Yard Sales: I'll give you a pocket of lint for that couch!? DEAL!

So yard sales are kinda outdated due to ebay and craiglist and rising gas prices and shit nowadays, but they're still quite a few now and then.

My subdivision had a community yard sale weekend. At least 20, all within walking distance.

What kind of deals have you struck up at a yard sale or flea market before?

Most of the good shit is gone by midday on the first day, but here's some of the deals I got.

Wireless cable modem in box w/ everything- $10
A few books - $1
Super Mario 3 NES - $2
Gamecube system with 2 controllers - $10 (Reset button sticks, though. Gotta fix that)
Gamecube system in EXCELLENT condition in box with 1 controller and mem card with 4 decent games - $25
Space heater - $2
Small but decent and sturdy coffee table - $5
Star Ocean Second Story Strategy Guide - 25 cents
Fuzzy things for the bottoms of your chair legs - 25 cents
Box fan and standing oscillating fan - $5

And then somebody left all their stuff out for free after they ended the yard sale. So I grabbed a spare keyboard, spare mouse, spare ethernet cable, N64 AC Power Supply (wtf does this even do?), and an HP Laset5L printer (dunno if it works yet).

Jam it back in, in the dark.

We don't see yard sales around here anymore and if we do they're usually just junk that's beyond repair. I have, however, come up on some interesting finds over the years. When I was living with my ex-GF in college we were driving through some backstreets on our way to the campus and we saw a yard sale. We pulled over and started examining the goods and we saw this massive hand-painted and meticulously photorealistic portrait of John Wayne; shit must have been like 4'x6'. We bought it for $5 and gave it to her dad since he was a huge Wayne fan.

My current sound system was bought at a yard sale for the nice price of $5. I bought a LinkSys USB Wireless adaptor for $10 a little over 2 years ago; I only use that shit whenever I have to fix someone's computer whose CPU doesn't have wireless card. My copy of Shenmue for the Dreamcast? $2 at a yard sale in Visalia.

That's about it, I think.

I've been wanting to put on a yard sale to get rid of some junk around the house but the cheap beaners that I live around would want it all for free. If that's the case, I'd rather throw it away.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Encephalon

I've been wanting to put on a yard sale to get rid of some junk around the house but the cheap beaners that I live around would want it all for free. If that's the case, I'd rather throw it away.

Why would you rather throw things away than give it away free? The cost is the same to you (you lose the stuff), except you'll get a bit of gratitude if you give it away.

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I've been to a few yard sales, but they're really rare in this part of the world. Picked up this jade egg which is doing nothing other than gathering dust. Not for a steal, either

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Zergrinch

Why would you rather throw things away than give it away free? The cost is the same to you (you lose the stuff), except you'll get a bit of gratitude if you give it away.

Yea, I agree with this. If your intent is to get rid of it, better to give it someone who wants/needs it than to the dump.

Freecycle, I think it's called, specializes in this. It's a yahoo group. Should look into it. I get the local subscriptions.

I've found some awesome stuff at yard sales before. I have a thing about really ugly stuff (like old, old couches from the 70s and other such retro decor).

I sadly haven't been yard-saling in a long, long time. Years, even. I figure I have enough junk. If I need something, I'll look, but I'm more likely to find a Salvation Army or something.

We have yard sales here through the spring and summer. People FLOCK to them on weekends. I'm not really an early bird, so why bother wasting time picking through the remains?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Every Sunday they turn the abandoned drive-in's land into a giant market/car boot sale/yard sale/grandmas selling broken cups and horrificly scary dolls a-thon. I go every now and then, mostly for old vidyaaa games, but I dunno, I just get some jollies from picking around everyone elses unwanted shit I guess. That and you can be an asshole and scuff your feet on the ground to cause a dust storm.

Got a bar fridge for $5 once, that was awesome.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Sassafrass

Yea, I agree with this. If your intent is to get rid of it, better to give it someone who wants/needs it than to the dump.

The miserable cockfucks raid my dumpster anyway so I don't see the point of putting in the effort to sit in the sun for 8 hours in order to achieve the same effect.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Oi, whenever I need something I check garage sales before going to the store (where you'll pay out the ear). Sure there's lots of junk or things in junky condition, but the idea that's all that's out there is off base.

Yard/garage sales are everywhere here and it's been that way every place I've lived. lol, I practically owe my way of life to 'em and so far this season they've been more prolific than usual. I've found so many stellar deals over the past decade but just this weekend and last we've picked up the following:

Couch - free
Chainsaw, tree and hedge trimming equipment - $5 a pop
Entertainment center - $35
Leica C1 35mm & Canon AE-1P w/ lenses and case - $150
Thirty+ classic PC games from CivII scenarios, SimCity, Warcraft, to Rainbow Six, Red Alert, Gettysburg and more, all in great shape with manuals - $2 for all
CDs (Eric Clapton, Pink Floyd, Otis Redding, Queen, Santana, Temptations, Boston, and so many more) at $0.50 each
Hefty all-wood coffee table - $30
Large floor rugs (happened to match the curtains ) - $10
Recliner - $5
Adjustable weight bench/bar + leg dev. - free
All kinds of clothes - Everything you can fit in a bag for $1
Quesadilla maker - $4 (ha! tastiest meals in a while)

Most amazing jew boots

A lot of the women in my family are really big on antiques from garage / estate sales. My mom has gotten a lot of really good stuff for cheap over the years, but also (in a fit of insanity) has bought a lot of crap for too much money.

Probably the most relevant story to this set is when she got a tabletop Space Invaders console for $30. I never got to play it, since she turned around and sold it for a heartbreakingly low price. >:(

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Zephyrin

Star Ocean Second Story Strategy Guide - 25 cents

Holy shit that's a steal! Those usually go for $40+ on eBay! I'll give you 50 cents for it.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Infernal Monkey

Got a bar fridge for $5 once, that was awesome.

My friend Bear (not his real name) bought an old mini fridge for $10 at a yard sale when we were in high school. Never used it and I eventually asked him to let me have it and it now diligently cools beers in my game room.

Most amazing jew boots

If you want to give stuff away, you don't have to sit outside and attend it.

But in the beaner's case, it wouldn't be a great idea. It's bad enough they dig through his trash. If they find nice enough stuff, dumpster or doorstep, they may just kick down the door and make their own yard sale when he's not home.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

My husband got $34 for that Star Ocean! He paid 25 cents for it!

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I've got a lot of great deals; the one that I can remember most clearly and is most GFF-applicable was this:

$15 off Craigslist for:

* Playstation (original) Console
* 2 Controllers
* All associated A/V and Power Cables
* The following games, all in essentially mint condition:
* Lunar: Silver Star Story Complete
* Star Ocean: The Second Story
* Vagrant Story
* Vandal Hearts
* And a pile of other games that no one actually cares about like Grand Turismo 2 or something

The RPGs alone I could have sold for 10 times what I paid for the whole system. I ended up giving the PS to my GF and giving 2 of the RPGs to Skills since he didn't have them and I knew I'd never have time to play them (I still haven't gotten to playing the 2 I kept). The other 2 I'll probably sell when I get off my lazy ass and decide to thin my growing collection of 'games I'll most likely never play again'.

I was speaking idiomatically.

I don't really yard sale too much, but there's this drummer that lives next to my buddy who every now and then will be selling some of his old records, and just recently I went there and bought a Pink Floyd "Wish You Were Here" album, a Joe Walsh's Greatest Hits album, and a 5-disc Moody Blues set for $5.

Most amazing jew boots

I manage an indoor/outdoor flea market so I am always picking up things here and there. Last weekend I bought a box set containing all six Anne of Green Gable books for $1.00.

The thing about flea markets, at least the one that I run, is that there are people there whose priority it is to make money and than there are people who mainly just want to get rid of their stuff. So you usually want to check out the people who you've never seen before because most of the regulars want too much for their stuff.

FELIPE NO

We get yard sales quite a bit around here, but most of them are pretty terrible. Now, the multi-family yard sales are a different story. For the most part, I just pick up books. 10 cents each! I'd have to say that my favorite purchase was a set of 2 very nice plates for 25 cents total. They're much better in terns of quality and design than a lot of the plates going for much more at stores. 6 years down the road, and I'm still very happy with them.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

i've never seen a really good deal at any yard sales around this area. i can get stuff cheaper in walmart. i've gotten a few good things from freecycle (a nice spice rack), but noone has ever filled any of my requests. yard sales and stuff are nice, but you can't beat the convenience of just walking into a store and getting what you want without hassle sometimes.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

My family is usually the one hosting the yard sale, rather than attending others. In fact, I think we're going to have another one sometime this summer (I needs the monies ). Last time I was home we had one, and I sold my old daybed and half the furniture in my room, plus a bunch of old board games I didn't want.

Probably the only 'yard-sale' like things I've scored were in Austin, land of the college cheapskate. My roommate and I have furnished our apartment 89% of the way through dumpster/free things from our neighbors... our sectional was from some people down the street that were giving it away, one of our chairs was from the guys in the building next door, and three of our lamps were left for the garbage man.

Originally Posted by Encephalon

My copy of Shenmue for the Dreamcast? $2 at a yard sale in Visalia.

Seriously? Maybe I should go to more yard sales... I'm hoping somehow to get a PS2 in Visalia, either through craigslist or yard sales.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I've been able to find a really good bookshelf for about $10. There's a huge flea market in my city that's open every Saturday, and the merchandise they have is in great condition with reasonable prices.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.