How much for the metal detector? $50, Ill take it... Not!

[diggummup]

How much for the metal detector? $50, I'll take it... Not!

THIS IS A RANT THREAD-

You know, I can't stand stupid people. I understand that not everyone is the brightest bulb in the box but when your a supposed professional estate sale company, please know what the hell your gonna charge before the customers get there. I went to a sale today, an estate sale. It was listed on Estatesales.net by a company of whom I don't normally frequent their sales. Now I remember why. There was a nice looking barely used Whites Spectrum XLT w/hardcase sitting in the corner. I asked how much, she says $50, I say sold. All of a sudden I hear some dude holler from the other side of the house "what's $50?," She says the metal detector. He said "no it isn't, I have to check that before pricing that. Now all of a sudden the price is $300 or $400. At this point though I am pissed because I was already told $50, so I came back with, "okay since she already told me $50, I'll go up to $150. No, that's not enough. Give me a minute, he says. So I go on about my business for a minute or two and he comes back with $225, I said how about $200? He says I have to go ask her (the same one that said $50 from the get go). Now she wants $300 for it! I said you just told me $225! He says no I said I had to ask her. I said no you didn't, you said you had to ask her about $200, not $225. I'm over it. At this point I'm steaming and giving him a few choice words about how unprofessional they are. I also overheard him tell another customer, "Let me look that up before I give you a price". Really? You kidding me? What the hell kind of company goes around on the computer looking up items on ebay as they are telling you a price? Needless to say, many others were po'd too. Several people left. I gave them a real big piece of my mind about how to conduct business in a professional manner and how not to. These people are a friggin joke and I'm gonna call them out just in case someone on here (finderzz, Steve) happens upon one of their sales. The name of the company is "A Good Orderly Direction" (imagine that!) and here is their site- Home Page and here is the ad for the sale (which never did have any photos as promised)-
Amazing Collectibles Last Minute Sale Starts On 10/12/2013
Stay Away!

On the positive side, I did manage 2 good Boy Scout pieces out of there. Only because she gave me the prices before "Norm" had a chance to look it up. Which he did right after that and kept reminding me what a great deal I got on those 2 pieces. Oh wow, I might make $40 profit on a $20 investment. What were you gonna do, charge me ebay end prices on those too? Gimme a break dude. I'm not the "estate sale specialist" here, you are, get your crap together before the customers arrive jackass. Know what the hell your gonna charge beforehand. Don't go around looking up crap on ebay while your having your sale. Very unprofessional.

BTW- I more than likely would have paid $300 for the machine if that was the start price to begin with. But since they didn't have their crap together, they lost a sale.

 

Amazon Forum Fav 👍

Upgraded Night Vision Monocular Digital Infrared Monocular Telescope for 100% Darkness with 8X Zoom - Grab it through Amazon!

[palidin20603]

complete garbage. I hope no one bought anything

 

[jeff of pa]

I would have never went above the original $50 quoted.

People like that irritate me too

 

[diggummup]

I would have never went above the original $50 quoted.

People like that irritate me too

Yeah, I know but it was a nice looking machine and worth more than $50. Point is, they should know what they are charging before the customers arrive. It wasn't like it was some little nic nac that sells for a buck or two. It was one of the bigger ticket items. They were literally looking up items as people were asking prices. I have never seen such stupidity. Even the dummies that put ebay print outs on items at their yard sales do it beforehand. They haven't heard the last of me yet. I may just go there tomorrow for the heck of it to be nosey and see what sold and what didn't. I remember the last sale I went to that she had (about 6-8 months ago), there was a Tiffany& Co. Nat. Guard Faithful Service medal there. She wanted $200 because it was Tiffany and very rare (according to her). They sell routinely on ebay for around $50 or less. Guess she didn't look that one up!

 

[jeff of pa]

Yeah, I know but it was a nice looking machine and worth more than $50. Point is, they should know what they are charging before the customers arrive. It wasn't like it was some little nic nac that sells for a buck or two. It was one of the bigger ticket items. They were literally looking up items as people were asking prices. I have never seen such stupidity. Even the dummies that put ebay print outs on items at their yard sales do it beforehand. They haven't heard the last of me yet. I may just go there tomorrow for the heck of it to be nosey and see what sold and what didn't. I remember the last sale I went to that she had (about 6-8 months ago), there was a Tiffany& Co. Nat. Guard Faithful Service medal there. She wanted $200 because it was Tiffany and very rare (according to her). They sell routinely on ebay for around $50 or less. Guess she didn't look that one up!

it bugs me when they use ebay for yard sale pricing too.

in the first place, the reason they get those prices on ebay
is because they have world wide bidding, not yard salers
passing through,
who may never come back.
yard & Garage sales should Never be run like a business.

I would never patronize a sale like that run by a so called Professional

If they want those prices, i say they should Ebay it all

 

[TNGUNS]

Yep...... a terrible trend among many. What ever happened to ethics. If she had the authority to price it and you agreed to that price it was over. If you are not sure what you want for it DO NOT price it.

 

[Nickleanddime]

This happens all the time to me. Went to a sale today that was closing up, seen them loading 2 boxes of paper weights into the truck you know the glass ones. Asked how much she hummm and ahhh for a few minutes and said ill take 5 a peice lol I just laughed. I said where you taking the stuff to, response my number 1 enemy goodwill!!!! I said I'll give you 5 for all, I knew it be a no. Went to ten since that was all I had she said no. Well I said goodwill will take them then for FREE so would you rether have 10 in your pocket or nothing. Lol her response, goodwill told her they'd buy her left overs, I laughed and said good luck with that. So I went to the grocery and figured I'd browse goodwill next door. They are parked out front arguing with the manager about them not buying that stuff saying they passed up sales all day since the same manager told her a certain price on everything lol. The husband see us walking out and yells for me to wait and comes running up to me boxes in tow, he says well take that 10 for these. I laughed right in his face and said no. He asked me why I said its the principal of it, I was trying to make a deal you got greedy and wanted more, you were loading up had dollars signs in your eyes and got burned. I don't play second fiddle to nothing, either you take my deal or you keep it. He said 5 I said no ill give you .50 cents for all lol. He said ill sell on ebay, I said you'll ask the 5 after shipping, evay s fleece, and listing time PayPal fleeces you'll get about 2.35 each! So good luck and left him stand there looking at me lol.
Point is like many said the WWW is not a price guide. It is a specialty service that caters to certain people like collectors and that one odd piece. I stay away from estate sales for that reason they screw you on everything and think its all the best stuff. I see over the next year actually next summer they will be almost a thing of the past. Thrift stores also or they will reliaze their prices are way over priced and lower then back down. But one thing I've noticed is once prices go up they never come back down!

 

[diggummup]

Yeah, I hear ya. Both of ya. We go to these sales so that WE can sell it on ebay. I frequent sales from several decent companies that price their items at about 30%-50% of retail value which is fine depending on the item/s. That leaves enough for the buyer to make a buck and for themselves to make a buck and get rid of things for their client which is the main objective anyway. The way I see it is, if it were that easy to sell on ebay, they would already be doing it. Yard sales and estate sales are not retail outlets, no matter what they think. I did go to one sale recently where they had ebay printouts but the prices they put on the items were much lower. The printouts were for the customers to see what they sell for on ebay versus the price they were asking. I've only seen one sale like that though, it's usually the other way around.

 

[jeff of pa]

I guess it all depends on if they wanna Sell out, Or just make a few bucks

 

[MUD(S.W.A.T)]

Did they have a sign in the yard that said "Estate Sale" ? They should have had one that say's "Ebay Sale..." My opinion is these places are supposed to be an outlet for people like us who resell items. These places should be cheap and bellow retail so we can make our money too.. Its part of the loop that keeps *everyone* profiting.. Thrift store or Estate Sale or Yard Sales sell to us---> We sell it to Wholesalers or online retailers----> They sell it retailers or keep it---> Everyone makes out...! You made the right choice by telling him a few things about ethics... Better luck next time !!

Keep @ it and HH !!

 

[GlenDronach]

I had a local consignment shop switch on me. They were selling a beautiful room divider/buffet and table/chair set. I looked at the two prices, did some math at a discount, and offered them a good price for all the pieces out the door. They then said, in the middle of me asking, that the price on the dining table was the one at the estate sale, and they have to charge $100 more now because they brought it to the shop. A store just raised the price on me with the price clearly labeled. I told them no, and I told them what I'd be willing to pay, and left my number. They called back saying they'd take that a week later, but my buyer I had lined up basically said "I don't want it, I would have told them to FO the minute they changed the price on me. I don't want to buy anything from them." So I had to tell the shop that my buyer was no longer interested in the furniture after the price change and that I couldn't line anyone else up.

Not going in there again.

 

[diggummup]

Great stories. They posted a CL ad this morning. There is a photo of the MD still sitting there. lol

 

[Nickleanddime]

Lol that's great now they have a paperweight and less coin in their pocket.
Once the newbie "antique" buyers get discouraged and stop running the prices up on stuff it'll go back to norm-ish.
Example I seem a couple at goodwill yesterday paying 10 bucks each for those glass Christmas tree candy holders. Heck the whole thing filled with candy wasnt 10 bucks. Anyways they payed 50 for 5 they were happy and laughing even told the cashier that they got one over on them, lol they'll find out just what their worth when they get home.this is what they are going for on fleecebay for ones from the 40's, theirs was new.
Glass Christmas Tree Candy Jar | eBay

 

[dejapooh]

When I am at a sale, if I see any mention of Ebay, I walk. Print a page and tape it to the product? I walk. If I wanted to buy it on ebay, I would.

 

[Jon Phillips]

Wow...That was incredibly unprofessional!

As I have stated before...My family has ran a successful estate sale company for over 20 years here in central Fl., and I have seen it all. One of the fly by night guys that popped up a couple of years ago had practices like that. He finally sold his business to some poor sucker that didn't do his homework before he bought it, but during his last sale he had a birch bark canoe that he had $800 on. I wasn't there but the story was well told by witnesses afterwards, that on the second day (1/2 price day), that a couple wanted to buy it at $400, but when they were paying, he said it wasn't half price....and that it was now $900!! People don't forget that stuff! And it has hurt the new owners business as well.

If we are unsure on an item, we will look on ebay...but only at the sold items in the completed items search. If something sold for $125 we would put about $50 on it, and it might even end up at $25 if it makes it to the second day. There have been times we included a printout of a completed auction with an unusual item, but only for information's sake...and the item was priced well under the selling price in the auction. We have two days to sell the stuff, and would rather sell everything cheap, than have a lot of over-priced stuff left over!

The first few people in line are always dealers, and they buy a ton of stuff from us every week.

That being said...I have to laugh when I see people get all bent out of shape when they don't get things as cheap as they think they "should" at an estate sale! Where is the law written that says that yard/garage sales, estate sales, and thrift stores are there to supply people with items to resale on ebay?? I mean...think about a statement like that for a minute...Our main customer BY FAR is the end user/collector...only about maybe 3% of our customers are resellers. Most are regular customers that go to them as a hobby, followed by new residents and people with rental houses that want to furnish their houses for cheap. I suspect that the same ratio goes for thrift stores...If we depended on the resellers only, we would all be out of business.

I know all the resellers at our sales, and they know each other. I will point out things they missed for them. I know some that won't come to estate sales, which is fine with their competitors! It's rare that we don't sell out of almost everything...even some of the junk that I consider unsellable, and that is due to the average customer that is buying the items for themselves or someone else...not the ebayers.

The www might not be a price guide...but it is a realistic idea of what things are selling for...I'm sure most wouldn't want an ACTUAL antique price guide to be pulled out for the pricing! THAT would be unrealistic for the current market.

The estate sale companies in other areas might suck...Like I said...we price to sell, and we do sell. We have had anywhere from 1-3 with an average of 2 sales a week for the last 2 years. It is not slowing down for us, and we have to turn down sales weekly.

Some of you guys see greed with your local estate sale companies...and that may be the case in your experience...but I see plenty of greed in some of the resellers I meet. Why should I give up my profit so that someone else can make it? Ask yourself would you give up yours? If you guys had something listed on ebay for $100 opening bid with no reserve, and someone sent you a message complaining that you should sell it to them for $25 so that they could make their profit...what would you do? What would you reply to them? I know what I would say! That is a common thing that I encounter as a collector...When some of my reseller buddies see something valuable that I have...they try to make some low-ball offer to me for it....well I could sell it on ebay if I wanted to!!

We, as an estate liquidation company, are retail sellers, but because of our super small, window of time to sell the items, we have to price everything cheap if we want to sell it....It can sit in an antique shop or ebay store for years if need be, but we need to sell it cheap and quick...the estate sale companies that realize that will be successful, and the ones that don't will wither away!

We don't have the overhead of having to purchase the items first, but we have a huge overhead as a company...insurance, material (cleaning, pricing, display), employees, advertising, etc., and we have to make the most profit that we can for our clients, and ourselves, not the resellers.

Back to the original topic....I would have walked at the first price increase!! And I would not give them one more dime of my money...and let everyone know what they were all about! That does actually hurt them to spread the word of their unethical business practice!!

Sorry for the long post (this is the only forum I have ever been accused of typing too much in!!) but I wanted to let everyone know that there are realistic, professional, estate sale companies out there, and there is a flip side to the coin of what estate sale companies "should" price their items at.

 

[apush]

I would be on a tear (rant) as well. That is beyond "unprofessional." Glad they still have some items they failed to sell. Serves them right to conduct business in such a lame manner. Good for you Diggummup! Well played!
apush

 

[Jon Phillips]

I can also see the conflict Diggummup.... Now that I have thought about it...I would probably still have tried to make a deal after the price increase like you did...It is a decent metal detector to use, and a fairly valuable one to resell....I would have just hated myself a little if I ended up having to play that "game".

I would avoid those clowns like the plague from now on though....

 

[trdhrdr007]

Wow...That was incredibly unprofessional!

As I have stated before...My family has ran a successful estate sale company for over 20 years here in central Fl., and I have seen it all. One of the fly by night guys that popped up a couple of years ago had practices like that. He finally sold his business to some poor sucker that didn't do his homework before he bought it, but during his last sale he had a birch bark canoe that he had $800 on. I wasn't there but the story was well told by witnesses afterwards, that on the second day (1/2 price day), that a couple wanted to buy it at $400, but when they were paying, he said it wasn't half price....and that it was now $900!! People don't forget that stuff! And it has hurt the new owners business as well.

If we are unsure on an item, we will look on ebay...but only at the sold items in the completed items search. If something sold for $125 we would put about $50 on it, and it might even end up at $25 if it makes it to the second day. There have been times we included a printout of a completed auction with an unusual item, but only for information's sake...and the item was priced well under the selling price in the auction. We have two days to sell the stuff, and would rather sell everything cheap, than have a lot of over-priced stuff left over!

The first few people in line are always dealers, and they buy a ton of stuff from us every week.

That being said...I have to laugh when I see people get all bent out of shape when they don't get things as cheap as they think they "should" at an estate sale! Where is the law written that says that yard/garage sales, estate sales, and thrift stores are there to supply people with items to resale on ebay?? I mean...think about a statement like that for a minute...Our main customer BY FAR is the end user/collector...only about maybe 3% of our customers are resellers. Most are regular customers that go to them as a hobby, followed by new residents and people with rental houses that want to furnish their houses for cheap. I suspect that the same ratio goes for thrift stores...If we depended on the resellers only, we would all be out of business.

I know all the resellers at our sales, and they know each other. I will point out things they missed for them. I know some that won't come to estate sales, which is fine with their competitors! It's rare that we don't sell out of almost everything...even some of the junk that I consider unsellable, and that is due to the average customer that is buying the items for themselves or someone else...not the ebayers.

The www might not be a price guide...but it is a realistic idea of what things are selling for...I'm sure most wouldn't want an ACTUAL antique price guide to be pulled out for the pricing! THAT would be unrealistic for the current market.

The estate sale companies in other areas might suck...Like I said...we price to sell, and we do sell. We have had anywhere from 1-3 with an average of 2 sales a week for the last 2 years. It is not slowing down for us, and we have to turn down sales weekly.

Some of you guys see greed with your local estate sale companies...and that may be the case in your experience...but I see plenty of greed in some of the resellers I meet. Why should I give up my profit so that someone else can make it? Ask yourself would you give up yours? If you guys had something listed on ebay for $100 opening bid with no reserve, and someone sent you a message complaining that you should sell it to them for $25 so that they could make their profit...what would you do? What would you reply to them? I know what I would say! That is a common thing that I encounter as a collector...When some of my reseller buddies see something valuable that I have...they try to make some low-ball offer to me for it....well I could sell it on ebay if I wanted to!!

We, as an estate liquidation company, are retail sellers, but because of our super small, window of time to sell the items, we have to price everything cheap if we want to sell it....It can sit in an antique shop or ebay store for years if need be, but we need to sell it cheap and quick...the estate sale companies that realize that will be successful, and the ones that don't will wither away!

We don't have the overhead of having to purchase the items first, but we have a huge overhead as a company...insurance, material (cleaning, pricing, display), employees, advertising, etc., and we have to make the most profit that we can for our clients, and ourselves, not the resellers.

Back to the original topic....I would have walked at the first price increase!! And I would not give them one more dime of my money...and let everyone know what they were all about! That does actually hurt them to spread the word of their unethical business practice!!

Sorry for the long post (this is the only forum I have ever been accused of typing too much in!!) but I wanted to let everyone know that there are realistic, professional, estate sale companies out there, and there is a flip side to the coin of what estate sale companies "should" price their items at.

I also work on a part time basis with an estate sale company. It's run pretty much the same way. There are 2 main objectives of a professional ES company...maximize the dollar amount & sell EVERYTHING in a short time period. The thing people need to understand is that a good ES company has a list of active buyers. Ours is well over 400 people that range from resellers to retail buyers. It's a balancing act to accomplish both objectives, but prices are going to range from wholesale to retail based on local demand.

 

[CC-Hunter]

I also work on a part time basis with an estate sale company. It's run pretty much the same way. There are 2 main objectives of a professional ES company...maximize the dollar amount & sell EVERYTHING in a short time period. The thing people need to understand is that a good ES company has a list of active buyers. Ours is well over 400 people that range from resellers to retail buyers. It's a balancing act to accomplish both objectives, but prices are going to range from wholesale to retail based on local demand.

Just curious, what do you do with the list of active buyers? Do you contact them before a sale and give them a first shot? Do you use them to buy things that don't go to public sale? Just trying to understand better how this all works. Was one of the first people at a good estate sale last weekend and it was an eye-opening experience. More about that another time . . .

 

[trdhrdr007]

Keep in mind this isn't my company so I don't dictate policy. The owners generally have 3 sale days. The first day is an invitation only sale to anyone on their email list. The second day is advertised to the general public. The third day is advertised & half price, or even less at the end of the day. Anyone that asks is put on the email list.

In general, there will be 100-200 people waiting an hour before the invitation sale. About half that many will be waiting for the door to open on the second day. The final day can really vary on pre-opening attendance numbers.

I've bought lots of items at the end of the day on the last day of the sale for 25% of the original price that I resold for a 2-400% profit. The last sale we had I bought an item for $5 on the last day of the sale that will sell on ebay for $75 or more.