Nice score and a mini rant

[2ndisbest]

Been real lazy the past month so I have not hit many sales, but I only had a few hours this weekend so I hit a sale that was close to my house. Ended up spending $20 and filled my car with vintage electronics. Here is the conversation I had with the lady running the sale.

Me: How much for that stereo receiver?

Her: Oh you can have everything there for $10. It is old and outdated and only has scrap value.

Me: *hands her $10*

Sansui 9090nu llReceiv erf orPar tsRepa | eBay I have not tested mine been too busy but this is for parts only. Working goes for more.

JVC QL F4 Direct Drive Quartz Lock Fully Automatic Turntable Repeat Excel Cond | eBay Again untested busy.

Pioneer Reverberation Amplifier SR 303 Reverb Vintage Unit | eBay Untested.

Pioneer H R99 8 Track Recorder Outstanding Condition | eBay Untested.

And there was a toshiba cd player, probably not worth much.

Then for $4 I got one of these: Old 1951 Stampco Lawn Garden Sprinkler Chrome Oscellating Top Red Base | eBay Mine is probably in better condition than this one but it won't oscillate. It only goes to one side. I am wondering if it would be hard to fix or just leave it as is?

I also got a pair of beat up jensen speakers in the deal. Which I sold the next day at my garage sale for $5.

Also got a panasonic 6 band radio for $5: Vintage RARE Panasonic 6 Band Am FM MB SW1 SW2 CB Shortwave Radio RF 1150 | eBay Mine is not in very good condition but it does work.

And I pulled 3 vintage t shirts, Tom Petty Tom Petty Shirt 1987 Tour Rock N? Roll Caravan RARE Excellent | eBay

Phil Collins Phil Collins ?No Jacket Required? 1985 Concert Tour T Shirt | eBay (obviously this guy is asking too much)

Rolling stones Rolling Stones Forty Licks Concert 2002 2003 T Shirt Black Small | eBay

Shirts were .50 cents each.

Now for my rant. I have a friend and his suburb has a treasure days (city wide garage sale). Anyway every year the place is a madhouse of people. You start setting up at 7 am and all the sharks are out already. At 8 am the general public starts to come out and it is nonstop til 3-4 pm. I did not sit down from 7am to 2:45 pm. The customers are 90% Mexican 9% white the 1% other (arabs, blacks, asians) Every year I sell new with tags sunglasses I got from a liquidator. I am at the end of my stock so I decide time to blow this stuff out. $1 any pair. For two days I had only 3 people try and haggle me down on the sunglasses. One Mexican girl bought 6 pairs and she wanted to pay $5, I said nope. She paid. One older Mexican lady bought 2 pairs and wanted them for $1.50, I said nope, she paid.

Then there was the third person who tried to haggle me down. It was an arab women who sat her large ass in front of my table for 10 minutes trying on every pair at least twice and picked out two she liked and then wanted both pairs for $1, I said no and she put them down and walked away.

Old thread where I talk about this.

http://www.treasurenet.com/forums/g...ys-full-baby-clothes-grrrrrr.html#post4106858

It is almost like an insult if they cannot get you to come down on a price no matter the asking price. If I had asked $5 and she got me down to $4 she probably would have been happy.

I try to not stereotype people but it is hard sometimes.

 

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[clovis97]

Personally, I don't think it has anything to do with race. Some of the most annoying people on earth, who will try to brow-beat you into submission, and then be the biggest jerk heads you've ever met when you don't agree with their offer price...every last one of them are Caucasian.

Everyone wants to feel like they got a deal. It is a universal thing, no matter where you are at.

 

[Jayers]

Personally, I don't think it has anything to do with race. Some of the most annoying people on earth, who will try to brow-beat you into submission, and then be the biggest jerk heads you've ever met when you don't agree with their offer price...every last one of them are Caucasian.

Everyone wants to feel like they got a deal. It is a universal thing, no matter where you are at.

Thanks. I was about to say something sarcastically nasty to the OP but you put it much more tactfully and tastefully. I agree.

 

[clovis97]

If I had the time and energy to type out all the total freaking jerks that I've met that insisted on getting a deal...every single one of them ...my goodness...you wouldn't believe half of my stories.

Here is one: We flea market and ebay for a living. I bought a half skid of Miracle Whip, first quality, with a year-out expiration date. It is almost $4 in the store, we were selling it for 1.99. People were literally buying it buy the case, and some were buying multiple cases at a time. It was flying off the shelf. Not 10 minutes later, after having a woman buy 3 cases, some jerk-head walks up, scoffs loudly, while hogging up the entire booth, and loudly proclaims "THAT AIN'T NO DEAL!!!! I can get it a lot cheaper than that!!!!" And then the dude wouldn't leave.

Not a few minutes later, here comes a well dressed woman; pretty much the same deal. Acted like I was trying to pull highway robbery on her. She was aghast that we could ask so much for a jar of Miracle Whip!!!

How about the 6' 6", 300+ pound dude that started dictating prices to me at a train show? "You'll take $7 for that, and $20 for that....", as if he owned the booth, and me too.

Or how about the dude that walked into my booth, and piled up about $80 worth of tools, and then told me that I would take $15 for the whole stack??

Or how about the woman who tried to dress me down verbally for pricing new skeins of high end yarn because they were marked $2 each, instead of 25 cents like she wanted them??

Or how about the obese and mentally ill woman who was caught red handed, trying to steal box loads of stuff, some of it from our booths??

Or the woman that brought two 44 ounce travel mugs into the flea market, opened a bottle of detergent, and poured as much as she could into the travel mugs, and then walked out the door??

Or the punk teenager that was caught stealing body soap?

Or the guy that threw a giant hissy fit because the mall wouldn't sell him a $200 saw that I had for $90??

My biggest pet peeve: the guys who play dumb, trying to buy stuff on the cheap, as if you are the dumbest person on earth. "I'm looking for old license plates, but only those before 1920. They ain't worth much, but I'd probably give $5 each for them, if they are really, really nice."

Know what all these people have in common?? They are all Caucasian.

 

[Beachkid23]

I was at one this weekend and the lady had sunglasses and she wanted $.25 apiece for them. . "The guy looks at her what you're crazy! are you dumb or something did you fall and hit your head?" I'll give you .10 each! ". I turned and said who are you talking too? "He said the dumb blonde over there" so I went right up to him, told him his money is worthless. He needs to leave. What a jerk! Over 4 pairs of sunglasses. All we're made in italy too!

 

[mjlalt]

In some cultures people will haggle over almost everything they purchase. They usually mean no disrespect, its just how they were taught to conduct business.

I usually price my items a little higher then what I want . This allows room for hagglers.

 

[Paleo_joe]

Well, different cultures do have different ideas and practices about bargaining, but jerks are universal. There is also an element of crowd behavior and where people are. The estate sale companies around here have a way of telling you that prices are firm that is so very polite it cuts you whereas outdoor flea markets are like shark tanks.

I am bad about NOT bargaining. If it does not work for me at the asking price that had better be marked, I move on. I don't want to get over on people, I want both them and me to be happy.

 

[mjlalt]

Sometimes you can negotiate without saying anything . My grandmother taught me this trick . If i'm the only one at the yardsale I usually try this

1. Pick up the the item you want
2. look at it and inspect it for a minute or two
3. scratch your head and grimmace a little ,
4 put it down
5. pick it up again , hold it a few more seconds then put right back down
6. go look at something else

Half the time , they will speak up and offer to do better on the original item.

 

[buzzhead]

When I get people that haggle on a dollar item or group stuff together and ask 3/4 off I always quote a higher price than was marked as a counter offer.


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[2ndisbest]

Sometimes you can negotiate without saying anything . My grandmother taught me this trick . If i'm the only one at the yardsale I usually try this

1. Pick up the the item you want
2. look at it and inspect it for a minute or two
3. scratch your head and grimmace a little ,
4 put it down
5. pick it up again , hold it a few more seconds then put right back down
6. go look at something else

Half the time , they will speak up and offer to do better on the original item.

I use that move all the time.

I was not trying to disparage any race in my original post but I have conducted garage sales for over 20 years and never had anyone but arabs haggle me down on a .25 cent item. Yes pricks come in all races but to waste 10 minutes of your life to save a dollar is not economically viable unless your time is worth less than $6 an hour.

If it makes you feel any better all the line jumpers at estate sales I have encountered were all caucasians.

I don't discriminate with my hate, but I try to limit it to an individual case by case basis.

 

[diggummup]

Some cultures were raised where you always haggle at the marketplace. Think about some of these poverty stricken countries where they hail from. Be it India, Haiti, Mexico or what have you. In these countries, open air street vendors are commonplace and haggling is the norm. From meat and fish to fruit and produce, to shoes, socks, and underwear, they haggle on everything. Then you have your common white trash that are actually worse because they don't have an excuse, they are just plain lowlifes from the get go. What gets me is, these same people (whatever race) that try to beat you down to nothing on your prices are usually the same ones who won't budge a dime when they are reselling it at the flea market for 5-10 times what they paid for it.

 

[dejapooh]

I haggle on most everything I buy at a garage sale. Better $ in my pocket than Theirs. If you offer me a great deal, I will buy it and go without playing around.

 

[Rodbuster209]

When I have a Garage/Yard sale I don't mark anything, when the person asks "how much?" I respond "what will you give me?" usually but not always the amount they offer is more than what I would have told them, if it is one of the regulars I see that are in the business, I give them a price. Things usually go pretty good! when I am buying I usually always give a counter offer unless it is a screaming deal!

 

[Drmad7]

In some cultures people will haggle over almost everything they purchase. They usually mean no disrespect, its just how they were taught to conduct business.

I usually price my items a little higher then what I want . This allows room for hagglers.

Having spent time in certain areas...it is almost insulting to not haggle with a seller. It's almost a game and can be fun...but my wife is NOT into bargaining. We price garage sale items very low and she absolutely hates it when folks ask for a ridiculously low price. And for us, it's mostly African women(from the actual continent). My wife just tells me " Go deal with your people because I will not sell that pile if new clothes for $1.50!!". It's fun to me, and if the don't like my price, they can walk. But my deals are good enough that they claim their husband will be mad at them for spending so much on my stuff. I just wink and tell them to resell it for a lot more(because I know the majority of them do that although they won't admit it).

 

[meanpc]

As a buyer, I get pissed off when the seller refuses to negotiate. If it wasn't for the haggling I wouldn't have any fun. So much psychology involved, it really is an art form.

 

[meanpc]

I've actually found something that has been working for me lately. I noticed a lot of people take it really personally when they are told their stuff isn't worth as much as they are asking for it. To protect their ego, I have been admitting that the item is very nice and probably worth even more than they are asking. I'll then explain to them that I am simply unwilling/unable to pay what it is worth, but I will make an offer if it is ok with them. I'm not going to change their perspective on what the item is worth anyway, so why try? Every situation is unique of course, but I find this works really well with men.

 

[batcap]

Well, different cultures do have different ideas and practices about bargaining, but jerks are universal. There is also an element of crowd behavior and where people are. The estate sale companies around here have a way of telling you that prices are firm that is so very polite it cuts you whereas outdoor flea markets are like shark tanks.

I am bad about NOT bargaining. If it does not work for me at the asking price that had better be marked, I move on. I don't want to get over on people, I want both them and me to be happy.

I'm also bad about not negotiating. I've read that haggling is part of some cultures. The middle eastern Jews and the Muslims may be at war, but in the marketplace they know and play by the same rules. It's as off-putting to them when we don't participate in that ritual as it is to us when they try to engage us in it.
I don't like the whole "Us and Them" way I phrased that, but I'm talking culturally, not racially.

 

[randazzo1]

I've actually found something that has been working for me lately. I noticed a lot of people take it really personally when they are told their stuff isn't worth as much as they are asking for it. To protect their ego, I have been admitting that the item is very nice and probably worth even more than they are asking. I'll then explain to them that I am simply unwilling/unable to pay what it is worth, but I will make an offer if it is ok with them. I'm not going to change their perspective on what the item is worth anyway, so why try? Every situation is unique of course, but I find this works really well with men.

This often works very well. It's a technique usually learned through either 1. An Innate intuition about human interaction or 2. Years of experience. Great tip. Unfortunately I lack that intuition so it took me a while to discover this approach.

 

[randazzo1]

Personally, I don't think it has anything to do with race. Some of the most annoying people on earth, who will try to brow-beat you into submission, and then be the biggest jerk heads you've ever met when you don't agree with their offer price...every last one of them are Caucasian.

Everyone wants to feel like they got a deal. It is a universal thing, no matter where you are at.

Cheers to you Clovis.