Books-b-gone / yard sale

This shelf is where quality junk goes to die. Or, less dramatically, to collect dust. Many of those boxes are from past producers, and contain the best or most interesting things from those places. To the left is an over-encumbered Tupperware shelving unit that is filled with largely the same stuff, topped with things that are already listed on eBay.

Organization is clearly not my strong suit.

Originally my plan was to tackle some of the boxes first. But then I saw the books again. They were always there, but at some point, after something sits somewhere for a while, you forget it’s there and it becomes almost like wallpaper.

Nearly one whole level of this unit was taken up by books. And that’s not including some books that were on a smaller shelving unit to the right of this picture. So I decided that the best bang for my buck (de-cluttering wise) would be to just sit down and focus on the books.

So over the past few days, I spent about ten hours researching these books. I knew that most probably weren’t worth all that much, so my main goal was to identify the ones that were worth the effort of listing on eBay or elsewhere. So I was looking at comparable prices, but also trying to gauge supply and demand. If I list something for 30$ and it sells in a few months, that might be worth it. If it sits around for years, then it’s probably not.

In the end, I cleared out about 3/4, if not more of the books – somewhere around 235 in total. Nine big boxes and 5 medium ones. The books you see below didn’t make the cut. There are some good titles in there, but also a lot of incomplete sets, or books whose covers are falling off, etc. The plan is to sell the whole lot in bulk. I didn’t have much trouble finding a buyer for the last (even bigger) book cull last year, so hopefully the same is true this time around. My asking price on Facebook is 300$, although I think the odds are good that I’ll end up taking a best offer.

I’ll let you know how it goes! The buildup of junk at my storages is starting to drive me a little batty, and I’m really hoping to unload a lot of stuff at yard sales these next few weeks. The university kids are back in town, and they need stuff (and often have $$ to spend).

Speaking of which, I plan on doing two sales this weekend, weather permitting. On Saturday, I’ll be at the 4096 Coloniale spot from roughly 12-6. On Sunday, I’ll likely do the same thing. If not, I’ll edit this post by tomorrow evening to reflect the new plans. Hope to see you there!

Links

1. My eBay listings. Sign up for eBay (Canada, US). Search for something you want / research something you have (Canada, US). — These are Ebay Partner Network links. If you create an account or buy something after getting to eBay from here, I get a small cut of the profit!  —
2. “Things I find in the garbage” on Facebook
3. Follow @garbagefinds and @garbagefindssells. Note that someone else runs the latter.
4. Email: thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com. Note that I really suck at keeping up with my email.
5. Help support the blog, or just buy me a coffee! PayPal link below.

Bad faith bargainers

Yesterday I did my first sale at the garage. My plan was to post about it here beforehand but I ended up running out of time. I’ve been pretty busy picking these past few weeks, and I’ve also spent a lot of time organizing my jam-packed space in anticipation of the sale, not to mention my move to a smaller garage in July.

Things were pretty good if relatively quiet for the first hours. My friend Sarah was helping and a bunch of fun people came as a result of my Instagram stories. At one point a garbage truck stopped and the workers came and bought a few things. I didn’t tell them that everything was former trash!

I was adding to an Instagram story during the sale, which is why the next two photos have writing on them.

At some point however things got a bit nuts. My friend needed to leave earlier in the day so I had to manage all the stuff (more than I’ve had at any other sale previously) and all the space by myself. Around 4:30 a group of three people showed up, all of whom made big piles of stuff and had no interest in paying anything near a fair price. I tried to be nice and bargain with them; I realized later that this was a mistake. They ended up making bigger and bigger piles and driving harder “bargains” – they seemed to feel entitled to more stuff because they had spent “so much” on the things they actually bought.

At about the same time a couple in a car showed up and started tearing things apart in the back. It was kind of a mess back there to start so I guess they didn’t think it was a big deal to make a bigger one. I could hear a glass thing or two break from my seat on the sidewalk, but since I was trying to dealing with the group of three ladies there wasn’t much I could do. At least those folks paid reasonable prices, but between the two groups my space is now a complete disaster zone.

At a certain point I realized I had lost control over the situation. My solution was to kick everyone out and end the yard sale early (it started raining not long after, so at least the timing of this was good). I was pretty peeved at this point so I wasn’t particularly friendly while doing it! I’m sure those ladies stole a fair bit of stuff from me – at the very least I saw one of them walk off with a nice banker style lamp that she hadn’t paid for – but I wasn’t going to fight them over trash and what is ultimately chump change.

Besides, I think they helped teach me a lesson that will prove valuable in future sales. Occasionally folks will come and feel entitled to pay nothing for quality stuff, and sometimes those people will be extremely insistent. At this sale (and in the past) I tried to be nice and attempt to bargain, but I think by doing so I only encouraged them to push the limits even further. The situation really degenerated once they realized that I wasn’t going to stand up for myself or the value of my items.

One of my favourite aspects about yard sales is getting rid of things. I love junk, but at the same time I don’t like it hanging around for very long. I’m not a minimalist, but having too much stuff definitely stresses me out. So, when people are willing to pay for my finds – even at bargain basement prices – I can console myself with the fact that I’ll never have to think about those items ever again. That, more than anything else is the reason I’ve been willing to negotiate with those who bargain in bad faith.

However, I’ll be taking a more hard-line approach going forward. If I think someone is being unreasonable, I’m going to tell them “no”. If they insist, I’ll tell them to leave. If they won’t leave, I’ll call the cops. I love getting rid of things, but I also have to uphold certain principles and demand respect for both myself and my junk. I can always donate the stuff they wanted to “buy” thereby satisfying my desire to never see it again!

Beyond the unpleasantness I made okay money (800$). I was hoping for more but I can’t complain too much – I’ll be able to pay the bills at least. Cleaning and re-organization that garage is going to be a lot of work though. Fortunately, a couple of friends and followers have volunteered to help.

I might have another yard sale next weekend before I switch garages – I guess I’m just a glutton for punishment! I promise to let you know if that’s a go this time.

Links

1. Facebook page
2. My eBay listings, Sign up for eBay, Search for something you want / research something you have
3. Etsy store
4. Kijiji listings
5. Help me pay off student loan debt / Contribute to the blog
6. Follow me on Instagram

Recent sales: October

IMG_7550

1. Yard sales: 1850$. I tried to unload as much as possible before the cold arrived. It was a lot of work, but I was pretty successful! Both my storage areas were mostly emptied of junk, with only a few suitcases of recent or favourite finds, as well as some larger pieces surviving the purge.

That’s pretty much it for yard sales until April, unless I end up selling at a local market or something. Either way, I made significantly more money yard sailing this year than ever before. I did the math last night and found that I made around 5500$, which is about twice what I made in 2015 (I don’t think I did the math for 2016, but I’d guess that the number was roughly the same as in 2015).

I’d say the main reason for this increase is the fact that I raised my prices, which were sometimes ridiculously low before. Over time I’ve learned more about what people are actually willing to pay for my junk, instead of charging what I personally would want to pay (which is next to nothing, since I’m kind of cheap and get so much for free anyways). I also found the process a little less overwhelming than in years past, and as a result I was less motivated to get rid of things as soon as possible.

We’ll see how the 2017 season goes. Perhaps the new garage space will help increase profits further, or at least add to the variety of things I’m willing to take.

DSC09426cens

2. Gold and silver scrap: 1200$. Another nice haul. I did well with that silver dish from a little while back, which earned me about 450$ on its own, but I had a decent collection of junk gold to melt as well.

3. Simonds saw tool: On eBay for 35$. This neat antique tool took a long time to sell. So did several other items on this list.

4. Series of Notman & Sons photos: On eBay for 125$. I figured these would go for a nice price! They were found as part of a great collection of old photos early in the summer. The Notman museum has record of these photos, and apparently they were part of a Junior League performance of “Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves.”

5. Parker VP fountain pen: On eBay for 90$. It was in great condition. Found in Villeray.

6. Parker Vacumatic desk pens: On eBay for 90$. The ends looked to have been chewed on, but the barrels and nibs were in good condition. These will be part of a future blog post!

7. iPod Classic: On eBay for 50$. Found in NDG.

8. Canadair lot: On eBay for 50$. This was all from a spot in Villeray. I would guess that it’s now part of it an aviation collection.

9. Michael Kors handbag: On eBay for 30$. The first of two Michael Kors handbags that took forever to sell. At least both customers were very happy, and left good feedback.

10. Supertest service pins: On eBay for 60$. These didn’t take long to sell. Unfortunately, after the initial pile of quality junk I saw nothing else at that spot.

11. Magellan handheld GPS: On eBay for 60$. From the “Very Rich People” series.

12. Michael Kors handbag #2: On eBay for 40$. It looked like it had barely been used, and even came with the receipt.

13. Herend Hungary dish: On eBay for 20$. Just a cute dish. Found in Outremont.

14. Lot of three vintage calculators: On eBay for 15$. None of these were particularly valuable on their own, so I listed them all together as a lot. Overall it was more hassle than it was worth, and next time this tier of vintage calculator will probably go into the yard sale bin.

15. Empty Grace cartridge box: On eBay for 30$.  It’s not just watch boxes that have value. This one was made to hold a vintage high-end record player cartridge, and sold quickly once listed. Unfortunately I can’t find the picture on my computer.

16. Royale Ambree EdC: On eBay for 18$. I’m pretty sure this was my oldest eBay listing, though that lot of bullfighting ephemera is pretty close. It was probably online for 3 or 4 years, and I’m glad to not have to look at it ever again.

17. Vintage Ski-doo toque: On eBay for 35$. I listed this when the weather cooled down and it didn’t take long to sell. Found in Rosemont.

18. Expo 67 passport: On eBay for 30$. I find Expo 67 passports generally go for around 30-40$, assuming they’re in good condition and have a solid collection of stamps. This one had an old ginkgo leaf stuck between the pages.

19. French far-right literature: On eBay for 150$. More racist ephemera from that spot in Rosemont. It seems that people are buying it for research purposes, which is good.

20. Postcard lot: On eBay for 10$. This was a collection of vintage holiday / dumb joke cards. It was the last of lots I listed last year – the ones I organized by geographical region were much more popular.

21. Dresser: On Kijiji for 50$. Unexceptional but solid. Found with my mom on a run in St Michel.

22. Mirrors: On Kijiji for 50$. It took me a while to realize that these kinds of things might do well on Kijiji. The mirrors were quite old, and likely part of some long since replaced medicine cabinets. I still have the windows, and have added a few more to the collection since then. Both the mirrors and windows are great for upcycling or interior design projects.

23. Roto-toms: On Kijiji for 100$. The drums were nice, but the stands were in too rough of shape to be worth much. I threw them in with the drums as part of the deal. The chimes sold at one of my yard sales, I think for 20$.

Total: 4188$, 23876.50$ so far in 2017. If only every month could be so profitable. Now it’s time for me to listed a bunch of stuff on eBay in anticipation for winter, which is usually a great time for sales.

Links

1. Facebook page
2. My eBay listings
3. Etsy store
4. Kijiji listings
5. Contribute to garbagefinds.com
6. Follow me on Instagram

Email: thingsifindinthegarbage@gmail.com. I often fall behind on emails, so I apologize in advance if it takes me a while to get back to you.