PSA: I tagged every item at estate sales without checking prices first for 2 years

So I've been going to estate sales in the Seattle area for about 3 years now and last month I finally figured out I was doing something dumb the whole time. I used to just grab anything that looked cool, throw a price tag on it with the sticker they hand out, and pay at the end. But last month at a sale in Ballard I saw this older guy pick up a set of 4 vintage bar glasses, look up the pattern on his phone, and put them back because they were worth maybe $8 each and they wanted $15. That's when it hit me that I had been overpaying for junk for years because I never checked comps before slapping on my offer. Now I bring my phone, look up completed listings on eBay while I'm standing there, and I've saved maybe $40 just in the last 3 weekends. Who else was doing this backwards and only realized when someone else showed you how it's done?

3 comments

3 Comments

jennifer_west21d ago

Wait, you're telling me people actually look up prices BEFORE they tag stuff? I totally thought the whole point of estate sales was just vibes and trusting your gut on what felt like a fair deal. I'm not gonna lie, I used to judge people whipping out their phones at sales like they were being too serious or something. But then I spent $50 on a "vintage stereo" that turned out to be a broken 90s radio worth maybe $10 on Craigslist. Now I'm the one standing there with my phone out, checking sold listings for every dang lamp and vase. It feels way less romantic but my wallet is a LOT happier.

betty_scott1821d ago

Wait, you dropped $50 on a busted radio without checking it first? That's rough. I gotta give it to you though @jennifer_west, at least you learned from it. Some people never figure it out and keep losing cash. I've seen folks walk out of sales carrying boxes of junk that probably cost them more than a nice dinner. But honestly, I get the vibe thing - it feels more like a treasure hunt when you just grab stuff. Just hurts when you check later and find out you got played.

dylan_patel15d ago

Gotta disagree hard with you @betty_scott18, I'd rather keep the mystery and lose $50 once in a while than turn every sale into a boring spreadsheet exercise. The whole fun is the gamble and the surprise, not knowing if you just scored a deal or a dud.