garage sale pricing
05-13-2012, 06:12 PM
#62
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Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Concord, CA
Posts: 72
Thank you for asking about garage sale pricing. Now that I am retired, I have a storage shed with fabric that goes back to 1990's (?) if not earlier. I worked at House of Fabric, Fabricland, and now Beverly's Fabrics and Crafts. I promised my husband that I would clean out my "sewing shed" along with my sewing room and part of the garage this summer. I was contemplating have a "Sewing Garage Sale" but now I am not sure I want to do that. Is there any restrictions on posting my fabric on this site?
05-13-2012, 06:42 PM
#64
Super Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 2,667
Ironically, I went to City Wide sale this weekend. I bought stuff at one place and carried it with me to the next, since I had parked some distance between them all. I was SO worried they would think I had "lifted" something from their sale.
I also wonder, since it was an older couple, if they had put it in their bag, intending to pay for it, and forgot.
I digress.... I agree that you would get a better price for your fabric here. I know when I go to a garage sale I "dicker". I never intend to pay the listed price.
I also wonder, since it was an older couple, if they had put it in their bag, intending to pay for it, and forgot.
I digress.... I agree that you would get a better price for your fabric here. I know when I go to a garage sale I "dicker". I never intend to pay the listed price.
05-13-2012, 08:12 PM
#65
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Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Dallas area, Texas, USA
Posts: 3,050
I agree with Grannie Annie. Actually, the traditional garage sale price for anything in good shape is 10 cents on the dollar of current retail. This has been the case for generations (remember "Second Hand Rose"?). The concept is that people are really eager to get rid of their stuff and don't want the bother of selling some other way (newspaper ads, eBay, Craigslist, etc. - or how about right here on the QB?!). Most methods of selling provide category sorting, or even, in the case of things found via computers, very specific search responses. When you go to a garage sale you have invested gas and a lot of your time gambling that there might possibly be something you'd want at a big saving.
That said, if I found your fabric at the price you were asking I would have snapped it up and been quite delighted. That's because I'm a quilter and a fabric fiend. The chances are pretty good that people who spotted the fabric at your garage sale are neither. They were just looking at it as having some possible purpose maybe. They're not invested in the idea of getting good fabric in the same way that we are and may not know what it's worth, and so they want it dirt cheap.
I had a few garage sales but got discouraged because - although the vast majority of people are honest - every time there was at least one rotten apple. One time I was having a sale with a neighbor and someone pulled the price sticker off a cheap item and put it on a much more expensive item of hers. They came up when I was very busy and distracted (possibly by someone working with them, interrupting me with a question), and I messed up and sold the item before I realized what happened. That was my last garage sale.
It can be quite dangerous to confront strangers who have already demonstrated for you that they do not respect social norms. They just might be crazy enough to pull a gun. I would have done as you did and chalked it up to experience.
That said, if I found your fabric at the price you were asking I would have snapped it up and been quite delighted. That's because I'm a quilter and a fabric fiend. The chances are pretty good that people who spotted the fabric at your garage sale are neither. They were just looking at it as having some possible purpose maybe. They're not invested in the idea of getting good fabric in the same way that we are and may not know what it's worth, and so they want it dirt cheap.
I had a few garage sales but got discouraged because - although the vast majority of people are honest - every time there was at least one rotten apple. One time I was having a sale with a neighbor and someone pulled the price sticker off a cheap item and put it on a much more expensive item of hers. They came up when I was very busy and distracted (possibly by someone working with them, interrupting me with a question), and I messed up and sold the item before I realized what happened. That was my last garage sale.
It can be quite dangerous to confront strangers who have already demonstrated for you that they do not respect social norms. They just might be crazy enough to pull a gun. I would have done as you did and chalked it up to experience.
05-14-2012, 07:07 AM
#68
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Join Date: May 2008
Location: MN
Posts: 24,644
As a prospective buyer - if I don't like the price, I walk away.
I might do a "would you consider $ for some item?" and see what happens - especially if it's something I'm only somewhat interested in. I consider "negotiating" part of the shopping experience - as either a buyer or seller. If the seller doesn't like the offer - he/she can say no, give a counter-offer, or agree to my offer.
It's your stuff - if you want to charge $100 a yard for something, you can.
Like my Mom used to say - Fabric doesn't eat much (except space) - and usually doesn't have to be taken outside for potty breaks.
I might do a "would you consider $ for some item?" and see what happens - especially if it's something I'm only somewhat interested in. I consider "negotiating" part of the shopping experience - as either a buyer or seller. If the seller doesn't like the offer - he/she can say no, give a counter-offer, or agree to my offer.
It's your stuff - if you want to charge $100 a yard for something, you can.
Like my Mom used to say - Fabric doesn't eat much (except space) - and usually doesn't have to be taken outside for potty breaks.
05-14-2012, 07:43 AM
#69
Super Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Coastal Georgia
Posts: 1,508
Around here you will be lucky to find anything at yard/garage sales or flea markets that isn't closer to be at 50% retail.
Before I sold anything in a yard/garage sale or flea market for ten cents on the dollar I'd donate it to charitable organizations.
I haven't held any yard sales in last decade because our city now has an ordinace that you can't hold them but twice a year and must get a permit to do so. If you get caught doing so without a permit or more than twice a year you will get a ticket and pay a fine. It's just not worth it anymore.
05-16-2012, 05:28 PM
#70
Super Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Independence, MO
Posts: 3,560
I have not had the luck to find a yard sale with fabric, but would be thrilled to find good fabric @ $2.00 a yard. I see it here on the board for $5.00 + a yard with postage on top of that, so $2.00 - $3.00 @ least gives you some bargaining room for those folks that love to barter.
As for the shop-lifting not sure what I would do. It seems hard to believe they both did it by accident, but I would hope that I would say something to them just to let them know it was not okay to just take the items. It's one thing to ask if the prices were negotiable it's another just to take them.
As for the shop-lifting not sure what I would do. It seems hard to believe they both did it by accident, but I would hope that I would say something to them just to let them know it was not okay to just take the items. It's one thing to ask if the prices were negotiable it's another just to take them.
Norma
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