designs
There are a lot of things that can factor into what price to charge and the price people are willing to pay for used craft items.
If this event was billed as a rummage sale, that does imply used and cheaper stuff, therefore people want to pay less for the items.
Also depending on the location in the country or even local location can make a difference of what people want to or can pay for used items.
What we feel the craft tools are worth is based usually on what we paid for them. At an open air event, people looking are going to be of a different mind set.
Frankly, if the seller really didn't want the items anymore, the $10 for the 3 punches isn't a bad deal. You're getting something for items you no longer want.
Having to pack up the stuff again and cart it somewhere else to ask if they want the donation, may be more hassel than it's worth.
My neighborhood (somewhat higher end and desireable) has a neighborhood-wide garage sale a couple of times each year that's heavily attended and advertised. We learned a long time ago, that it wasn't worth our time to participate in putting out anything. We take care of our stuff and tried selling perfect condition items for excellant prices. Each and every time, people tried to talk us down to basically giving the items to them for free. We said no every time. We ended up donating quite a bit to local churches and charities for the tax write-off. They needed the stuff and we got the tax benefits. In some cases, people just don't know what a good deal they were already being offered, but in most cases, they were just cheap and wanted everything for free.
Well I have to admit I always try to bargain at garage sales/rummage sales.
I think that selling craft items/stamping items is best where people know the worth of something. I sell my old items at my LSS garage sales that they host a few times a year. I price my stuff at 50-75% off the retail price and have never had a problem getting rid of everything---and of course no bartering LOL!
Another option for donating is care homes. They are in desparate need of these kinds of things and so very appreciative. There are 4 in my immediate neighbourhood and they know they have to take turns. They probably trade back and forth between themselves now.
__________________ �:*�*:�My next house won't have a kitchen. Just a bunch of vending machines and garbage cans.�:*�*:�
My parents were professional garage sellers. I think that is the term. I am tired so they might have been something else, lol. They held several professional garage sales when I was growing up. Made insane amounts of money. I can tell some stories of how hateful and greedy people are at these sales. Most of them, I do mean most are dealers. I think with Ebay it has gotten a lot worse. I wouldn't be surprised if those women were dealers who were going to turn around and sale those punches for an exorbitant amount of money.
geogymnast82- On my frugality forums I hear stories after stories of women who go to the higher end neighborhood garage sales. These women have this mindset that if you live in an higher end area you have no common sense and can't price anything right. Either you price too low or to high. There is even several articles written about this in magazines and books. It just seriously ticks me off about this mindset. I think it's judgmental as all get out.
I am grumpy this morning, lol. Garage sales are just a huge pet peeve of mine because of my parents. I will never have one. I hardly can go to one and then when I do I pay the asking price.
And it's not just garage sales. I had listed some supplies and tools on Craigslist. Punches that were originally $16 I put for $5, and someone emailed me from halfway across the country and wanted to get them for $2 each...or she would take all 8 off my hands for $12! I told her no, needless to say!
I had a sale last week and did very well. I had a lot of name brand kids clothes that sold $2-5 each (some still with tags), craft items anywhere from 50-75% off. I sold tons & tons of both. I did sell a lot and only a few people asked for less one I accepted the other I said $3 for a brand new swim suit with tags she wanted $2 - told her if she wanted to come back the next day if still there then I would look at $2 (it was within an hour of opening). ... she said no that is ok & paid the $3.
I did see a local kids clothing consignment store owner there checking out prices - she didn't buy anything at those prices, but her kid talked her into a book & toy! LOL! The prices were still at least 50% less than the shoppers would have paid for the same item at her store.
Last year a group of local stampers got together and sold a bunch of our retired stuff at a garage sale. We advertised it as a Retired SU! Sale so most of the people coming were there for that. If anyone tried to haggle the girl running it just told them that there was merchandise from other people there and she wasn't able to make deals on the prices.
We had a garage sale last spring and it was a lot of work for not that much money. We were trying to purge so I did let some things go for less than marked. I was just happy to be rid of some of the items. I did not sell any stamping stuff though. There just aren't enough stampers in my area.
The last garage sale we ever had, we put out a bunch of gallon-sized ziploc bags with assorted happy meal toys & that sort of thing for 25� each - thinking that if there were any kids shopping with their parents, they might like to buy something like that.
Couldn't believe it when people wanted to open the bags and switch toys with other bags. For a quarter. Yeesh.
I would have bought those three punches for $10 in a heartbeat LOL! ... but I would have asked if they'd take something a bit lower first and if declined, I'd have paid full price. Aren't the basics of haggling as follows:
1. The seller asks more than he/she wants.
2. The buyer offers less than he/she is willing to pay.
3. Finally, a successful sale price results somewhere in the middle that both parties can live with?
Interesting thread. I find a lot of people are starting to overprice yard sale/flea market/garage sale items in hopes of a quick buck. There's an area of my province that always puts on a "50 Mile Yard Sale" every year. It was good the first couple of years but then more commercial vendors jumped on the bandwagon as opposed to someone just purging unused stuff from the home. It is still popular but I rarely go because I find the truly good deals were getting few and far between.
Maybe I'm getting tighter and cheaper as my family budget continues to become tighter and tighter. I'm also irritated by companies that offer "great sales" or "clearance prices" or "close out prices" and the prices end up being a mere 10% off. To me, a decent sale is at least 20%, a "clearance" means at least 30%, and "close out" means at least 4%, if not more.
__________________ Leslie Harnish
Sambro, Nova Scotia
Canada
I have learned to price my stuff anywhere from $5 to $10 dollars ( like for large furniture ) higher than I am willing to accept when I have a garage sale. In the area I live people just want to feel like they are getting a deal. I don't mind a little price haggling. But it has to be reasonable.
When I finally decided to get rid of all the Baby Gap baby clothes I'd been hanging on to; as well as stuff like the Saucer with toys, bouncy bassinet etc....I cleaned everything very well, washed all the clothes and priced the clothes anywhere from $1-$2 depending on condition.
I had two 6 foot tables FULL of rompers, onesies, cute little bib outfits etc. One lady came through early on; completely messed up both tables yanking outfits from here and there, leaving piles of clothes stacked up so you couldn't see anything and had about $15 dollars worth of my stuff in her hands. Then asked if I would take $2 for all of it!
I said NO. Then spent 20 minutes putting everything back in order.
A little later a pregnant lady came and went nuts over what a GREAT DEAL all my clothes were!! She bought almost all of it, didn't ask for any price drops....kept telling her husband what a steal it all was!
That's the best yard sale I've ever had. Most of the bigger things were priced $10 higher than I'd accept and I was able to happily "haggle" with interested buyers.
But as for craft supplies...I almost never try to sell them at yard sales anymore. Tried once. Had people only interested in paying PENNIES for stuff. I will check Ebay first and see if a particular stamp set is selling out there, if so, how many and for how much. If I see some interest then I'll list it there. I will also try the B/S/T forum out here. The only time it goes in a yard sale is when I just want it out of my house; I see no interest in it other places and I'm okay with getting 50 cents for it.
May as well chip in with my Yard Sale story from a couple of weeks ago. We participated in the 400 mile yardsale, I have a relative on the route so they set up and let us set up alongside. We have loads of things but we set out a mint condition set of six vintage tumbler/mugs - I priced them at $10 lady tried to haggle, I said no. Went home and found them for sale on the internet for $42.
Yeah, people want something for nothing and to moan about it if you don't give it to them. I'm over it. I'm either going to deal directly with consignment/used book/used record shops etc or give it charity for the write off. Bad behavior by the majority of "buyers" is pushing my hand - they can pay more for it and I will be happy to get less just not to give in to their greediness.
As for craft stuff - I would rather give it to the school etc. than give it to a greedy "buyer"
Last edited by RiverIsis; 06-14-2011 at 05:53 AM..
I had a garage sale in April, and I did very well. I did price my craft items to go. Frankly, it's not doing me any good if it's being stored in a box in the basement. I felt that my storage space is more valuable than my need to hoard.
The truth is that WE may feel that our items are very valuable, but the only value an item has is what the market will bear. Let's face it. Some of these items have been flooding the markets. You really can't consider how much you paid for it. You have to consider how much a new buyer would be willing to pay for it.
After reading what I just wrote, I think it has the same tone as what a realtor would tell you about your house. Sound advice for both!
I had a garage sale in April, and I did very well. I did price my craft items to go. Frankly, it's not doing me any good if it's being stored in a box in the basement. I felt that my storage space is more valuable than my need to hoard.
The truth is that WE may feel that our items are very valuable, but the only value an item has is what the market will bear. Let's face it. Some of these items have been flooding the markets. You really can't consider how much you paid for it. You have to consider how much a new buyer would be willing to pay for it.
After reading what I just wrote, I think it has the same tone as what a realtor would tell you about your house. Sound advice for both!
But would you sell your house for a quarter? Because I think this isn't the market value, this is predatory behavior.
My parents were professional garage sellers. I think that is the term. I am tired so they might have been something else, lol. They held several professional garage sales when I was growing up. Made insane amounts of money. I can tell some stories of how hateful and greedy people are at these sales. Most of them, I do mean most are dealers. I think with Ebay it has gotten a lot worse. I wouldn't be surprised if those women were dealers who were going to turn around and sale those punches for an exorbitant amount of money.
geogymnast82- On my frugality forums I hear stories after stories of women who go to the higher end neighborhood garage sales. These women have this mindset that if you live in an higher end area you have no common sense and can't price anything right. Either you price too low or to high. There is even several articles written about this in magazines and books. It just seriously ticks me off about this mindset. I think it's judgmental as all get out.
I am grumpy this morning, lol. Garage sales are just a huge pet peeve of mine because of my parents. I will never have one. I hardly can go to one and then when I do I pay the asking price.
Couldn't tell if your comments concerning no common sense and judmental mindset was referring to me or to my comment about a higher end neighborhood. All I know is that the yardsales overall in my neighborhood and the one next time mine (even higher end than mine) do very well for those willing to sit out all morning and haggle. I typically never have much to put out and what I do have been priced a good 50-75% off anything comparable in such great condition and about 80-90% off what I paid for them. Great buys, but still got people who wanted to pay nothing for them. The tax receipts for the donations I made of the items to charity were almost for the full original prices I paid - and we didn't tell or ask the charities or churches what we thought they were worth - they put the amounts on. So, I'm just happy that someone got great use out of the items and appreciated what a terrific deal they got, unlike the people who wanted to pay less than pennies on the dollar for what we had out. Most of the stuff that goes out in our neighborhood (not all) are in excellant condition, many with original price tags on them - I know because I've shopped in my own neighborhood right after I had kids (and was new house poor and new baby poor). I didn't bother to haggle because I knew the terrific quality and amazing prices I was getting.
It's a much different market out there than it was even two or three years ago. I work in retail, and I can tell you that the majority of customers will not buy now unless they have multiple coupons and the items have been marked down considerably from their original prices.
I'm one of those hard core garage salers. *looks around* We have an extremely tight budget and really no funds for crafting a lot of the time. So for me, garage saling is a huge help in keeping my sanity. =P With two toddlers at home, I craft to have some "mommy" time.
I always do garage sales a few times a year, and never offer a price at a sale that I'm attending that I wouldn't want to receive at one of my sales. I make reasonable offers in terms of the value of the items - but they're garage sale offers. I figure if it's in a garage sale people are more willing to get rid of it for a lower price. Otherwise there are other ways to get a higher value for your item.
For example - I have a *HUGE* My Little Pony collection sitting in my closet that I've been wanting to clear out for some time. A few of them make it to my yearly sales for about 1/4 of the price that I would get on ebay, or even craigslist.
Now, granted there are some people out there who take it to the extreme (we had a lady last weekend at our sale bartering to get a silk shirt for $.25 - but it was already priced at $.50). But all in all, I think the location of where your selling the items should reflect the price respectively.
It's a much different market out there than it was even two or three years ago. I work in retail, and I can tell you that the majority of customers will not buy now unless they have multiple coupons and the items have been marked down considerably from their original prices.
You've described my shopping patterns to a T but I was like this before the recession hit and I'm just more vigilant about it now to stretch my dollar. I taught my daughter to try and not pay full retail price for anything unless she's absolutely desperate. Whenever she enters a store, she always checks out the sales racks and clearance racks before looking at anything else. She hangs in some circles that have kids from much more affluent families than our own and it just amazes her to watch them shop and waste money (in her words). I'm glad I taught her well :-)
__________________ Leslie Harnish
Sambro, Nova Scotia
Canada
I attend flea markets with a friend, and although it is common to haggle at flea markets she takes it to extremes. It is frankly embarrassing. If the price is fair I don't insult someone by asking them to take a lot less. I cannot begrudge someone else fair market value it just seems greedy and wrong. I try to put myself in the other person's shoes. Now if the price is quite high and overpriced I will dicker, without a problem.
I help with two rummage sales every year. One for the high school and one for the boy scouts. We get a lot of donations and we make a lot of money because my idea is you make it in volume sold not off of one item. We always do have big ticket items but mostly its a ton of little stuff. I am amazed that even when its for a fundraiser and we already have low prices that people still try to talk us down in price.
One old guy wanted something for pennies and when I said I think we have it priced good already and reminded him its for a fundraiser he handed my $5.00 and said I know I'm just messing with you, keep the 5 as a donation.
But then there is the lady that comes up and wants the shoes we have marked for .50 for a dime. They were brand new shoes for a baby and easily pay $20 in the store. We always say prices are as marked.
I saw one ad that said early birds are not welcome before I open and hagglers will be charge double. I had to laugh at that. I thought she must do a lot of sales and know how people are to want to pay for that in the ad.
I attend flea markets with a friend, and although it is common to haggle at flea markets she takes it to extremes. It is frankly embarrassing. If the price is fair I don't insult someone by asking them to take a lot less. I cannot begrudge someone else fair market value it just seems greedy and wrong. I try to put myself in the other person's shoes. Now if the price is quite high and overpriced I will dicker, without a problem.
I think your friend is the sort of behavior that is spreading.
And as for the person with the pennies/dimes - if it isn't worth a quarter then I will take it to the charity shop myself. I will get more than that given for a tax write off and probably a more appreciative customer too.
My mom and I had a garage sale a few years ago. I had 4 tall kitchen stools with $5 each on them. About 10 minutes after we opened, this lady asked if I would take $5 for all 4 chairs. Um, no. I did want the chairs out of my house, but not for that price, 10 minutes into the sale. That lady left. About 20 minutes later a large group of Amish women came. They were very nice, respectful, never haggled, and cleaned out all of my grandma's kitchen stuff. And they bought 2 of the tall stools, never asking if I would take less. They were my favorite customers that day!!
I priced the few crafting stuff I had really cheap. Same with my PartyLite stuff, none of that sold.
Just as a curiosity, lets do a little experiment and see how different our perceptions are in what is a reasonable price. A common item a friend of mine seeks at garage sales and flea markets would be paperback books. She's an avid reader and devours books like crazy. What would you (anyone reading this post, nobody specific) think is a reasonable price for a paperback book in good condition?
__________________ Leslie Harnish
Sambro, Nova Scotia
Canada
Just as a curiosity, lets do a little experiment and see how different our perceptions are in what is a reasonable price. A common item a friend of mine seeks at garage sales and flea markets would be paperback books. She's an avid reader and devours books like crazy. What would you (anyone reading this post, nobody specific) think is a reasonable price for a paperback book in good condition?
I always sell all my books at a garage sale $.25 ea or 5 for $1.
Just as a curiosity, lets do a little experiment and see how different our perceptions are in what is a reasonable price. A common item a friend of mine seeks at garage sales and flea markets would be paperback books. She's an avid reader and devours books like crazy. What would you (anyone reading this post, nobody specific) think is a reasonable price for a paperback book in good condition?
I would think $1 (American dollars) would be fair, if in good condition, but I have seen them from .25 to .75 too. I would not haggle. I would just pay the $1.
I have priced paperbooks 50cents and hardbook .75-$1.00.
__________________ The quickest way for a parent to get a child's attention is to sit down and look comfortable. Practice safe eating always use condiments
I priced mine for .25 for paperbacks, .50 for hard cover. Now, I know that the local library sells their books for .50 paperback, and 1.00 hard cover, but I'm not trying to compete with them. My hope is that by someone taking them off my hands for cheap, it saves me the gas of having to drive it to Goodwill or the library.
Depends on the type of paperback book Those throw-away romance novel type - no more than 25� (I've frequently seen those priced at a paper grocery bag full for $1). The more best-seller type - I think $1 or even $2 is fair. If it's an author I know I like, I definitely wouldn't quibble over $2.
For the books, these all seem to be in line with what I was thinking as well. I guess some of us aren't too far off the mark in our thought process. My friend usually pays a quarter or 5 for a $1 if in reasonable shape for a paperback. She says sometimes she finds them for as low as 10 cents each but that is usually near the end of a sale when the person doesn't want to back them back up and store them again.
When looking at these books, the last paperback I bought brand new was priced $9.99 Cdn and $8.99 US. If selling it used for a dollar, that is 10% of the original asking price of $10. Would 10% of original cost be reasonable for all types of items? Maybe that was a rule of thumb at some point. I don't know, just wondering. Actually I just did some Googling on this and 10%-20% seems to be the accepted rule of thumb:
"When you are pricing garage sale items, it is a good rule of thumb to price your items at about 10% to 20% of the original cost of the item. For example, if you are selling a hat that originally cost $15, you would price the hat between $1.50 and $3.00, or 10% to 20% of the original cost.
You should also consider the condition of the item when setting your price. If it is in great shape you can adjust a little higher and if it is not in the best shape, adjust a little lower. Lower priced items tend to sell faster."
So, in the case of a deep edge punch mentioned at the beginning of this thread, I see Oh My Crafts sells MS deep edge punches for $11.89 with a retail price of $14.99. Following the 10% rule of thumb mentioned with the books, at $11.89, 10% would be $1.20 on $11.89 or $1.50 on $14.99. Doubling the cost to 20% puts the $14.99 price in the ballpark of the 3 for $10.
__________________ Leslie Harnish
Sambro, Nova Scotia
Canada
Rummage sale eye opener
