Frustrating Estate Sale

[C-Bag]

The only frustration I've ever had was how in the world am I going to move this, and where am I going to put it?

As far as pricing I'm more fatalistic I guess and never dicker about price. Which is weird being the son of a salesman. But I never dicker in a store so I'm just not comfortable with the idea. I HATE when somebody says make me an offer! That just feels like a setup for hard feelings. If it's a good price I grab it, if it's not I move on. I don't go to yard sales or estate sales unless SWMBO says so and when I do see something it's usually something I'm very familiar with the new price and can judge the condition of what I see. I'm continually surprised by used junk for at or above new prices. What's funny is I most often find some screaming deal while she finds nothing.

Last one was last day, hours before close and there was just odds and ends and this set with $100 tag on it. It wasn't till my best half said, " everything is half off, don't you want it?" I woke up. Of course all the other drones in the area started swarming, too late. What was funny was the "company" had no idea...... So I got the whole set for $50. I thought it a good deal.

 

[Eddyde]

Agreed, which is what I did. I was just frustrated by the fact that the Estate Sales guy would not negotiate on price. The price on the sticker was the price. You have to realize also this was 15 minutes b4 the end of the sale. So I think like Terry said, they were going to take ownership of it (either for free or a bulk lot) and sell it on their own for a larger profit.
edit: My frustration is traveling 1/2 hour and the attitude that the price is the price on the last day in the last 15 minutes

In all fairness to the guy you were dealing with, He may not have had the authority to drop the price, perhaps he was a employee of the liquidator and was there just as a cashier. The prices may have been set by the owner who if the items sold, would have demanded the full amount.

 

[projectnut]

Agreed, which is what I did. I was just frustrated by the fact that the Estate Sales guy would not negotiate on price. The price on the sticker was the price. You have to realize also this was 15 minutes b4 the end of the sale. So I think like Terry said, they were going to take ownership of it (either for free or a bulk lot) and sell it on their own for a larger profit.
edit: My frustration is traveling 1/2 hour and the attitude that the price is the price on the last day in the last 15 minutes

I guess I can't quite follow your logic. Do you expect the same logic to work when yo go into a retail store 15 minutes before closing. If so you're likely to be disappointed and frustrated many more times. Just like in a retail store the merchandise will go back into the sellers inventory quite possibly to reappear in a few months at the same location, or in a totally different location.

There are several houses in our neighborhood that have multiple garage sales throughout the year. They set their prices and stick with them. If an item doesn't sell one week it will probably sell next month to a whole different set of customers.

 

[Billh50]

I have gone to tag and estate sales and have run into those high priced items. Have also run into some rather low priced items. An older woman who I received a lot of material as well as tooling from was having a final tag sale sale before moving. Now my wife was given all the metal that was going out. Which is where I received all the material and some tooling. So when I was at the tag sale I found a couple tools that I could use. The woman told me $5 for all. Well I know I had at least $25 worth of stuff. So I handed her $10 and said keep the change. She couldn't believe I said that. I figured she had no idea what her deceased husbands tools were worth and also having gotten a lot from the scrapyard stuff she gave the wife it was the least I could do for her. Now if it was a company at an estate sale then I would have just paid the $5 and left.

 

[Superburban]

I go to yard sales a lot, and see the prices all over the board. Thats their right as a seller. I've made offers of what I thought was a fair price, sometimes half of what they are asking, and have had some accept it, others have said hell no! I just move on.

On the same note, I could never run a yard sale. To me, my stuff is worth more, then what I buy , and see it sell for.

 

[Superburban]

I go to yard sales a lot, and see the prices all over the board. Thats their right as a seller. I've made offers of what I thought was a fair price, sometimes half of what they are asking, and have had some accept it, others have said hell no! I just move on.

On the same note, I could never run a yard sale. To me, my stuff is worth more, then what I buy , and see it sell for.

 

[Aaron_W]

I HATE when somebody says make me an offer! That just feels like a setup for hard feelings. If it's a good price I grab it, if it's not I move on.

This one really puts me off too. Its not so bad if it is an item I can get a feel for, but I frequently see it on unique items, often hand made things or cool junk like a handful of skeleton keys. Stuff where offering $20 for the whole box might make them giddy or $20 for one item might have them cursing you as a thief. No way to gauge where their perceived value is if they won't even give you a starting point to work from.

I don't mind a little negotiating, but really prefer to see a fair price and just pay it. One of the reasons I hate buying cars, so many dealers expect you to do their little dance when all I want is to buy a car and not feel like I just got mugged. It makes me so happy to see more car dealers moving to the no haggle model.

 

[woodchucker]

I guess I can't quite follow your logic. Do you expect the same logic to work when yo go into a retail store 15 minutes before closing. If so you're likely to be disappointed and frustrated many more times. Just like in a retail store the merchandise will go back into the sellers inventory quite possibly to reappear in a few months at the same location, or in a totally different location.

There are several houses in our neighborhood that have multiple garage sales throughout the year. They set their prices and stick with them. If an item doesn't sell one week it will probably sell next month to a whole different set of customers.

You can't because you didn't read. This is an estate sale, not the owner. I have never been to a sale where negotiations are not common. Especially on a last day. I think you are missing the point. Putting an item up for a price doesn't mean that it's not negotiable. But in this case it wasn't. And so I walked. But it's very odd to say the sticker price is the price. They posted pics b4 the sale, most of the items were still there. Not a very productive estate sales company. If you have a sale, you have to expect some negotiation. If you say the price marked is the price no negotiations. well, put that in the ad. I'm not coming to your sale.

 

[Superburban]

We have several companies that run estate sales here. One of them, always draws a big crowd, and has prices higher then the others. I have not figured out what the draw is, they do not do higher quality, or bigger estates then the others. I hardly stop at them, but have gone by, and they always have a line waiting to pay.

Most of them here will not negotate on the first day (maybe if youa re buying a big lot of stuff), but will take bids on items, and may call you if they still have it the last day.

 

[C-Bag]

I don't mind a little negotiating, but really prefer to see a fair price and just pay it. One of the reasons I hate buying cars, so many dealers expect you to do their little dance when all I want is to buy a car and not feel like I just got mugged. It makes me so happy to see more car dealers moving to the no haggle model.

LOL! Mugged is exactly how I feel. Some folks to haggle is sport and sometimes I wish I was that way. My dad certainly was. What was funny was watching him start haggling about a car he really didn't want and talk himself into a deal he knew my mom was going to fry him for!

I'm wondering if anybody feels like this "no haggling " car deal has sped up anybody's car buying experience. When I bought a new truck 3 yrs ago it still took most of the day and I still felt mugged.