Official 2010 Yard Sale Thread

[quote name='slowdive21']What do you guys (everyone reading this thread) use to keep track of your collections?[/QUOTE]
Collection? Not anymore for me. Speaking of which, I should list some of my Genesis titles on my trade list since I don't even play them anymore.
 
[quote name='slowdive21']That's too bad...I was going to hire you to start selling some of my (non-ebay) stuff! Take it from me, you need to move that stuff. I spent the last 2 days sorting and I still can barely walk through 3 of the rooms.

[/QUOTE]

I have no problems with the media (books, DVDs, CDs, games, videos) that stuff I get entered into Amazon pretty quickly and keep organized. The collectibles is where I get in trouble . . . I keep leaving boxes with game systems around the basement. The only other issue I have is that the flotsom builds up. I have tons of cast aways . . . stuff that isn't listable (price is lower than I thought or condition issues) . . . I need to have a box for those items and when if fills just get it out of here. I also just have supplies spilling over at times.

I think of my system as 10-10-10. Find an average of 10 sellable items per day, list an average of 10 items per day and ship 10 items per day. I think it ends up more like 12-11-10. But I have been amazed at how stable my numbers have been for the past 4 years.

Maybe we could trade . . . my ebay-type stuff (I HATE ebay) for your Amazon-type stuff :)
 
[quote name='slowdive21']
On a similar note: I need to get a scanner for my computer that reads barcodes. I tried using an xbox camera, but it didn't work with Libra. I need to find a better program too.

[/QUOTE]

What is the problem with doing it manually? . . . I just crank in the upc or isbn . . . only takes a few seconds. A scanner would be nice but my fingers work just fine.
 
A very slow day for me but thats ok, I'm ready for college football. Picked up a Puzz 3D Titanic (Thanks to this thread) and grabbed a few Sega Games for $5 total (some are imports), if anyone has interest in these let me know I would love to trade them away. I'm a Nintendon't kinda guy.

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[quote name='slowdive21']What do you guys (everyone reading this thread) use to keep track of your collections?[/QUOTE]

i too am curious about this, there are some decent websites out there but i am looking for programs that are computer based and go off of specific version as opposed to title, ex- 300 best buy edition with mini spartan helmet vs 300.

this has taken alot of research and am not getting any closer. for those that have "databases" are we talking like an excel sheet or access database or what?
 
Today there were only 3 sales. Things are slowing down, I suppose.

Crash Team Racing electronic pinball game
Lost Season 1 (DVD sealed)
Baldur's Gate with Tales of the Sword Coast expansion (discs and slipcover-sleeve only)
Quentin Tarantino: Shooting from the Hip (book)
Rashomon: A film by Akira Kurosawa (book)
$10 total

I took the asking price of $2 for the CTR toy. Lost was marked $5, the rest was unmarked. I offered $5 for it all (without CTR) and we agreed on 8. The Rashomon book has a copyright of 1969, is there a chance it's worth something?
 
[quote name='slowdive21']That's too bad...I was going to hire you to start selling some of my (non-ebay) stuff! Take it from me, you need to move that stuff. I spent the last 2 days sorting and I still can barely walk through 3 of the rooms.

On a similar note: I need to get a scanner for my computer that reads barcodes. I tried using an xbox camera, but it didn't work with Libra. I need to find a better program too.

What do you guys (everyone reading this thread) use to keep track of your collections?[/QUOTE]
I've been using a linux program called Tellico to keep track of my stuff, with a cue cat for barcode scanning. That's the cheapest barcode scanner you can get, but it has to be modified to work as a regular barcode scanner. I've been using Tellico since it can read the output from an unmodified cue cat.

I've been watching ebay to try and pick up a better barcode scanner, but finding a good one for under $30 is difficult. A lot of scanners are priced quite high.
 
Hit up one today that was close to my house as it advertised PS2 games. I got there and they had a decent selection of PS/PS2 and two Wii games. Nothing caught my eye, really, as most were Nintendo titles and the prices were a little steep $10 for most PS2 games, $3-5 for most PS. I did snag one of those K-Mart CD jewel cases with four 15-block PSOne memory cards inside which was unmarked for $3. Good enough deal I shelled out another 50 cents for two little plastic cases to hold the memory cards seperately.
 
September + minor holiday weekend + hurricane scare = few sales. Plus I was hit with the infamous "some guy just bought everything line" which always sucks.

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Trigun vol. 2 Harcover - $1
:ps2: Legion: The Legend of Excalibur - $1
Sony PS1 Multitap - $2
Intec PS2 Multitap - $1

Random stuff. Multitaps are actually from different sales.

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Xbox 360 Core (console only) - Free
Ok, this is a weird one. I saw a 360 leaning against a tree (yes, a tree) and asked about it. The lady said it doesn't work and I can just take it. Well, she wasn't lying, it doesn't work. There's scuff marks and some kind of rubbery white glue all over it. The faceplate was literally glued on but I was able to get it off eventually. After scraping tons of goop off the DVD drive until it was able to open, I actually got the system working. It has the original dashboard (with the "blades" design) and it worked fine when I tested Dead Rising on it.

After a few more tries though, the video stopped working, and a little while later, bam, 3 red rings. The warranty sticker is broken but I don't think it's actually modded or anything. Guess I'll have to see about getting it repaired or maybe try it myself.

Also there was a Snow White DVD in the drive.
 
[quote name='Shazyzang']I took the asking price of $2 for the CTR toy. Lost was marked $5, the rest was unmarked. I offered $5 for it all (without CTR) and we agreed on 8. The Rashomon book has a copyright of 1969, is there a chance it's worth something?[/QUOTE]

http://www.amazon.com/Rashomon-Film...=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1283628291&sr=1-4

The Rashomon book (like 99% of books in print) isn't worth selling, but a sealed copy of Lost season 1 could net $16-17. Right now, TV series on DVD are pretty good rummage sale material.

http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Complete...ef=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1283628250&sr=8-1
 
[quote name='erehwon']I've been using a linux program called Tellico to keep track of my stuff, with a cue cat for barcode scanning. That's the cheapest barcode scanner you can get, but it has to be modified to work as a regular barcode scanner. I've been using Tellico since it can read the output from an unmodified cue cat.

I've been watching ebay to try and pick up a better barcode scanner, but finding a good one for under $30 is difficult. A lot of scanners are priced quite high.[/QUOTE]

Once every 2-3 months or so I see barcode scanners at yardsales, you might want to be on the lookout.
 
Honestly I just keep a list in microsoft notepad of what I have games-wise. I use amazon for backup and catalog all my stuff using the media library. The problem with the programs that claim to help you organize your collection is that will they be able to transcend operating systems and computers once you change systems. Will the software be upgraded or will the company who makes it die off and leave customers hanging? Does a new version of the software cost $$$$ every time you change OS's. If not, then all the work has gone to waste, or you are stuck keeping an old computer just for cataloging your stuff which only makes more clutter especially if its a program you intend to use for years and collectibles you intend to keep for quite some time.

A lot of PS2 games can be had for under $5 from half.com ebay, or amazon or various other sources so unless its a pretty rare game, you probably don't want to pay $10 at a yard sale for it.

I didn't get anything today, the only thing that happened to me was running into overpriced sales with people unwilling to budge on price. I don't think I found anything that was under $2 for all items and hardly any gaming stuff.

I've been a "hoarder" and a collector of things since I was 10 years old... though I did sell off a ton of stuff and made very good money on all of it. If you want to call it a hoarder. I don't think I am really a hoarder though, I am not drowning in stuff and I don't have trash or smelly stuff around, most of the mess is confined to one room which I call the selling room which gets emptied out every Xmas season.
 
I'm now glad that I had that classic gaming score on Thurs. Otherwise this was a poor weekend for games but good overall for other stuff especially books.

On Friday, there were very few advertised sales and I didn't encounter many others. I did see a sign for a sale that was a few miles out of town. The sign mentioned books, CDs, and DVDs (cool) and said 10 am . . . it was about 9:20. I hit a few more sales and headed out toward the sale and got to the subdivision at 10 to 10 and couldn't find any sign of a sale. The signs had no address but led right to this one block. I waited around until 10:05 and still no action. I drove back to edge of town and stopped at my credit union to get some cash and take a leak. I got back about 10:20 and the sale was started. OK . . . I ask about the DVDs and some DS games . . . "Oh, its not my sale, so I don't know. She'll be back soon." I looked through some books and found a few winners . . . I pushed hard and the "friend" accept $5.50. As I took them to my car, the woman running the sale finally arrived. After all this, I find out she has high prices in mind. $15 for Mario Party DS? $5 for a disc only copy of Super Smash Bros for GC . . . what a waste of time. I had spotted an upgrade version of Win Vista (which is worth over $40) and she wants $50 for it. This woman belongs in SaraAB's town!

I got these for $4 total:



2 positives. I got a $10 LCD monitor . . . which I really wanted for my sister-in-law (as a bonus b-day present). The other thing is that one of the books I bought is a hot textbook and was in new condition . . . I sold it for $95 on half.com. I paid $2 for it ($1 for one other and a few others for .50 each). In retrospect, I'm sure the woman running the sale would have wanted $50 for it . . .

Sat. was pretty similar . . . here is the only game I bought and I didn't see much either.

It's got to be the perfect Grandma thinks its great but the kid hates it type game.

One other story . . . I don't usually report books but anyway. I followed some signs to a pretty crappy sale. As often happens, I did find two items worth buying. Dead Poet's Society might bring in $8 but the DVDs are priced $2 . . . so I negotiate down to $1. There were a few books and I asked if she'd take .25 instead of .50 on this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/03...ils?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1283632397&sr=1-7&seller=
Of course, she has to call over Joe and ask him. At this point, I'm thinking "forget I asked" but Joe says sure and asks if I'd like another copy of the book . . . I say sure and he pulls out a tub with a bunch of other books . . . my eyes lit up as I see that its theology texts.

So, for $7 . . . I got $150-200 in listings. Not only do these books have some value but they should also be quick sellers this time of year. If I had just paid the .50, I wouldn't have gotten these books.
 
Textbooks are always a nice find at yard sales. Especially if they have a lot of them , since you can just throw out a moderately low price and ask for all of them.

I snagged 14 or so books last weekend, and even though most of them are from '05, Ive sold 7 of them already.

I wouldn't pay more than $4 a book, though, unless you know for sure what it is youre buying.
 
" The other thing is that one of the books I bought is a hot textbook and was in new condition . . . I sold it for $95 on half.com. I paid $2 for it ($1 for one other and a few others for .50 each). In retrospect, I'm sure the woman running the sale would have wanted $50 for it . . ."

You bought a used book in new condition, did you list it as new or used?
 
[quote name='TiKi2']
You bought a used book in new condition, did you list it as new or used?[/QUOTE]

The book was in new condition . . . very tight and crisp in a plastic wrap with a sealed online code. I'm pretty sure the owner would have given me some long explanation of how she didn't use it. But I had negotiated the book with her friend.

I sold it as new . . . although I could have gotten about the same price with it as a like-new copy.

Here it is:

http://product.half.ebay.com/_W0QQtgZinfoQQprZ69709066

I sell some hotter textbooks on half.com because you don't have to compete with Amazon itself.

http://www.amazon.com/Because-Teach...=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1283641225&sr=8-1
 
[quote name='Ash Burton']A very slow day for me but thats ok, I'm ready for college football. Picked up a Puzz 3D Titanic (Thanks to this thread) and grabbed a few Sega Games for $5 total (some are imports), if anyone has interest in these let me know I would love to trade them away. I'm a Nintendon't kinda guy.[/QUOTE]
Im interested in TMNT.
 
[quote name='Potatoeman']Textbooks are always a nice find at yard sales. Especially if they have a lot of them , since you can just throw out a moderately low price and ask for all of them.
[/QUOTE]

This is often a good idea. A few weeks ago I was eyeing some books on quilting . . . I was probably going to spend about $8 getting the ones that I knew I could list (based on Amazon values) but the woman said how about $20 for everything . . . I got her down to $15 (this was something like 25 real books and 25 booklets). Later when I had more time to look up everything I found some of the stuff that I would have passed on was worth selling--so I got some extra value. I took the box of leftovers to Half-Price Books and they gave me $10.50 for it.
 
[quote name='TiKi2']Half is a lot slower than amazon isn't it? Took me 1 1/2 weeks to sell a lowest priced dvd on half, same dvd on amazon lowest priced took 1 day.[/QUOTE]

Years ago for a little while I would list items on both sites. Amazon won (fastest) so often that I stopped bothering with half.com. A few times, an item sold on Amazon and I forgot to remove it at half . . . the half.com version would sell a few months later.

But if a textbook is very popular and Amazon's price is low . . . then you might make some extra $ on half. So, half.com buyers may pay more for a book than Amazon sells it.
 
[quote name='schultzed']I'm now glad that I had that classic gaming score on Thurs. Otherwise this was a poor weekend for games but good overall for other stuff especially books.

On Friday, there were very few advertised sales and I didn't encounter many others. I did see a sign for a sale that was a few miles out of town. The sign mentioned books, CDs, and DVDs (cool) and said 10 am . . . it was about 9:20. I hit a few more sales and headed out toward the sale and got to the subdivision at 10 to 10 and couldn't find any sign of a sale. The signs had no address but led right to this one block. I waited around until 10:05 and still no action. I drove back to edge of town and stopped at my credit union to get some cash and take a leak. I got back about 10:20 and the sale was started. OK . . . I ask about the DVDs and some DS games . . . "Oh, its not my sale, so I don't know. She'll be back soon." I looked through some books and found a few winners . . . I pushed hard and the "friend" accept $5.50. As I took them to my car, the woman running the sale finally arrived. After all this, I find out she has high prices in mind. $15 for Mario Party DS? $5 for a disc only copy of Super Smash Bros for GC . . . what a waste of time. I had spotted an upgrade version of Win Vista (which is worth over $40) and she wants $50 for it. This woman belongs in SaraAB's town!

I got these for $4 total:



2 positives. I got a $10 LCD monitor . . . which I really wanted for my sister-in-law (as a bonus b-day present). The other thing is that one of the books I bought is a hot textbook and was in new condition . . . I sold it for $95 on half.com. I paid $2 for it ($1 for one other and a few others for .50 each). In retrospect, I'm sure the woman running the sale would have wanted $50 for it . . .

Sat. was pretty similar . . . here is the only game I bought and I didn't see much either.

It's got to be the perfect Grandma thinks its great but the kid hates it type game.

One other story . . . I don't usually report books but anyway. I followed some signs to a pretty crappy sale. As often happens, I did find two items worth buying. Dead Poet's Society might bring in $8 but the DVDs are priced $2 . . . so I negotiate down to $1. There were a few books and I asked if she'd take .25 instead of .50 on this one:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/03...ils?ie=UTF8&me=&qid=1283632397&sr=1-7&seller=
Of course, she has to call over Joe and ask him. At this point, I'm thinking "forget I asked" but Joe says sure and asks if I'd like another copy of the book . . . I say sure and he pulls out a tub with a bunch of other books . . . my eyes lit up as I see that its theology texts.

So, for $7 . . . I got $150-200 in listings. Not only do these books have some value but they should also be quick sellers this time of year. If I had just paid the .50, I wouldn't have gotten these books.[/QUOTE]

That's pretty much how it goes over here, no offense to all but the problem seems to be with middle aged women about age 40-50, they just don't want to bargain and would rather keep their junk even though they will never get the prices they want for it here. No one in my area is gonna buy garbage (75% of the stuff I see at sales never ends up moving at all) for expensive prices. The other age groups are very easy to bargain with, but these women, forget it.

The good thing though is that old games when you find them are usually cheap, so is older stuff in general, again when you find it. However people usually want more for DS games at a yard sale than what GS charges especially if its an older title from a bargain bin because some of those go very cheap at GS. You really have to keep up on game prices or else you could get royally screwed at yard sales. GS also sells a lot of PS2 games very cheaply so you have to keep that in mind when buying at yard sales.
 
[quote name='SaraAB']That's pretty much how it goes over here, no offense to all but the problem seems to be with middle aged women about age 40-50, they just don't want to bargain and would rather keep their junk even though they will never get the prices they want for it here. No one in my area is gonna buy garbage (75% of the stuff I see at sales never ends up moving at all) for expensive prices. The other age groups are very easy to bargain with, but these women, forget it.

The good thing though is that old games when you find them are usually cheap, so is older stuff in general, again when you find it. However people usually want more for DS games at a yard sale than what GS charges especially if its an older title from a bargain bin because some of those go very cheap at GS. You really have to keep up on game prices or else you could get royally screwed at yard sales. GS also sells a lot of PS2 games very cheaply so you have to keep that in mind when buying at yard sales.[/QUOTE]

No they don't keep their junk, they think it is worth so much cause they paid so much, according to them. But after awhile of not being able to sell they just get desperate and dump their stuff off at goodwill.
 


Final Fantasy VII (Complete & Non GH), Final Fantasy IX & X Guides - $5
Super Mario Sunshine (Complete) & Intellivision Lives! (PS2, Complete) - $4
Sega Genesis & Saturn Stuff - $5
Donkey Kong Country: Legend of The Crystal Coconut (VHS) - .50

First sale of the day as it advertised video game systems & games. $5 for Final Fantasy VII & a buck each for the guides, offered $5 for all. Super Mario Sunshine was marked $4 & Intellivision Lives! $2 took $4 for both. Asked about the Saturn stuff, wanted $5 for it ended up offered $5 for it with the Genesis stuff thrown in. The VHS tape was marked $2 (!) but they had no problems with my offer of .50.

Friday Non Find BS
Got out about 5 minutes before 8 and was out for close to 2 hours with only 10 sales on my list and 15 sale I went to total.

The first sale I went to was my first stop as for what it advertised, I saw what I got and passed on Final Fantasy VIII ($5) and a PS1 for $10. Asked about video games and the rest was an N64 and I'm guessing some games which sold at quarter after (or maybe they said quarter before) 7 but it was probably 7:15. This sale started at 8. Seeing a PS1 for $10 it probably wasen't that insane of a deal unless it was loaded with 1st party games which is highly unlikely.

One sale I stopped at was a repeat of a sale I've mentioned before, a lady that mentioned having about 100 Nintendo games last year. I wasen't really expecting anything but couldn't help but stop by just incase. It was a different family member (her daughter it seemed). They had some plastic cases with some GI Joe characters with a piece of paper on them that said something about eBay and $40. I can't remember how it was worded but it was either saying that's what they sell for on eBay or that was the price with a because of eBay explanation. I mentioned something real quick about remembering buying GI Joes back in the day blah blah blah and has I was leaving the seller was BSing with another lady still and I'm not sure why she mentioned it but I overheard her say she has a Nintendo and a few Xbox 360s as if to be bragging or something which was rather ironic. I never really tried to follow up on this what could have been a huge NES bundle last year and a big part of the reason was because I got a vibe that it wouldn't be a deal (I'd guess quite pricey for a bulk bundle) if I were to hassle these people to sell me the NES games and today seemed to further prove that, even when I walked up to the sale the seller was telling somebody how somebody showed up the night before when they saw her sale advertising dolls that were mentioned in the ad as in this lady wanted to get some pre-sale action and first dibs on her dolls when she saw who's sale it was selling them.

The one repeat sale I went to mentioned PS2, PS3 & GBA games in the ad. I didn't see any GBA games, the PS2 games were mostly $2 sports games and the PS3 games were $15 best being some Lord of The Rings game & Resistance Fall of Man. I'm guessing that they might have had some decent GBA games but that the games didn't sell becuase they were that great or dirt cheap but because some clueless parent scooped them up for the kids thinking it was a great deal even if it wasen't. Along with the $15 PS3 games for most expenisve the sale I got Super Mario Sunshine at had a GBA Player for $15 (IIRC they are $10 at GameStop).

Besides my first sale the only other thing I missed was the sale I got the Sega stuff mentioned some games only name mentioned was Bug! on the Saturn and some old Atari games that I missed. Probably just the same common stuff but I can't help but wonder if some uncommon stuff I don't have was in the mix and even start to picture the unlikely (Montezuma's Revenge being one of the games).



Winning Post (Saturn, Complete)
Sammy Sosa High Heat Baseball 2001 (PS1, Complete) (double case goodness)
Tobal No. 1 (PS1, Disc Only)

$2

GameCube 1st Party Controller - $1.50
Croc 2 & Destruction Derby 2 (PS1, Disc Only) - $1
Game Boy Bundle - $5

The 3 games I got from a sale that I see in town every year, missed it on Friday but stopped by first thing Saturday since it's not far from my place. The games they were asking $2-5 for in previous years depending on what system it was but this year it was the dreck that didn't sell in previous years and what was left of the Saturn, PS1 & PS2 games was all a buck each this year. Actually offered $3 with some other stuff but figured about $2 of it for the games. GC controller was $2 offerd a buck but the lady wanted to play hardball and suggested $1.50. Asked about video games at one sale and the lady mentioned a broken system that she didn't bother bringing out. It was a PS1 with some disc only games, picked out these 2 and offered a buck for them. The Game Boy stuff was actually from one of my first sales, asked about games and was told that they got rid of the "Nintendo" stuff years ago but the lady mentioned that they still had a Game Boy and I said I'd take a look at it if she was interested in getting rid of it. She brought it out and I looked it over. When I brought it back to her she asked if I was interested in it and I offered her $5.

N64 With Everything Needed And 10 Games - $20

Asked about games and this was hidding out in somebody's room. The lady was asking $20 I said I was thinking $10 then when that made her sour I offered to meet in the middle at $15 but she was tough and didn't break so I caved and gave $20 since it still seemed good to me even if haggling wasen't in play.

NES With Everything Needed and 12 Games - $30

This was one of the last sales I went to of the day, asked about games and the guy went and got 1 game to show me what it was then said he had a system and 12 games to which I said I'd be interested and he brought it all down. Some hints that he didn't want to sell it too cheap (he had me make him an offer and said something about it being sold if it's enough or not too low or something like that). Instead of the $5 I usually try and open with I went with $20 and he said he was thinking $40 to which I suggested we meet in the middle on which he did as he was pretty serious about selling it even if he wasen't willing to just get it out of the house for next to nothing. Top row of games is boxed, bottom left 2 boxes are just boxes and the 3 games in the bottom right are complete. The plastic game cases were actually out at the yardsale but when I grabbed them after buying the NES stuff they said I could just have them (I think they were asking .50). The plastic storage deal for the games is nice but unfornately the lid comes off thanks to some broken plastic on the main part.

Non Find BS Saturday
Got out about 10 minutes after 8 and was out for almost 4 1/2 hours, had 32 sales on my list got to 37 sales total. Chance of rain today but only nothing going on at 2 sales on my list and only 7 non advertised sales today.

First sale I went to today was a house I remembered from 2 years ago that advertised games, they had GB games at $5 a pop and a SNES with a few extras but no games for $50. They were advertising a SNES for today's sale and I was going to skip it but figured I'd stop by just incase they were actually selling some SNES games and figured that even if they wanted $5 each maybe I'd find a diamond in the rough but all I saw was the same SNES bundle still marked $50. Asked about SNES games and it sounded like they sold them years ago, it was funny seeing the SNES for so much again as I was thinking that they might mark it down to something like $25 if it didn't sell last sale.

It was kind of odd at the sale I got the fist 3 games at as (who I'm guessing) is the dad of the house or some kind of patriarch of the family was having a stern talking to with a kid that looked like he was about 15 about responsibility with different things in the kid's life which was odd to be doing at the back of the garage which was part of the yardsale, I remember his face from previous years and he was helping with running the sale but couldn't the talk have waited lol. The sale I got the GC controller at I asked about games to which a younger kid mentioned one game inside for the N64 and mentioned it was Mario Kart but his mom cut him off saying they didn't have anything. When the lady brought out the Playstation at the house I got the disc only games at her husband saw her bringing it out and grabbed something from the bundle as not to be brought out and offered for sale. I didn't see what it was but it probably was something like a game for a different system or maybe something he wanted to hold onto with the selection of games I saw it was hard to imagine it was a disc only Suikoden II or something of the likes.

The sale I got the N64 stuff at was something different. It was advertised as a tag sale with 8 rooms worth of stuff, it was going on Friday but didn't start till 10 so I skipped it on Friday since I wasen't out long. I was expecting it to be some professional running the sale but it wasen't and I almost missed it today, walked by the house and saw a table on the porch with barely anything on it but no signs and no traffic. I was gonna leave then figured I might step onto the porch to look at what was on the table and as I was thinking about it the lady saw me and invited me in. I asked about games and was taken right up to the 3rd floor of the house which was like an attic that was setup as another bedroom. The N64 was out in the open but kind of off to the side and not setup.

The house I got the NES stuff at was late in the day at one of my last sales just before noon. Many things about this sale told me that certain things may not be dirt cheap (they actually metioned a Beatles album in the ad in the paper) and when I asked about video games the lady actually asked me how much I would pay (or be willing to pay) for games and I told her I usually pay about a buck a game. The games are in as good of shape as I ever see and the guy even mentioned how he stored them away safely and mentioned to me how he had the boxes and grabbed them for me after we made the deal. I was disappointed to see that Mega Man 2 didn't have a box as I'd like to have at least one of the NES Mega Man games complete and I didn't look but would have guessed that more of the games would have included manuals seeing how well the games were taken care of. When I cleaned the contacts on the carts they didn't have any dirt on them and barely any grayish/black from normal usage.

The only things I was told about missing were at back to back sales, one a Playstation (I'm guessing with games, can't remember) and an Xbox with 27 games (this was actually advertised as such in the paper). Only the $50 SNES mentioned still around from a previous sale for overprice video games at a garage sale today. Lots of sales mentioning video games in the paper this week, 10 plus I'm guessing it was but most of them didn't sound very interesting for me and were mostly newer stuff and most of this newer stuff mentioned being PS2.
 
Hwy 61 yard sale weekend here. Hit a few (maybe 20). Saw a good amount of games. Nothing too special: mostly pc, genesis, ps2. Tons of DVD and CD stuff to nose through. Even saw some hddvds and 2x blurays (transporter 1&2 $10 ea).

Finds:
Rolling Stones Jump Back $1
Best of Bread $1
Empire Records OST $1
Clueless OST $0.50
Best of Pirates of the Mississippi $0.50

Same sale had a collection of PS1 & PS2 RPG's including Final Fantasy and a bunch I'd never heard of for $10 each. Kinda meh since I don't do a lot of resale or have a system to play em on. May make someone elses day.
 
Didn't go to many since we took family, who wanted to go, but got bored soonish. Managed to get an nes with 3 mario games and yoshi for $15. Haven't had a chance to test or clean it. Same sale, got a yellowed snes controller and Mario RPG for $4. She was packing up the nes stuff when I asked about mario rpg, and she said like 3-4 time that it's for another system, and I kept saying how much for it. Stupid bitch.

Oh and they wanted $4 a dvd. Hah. Got them to throw in a sealed copy of hitchhikers guide with the nes.
 
elessar123

There's no reason for deragatory language . . . seems to me you should be happy to get the game for so little. Maybe she went overboard in warning you but that's hardly reason to be so crude.
 
[quote name='schultzed']elessar123

There's no reason for deragatory language . . . seems to me you should be happy to get the game for so little. Maybe she went overboard in warning you but that's hardly reason to be so crude.[/QUOTE]


I thought it was funny. It's not like she is going to come on CAG and read his post.


As for FOnewearl . I'm seriously going to have to put you on my block list. I don't know how you do it every week, and I hate you more and more everytime you post :)
 
@FOnewearl

On that n64 lot, I find that it's a good tactic to offer 80% when the asking price is already pretty good. I've noticed on some of my bigger scores, people are more flexible when you "buy in"; that is, you don't shaft them on the value of at least a few of their games.

In other news, that n64 console I bought from a dealer for $20 died after playing for 15 minutes--good thing it came with an extra atomic controller to sell off. I've had so many systems go kaput on me lately that I'm starting to only consider the value of controllers / accessories when buying. :drool:
 
[quote name='FOnewearl']




GameCube 1st Party Controller - $1.50
Croc 2 & Destruction Derby 2 (PS1, Disc Only) - $1
Game Boy Bundle - $5

The 3 games I got from a sale that I see in town every year, missed it on Friday but stopped by first thing Saturday since it's not far from my place. The games they were asking $2-5 for in previous years depending on what system it was but this year it was the dreck that didn't sell in previous years and what was left of the Saturn, PS1 & PS2 games was all a buck each this year. Actually offered $3 with some other stuff but figured about $2 of it for the games. GC controller was $2 offerd a buck but the lady wanted to play hardball and suggested $1.50. Asked about video games at one sale and the lady mentioned a broken system that she didn't bother bringing out. It was a PS1 with some disc only games, picked out these 2 and offered a buck for them. The Game Boy stuff was actually from one of my first sales, asked about games and was told that they got rid of the "Nintendo" stuff years ago but the lady mentioned that they still had a Game Boy and I said I'd take a look at it if she was interested in getting rid of it. She brought it out and I looked it over. When I brought it back to her she asked if I was interested in it and I offered her $5.

[/spoiler][/QUOTE]

Great finds! Would you be interested in parting with that Gameboy TMNT Fall of the Foot Clan game?
 
[quote name='TiKi2']No they don't keep their junk, they think it is worth so much cause they paid so much, according to them. But after awhile of not being able to sell they just get desperate and dump their stuff off at goodwill.[/QUOTE]

If I was really brave I would go garbage picking at these houses since I have a strong suspicion they just throw it out because they get sick of trying to sell it to people who constantly lowball them (even if the stuff really isn't worth anything and is used/beat up) but I am sure since they would recognize me and probably call the cops and its not worth that. I really doubt I am the only person who tries to haggle them on the prices since its pretty much a given that if you are having a yard sale people are gonna try to bargain with you.

Though it could take years for them to throw it out.. I am not sure who would want to have their garage filled with tables full of worthless crap when you could be keeping your car there but evidently there are people who do this.

Another interesting story: I ran into a lady with A WHOLE BARN full of 80's toys and general junk, it wasn't a very large barn, maybe more the size of a shack, but man, it was packed full. There was an upstairs too to the barn like structure, but who knows what was up there since the entire stairwell was also covered with junk and an air conditioner blocking it. She also had her entire porch filled with tables and glassware on it, there was at least 10 tables and it was packed in so much you could barely walk through it to see it. Most of it was 80's toys. It was really cool to see but the prices were ridiculous for what was essentially trashed junk (7$-10 for a plastic lunchbox that had more than seen better days), as pretty much everything in there was in trashed shape. I did buy one item and at least she was willing to bargain with me on this. Trust me if I had a camera on me I would have taken pictures because I don't think I have ever seen so much stuff packed into a small place like that. She claims 3 weeks of work went into preparing for the sale and that she wasn't selling anything and I have no doubts about that.. gee I wonder why.
 
well, went garage sale hunting against my wishes. my girl wanted to go, so i went along for the ride. found a garage sale and a guy had a box of old video game systems laying in there. he had a N64, sega genesis and something else i cant remember. he said "$20 for any system with all cables and controls." i passed on the systems and asked for any games he might have. "Just some old Intellivision games", he said. He brought them out and said "$25 for the box." he had about 20 games all in boxes. i said i would give him $20 and he took it. mind you, i know nothing about intellivision games and what there worth. so i looked at it as either a waste of money or a group of games that i could hopefully flip on ebay and make a small profit. this is what was in the box:




PIC 1: all games have boxes, manuals and overlays.




PIC 2: the top 3 games all have manuals and overlays. the bottom 4 are either missing manuals or overlays.



PIC 3: while looking up prices for these games, i found out that digdug and tower of doom are 2 of the slightly more rare games for the system. digdug more so that ToD. while researching the games online, i found out that digdug and ToD only had manuals and no overlays. all boxes are in OK condition. the box also had some manuals and pamphlets for other games and the intellivision itself. overall, not bad for $20 considering i didnt feel like going garage sale hunting.
 
[quote name='SaraAB']If I was really brave I would go garbage picking at these houses since I have a strong suspicion they just throw it out because they get sick of trying to sell it to people who constantly lowball them (even if the stuff really isn't worth anything and is used/beat up) but I am sure since they would recognize me and probably call the cops and its not worth that. I really doubt I am the only person who tries to haggle them on the prices since its pretty much a given that if you are having a yard sale people are gonna try to bargain with you.

Though it could take years for them to throw it out.. I am not sure who would want to have their garage filled with tables full of worthless crap when you could be keeping your car there but evidently there are people who do this.

Another interesting story: I ran into a lady with A WHOLE BARN full of 80's toys and general junk, it wasn't a very large barn, maybe more the size of a shack, but man, it was packed full. There was an upstairs too to the barn like structure, but who knows what was up there since the entire stairwell was also covered with junk and an air conditioner blocking it. She also had her entire porch filled with tables and glassware on it, there was at least 10 tables and it was packed in so much you could barely walk through it to see it. Most of it was 80's toys. It was really cool to see but the prices were ridiculous for what was essentially trashed junk (7$-10 for a plastic lunchbox that had more than seen better days), as pretty much everything in there was in trashed shape. I did buy one item and at least she was willing to bargain with me on this. Trust me if I had a camera on me I would have taken pictures because I don't think I have ever seen so much stuff packed into a small place like that. She claims 3 weeks of work went into preparing for the sale and that she wasn't selling anything and I have no doubts about that.. gee I wonder why.[/QUOTE]

Check out estate or moving sales; sometimes folks will put interesting things in their trash right in plan view (I've gotten five crappy playstation games, some game magazines, and other assorted goodness when on the inside they were asking way too much for some other crap wrestling games). Another positive thing about these kind of sales is that people are in a "clear out" mode.

Yeah, I don't get people who hoard beyond the point of "walkway path"--I know my father had some of these tendencies but when it gets to the point where one can't really care properly for all that they collect--the results tend to be mildew, mice, and other environmental damage. It just doesn't make sense to hold onto something that you don't definitely enjoy or have some good use for. It's also the difference between something having liquid value and this "pie in the sky" collector's value, like imagine holding on to a bunch of dusty 100 year old books and seeing the value collapse because a kindle edition or reprint was released for $5 or so.
 
[quote name='schultzed']elessar123

There's no reason for deragatory language . . . seems to me you should be happy to get the game for so little. Maybe she went overboard in warning you but that's hardly reason to be so crude.[/QUOTE]

Um because they also treated me like I'm stupid or bad at English, helped people asking questions after us, and two of the three people there sitting down that practically ignored us completely? So yes, I stand by my name calling. Why are you so offended anyways?
 
[quote name='elessar123']Um because they also treated me like I'm stupid or bad at English, helped people asking questions after us, and two of the three people there sitting down that practically ignored us completely? So yes, I stand by my name calling. Why are you so offended anyways?[/QUOTE]

The phrase just hit a nerve for me . . . 80 pages into this thread and I don't recall much personal name-calling like this. I would reacted the same to any racist or sexist language.

From the added detail you just gave, I can better see your point than I did in the original post. It sucks that you weren't treated with respect. Still it doesn't make much sense to condemn her ethnocentrism (or racism) by using a sexist phrase.

If you had said "the woman was a racist idiot" or "what an ignorant asshole" I would have better understood your complaint.
 
Hey for the of you frugal/cheapys out there looking for a magic eraser. Dollar tree sells a magic eraser clone 2 pack for you guessed it, $1. Works decent problem is with it just like magic eraser it dulls the plastic. Does anyone know if goof-off dulls as well?
 
[quote name='Potatoeman']Jeeze Fone, way to make some of us look bad! How big is your town?[/QUOTE]

I yardsales in a few different areas near my town since I only see a handful of sales in my town I haven't been to on any given weekend.

[quote name='Indigo_Streetlight']On that n64 lot, I find that it's a good tactic to offer 80% when the asking price is already pretty good. I've noticed on some of my bigger scores, people are more flexible when you "buy in"; that is, you don't shaft them on the value of at least a few of their games.[/QUOTE]

You never know what a seller is thinking I just try and play it by ear. A few times I've had people that seemed applauded when I offer $5 for something and at other times will think afterwards that I should have at least tried to haggle a little on the price when I didn't or that they gave in to my offer way too easy and I probably could have gone lower and got it or gone lower and work my way up a little but still have done better then what I ended up paying. Your first option in a case like this is usually my second when I try to meet them in the midde on the price.

I overheard a guy earlier this year saying that he sold something for what he was asking at $40 and was telling someone else at the sale how he figured somebody would have offered $20 which was what he was looking to get and would have took no problems.

My neighbor prices certain things like electronics high, he had an old TV that was way too much at $50 for a yardsale. After the sale it didn't sell and he asked me if I knew anybody that wanted a free TV. I would guess that he would have taken $5 for it easy at least at the end of the day but scared everyone off on making any sort of offer pricing it so high.

[quote name='IkilledLassic']Great finds! Would you be interested in parting with that Gameboy TMNT Fall of the Foot Clan game?[/QUOTE]

I think I have an extra copy, I'll have to look around. I'll drop you a PM if I do.

[quote name='schuerm26']If that Kid Icarus is complete you got yourself a very good find. I sold one for $115 a year or two ago.[/QUOTE]

No manual :(
 
[quote name='FOnewearl']I yardsales in a few different areas near my town since I only see a handful of sales in my town I haven't been to on any given weekend.



You never know what a seller is thinking I just try and play it by ear. A few times I've had people that seemed applauded when I offer $5 for something and at other times will think afterwards that I should have at least tried to haggle a little on the price when I didn't or that they gave in to my offer way too easy and I probably could have gone lower and got it or gone lower and work my way up a little but still have done better then what I ended up paying. Your first option in a case like this is usually my second when I try to meet them in the midde on the price.

I overheard a guy earlier this year saying that he sold something for what he was asking at $40 and was telling someone else at the sale how he figured somebody would have offered $20 which was what he was looking to get and would have took no problems.

My neighbor prices certain things like electronics high, he had an old TV that was way too much at $50 for a yardsale. After the sale it didn't sell and he asked me if I knew anybody that wanted a free TV. I would guess that he would have taken $5 for it easy at least at the end of the day but scared everyone off on making any sort of offer pricing it so high.



I think I have an extra copy, I'll have to look around. I'll drop you a PM if I do.



No manual :([/QUOTE]

I couldn't give away a TV (26" old style)...
You can take them to BBuy to recycle for $10 and they give you a $10 gift card.
 
[quote name='elessar123']Um because they also treated me like I'm stupid or bad at English, helped people asking questions after us, and two of the three people there sitting down that practically ignored us completely? So yes, I stand by my name calling. Why are you so offended anyways?[/QUOTE]

She actually interrupted his asking "How much is it?" 3-4 times to say it wasn't the same game system. He was far nicer than she deserved.
 
[quote name='donut']I couldn't give away a TV (26" old style)...
You can take them to BBuy to recycle for $10 and they give you a $10 gift card.[/QUOTE]

Hold the phone. Do you have to pay $10 or do you get the $10 gift card free and clear?
 
[quote name='Indigo_Streetlight']Hold the phone. Do you have to pay $10 or do you get the $10 gift card free and clear?[/QUOTE]

I'm sure they give out the gift cards. TVs, comps almost all electronics are harvested for their metal content. They've got Gold in them. especially the OOOOLLLLDDDD school computers.
 
[quote name='Indigo_Streetlight']Hold the phone. Do you have to pay $10 or do you get the $10 gift card free and clear?[/QUOTE]If this is a free $10 gift card I'm going to drive around on bulk pickup day and get every broken TV or monitor.
 
[quote name='FOnewearl']I yardsales in a few different areas near my town since I only see a handful of sales in my town I haven't been to on any given weekend.
[/QUOTE]

No offense intended but my guess is that you don't have that much competition. That and you are good at sniffing out game stuff :)

I think some of the people who come up empty handed week after week are probably facing a lot of competition. In my experience, gaming stuff is out there but if you get beaten to the punch you won't have many finds.
 
[quote name='Indigo_Streetlight']Check out estate or moving sales; sometimes folks will put interesting things in their trash right in plan view (I've gotten five crappy playstation games, some game magazines, and other assorted goodness when on the inside they were asking way too much for some other crap wrestling games). Another positive thing about these kind of sales is that people are in a "clear out" mode.

Yeah, I don't get people who hoard beyond the point of "walkway path"--I know my father had some of these tendencies but when it gets to the point where one can't really care properly for all that they collect--the results tend to be mildew, mice, and other environmental damage. It just doesn't make sense to hold onto something that you don't definitely enjoy or have some good use for. It's also the difference between something having liquid value and this "pie in the sky" collector's value, like imagine holding on to a bunch of dusty 100 year old books and seeing the value collapse because a kindle edition or reprint was released for $5 or so.[/QUOTE]

Don't think I've ever found games at an estate sale, most are furniture and larger items and most estate sales here are run by a company who vastly overcharges for what they are selling. The estates have already been cleaned out by the old person's kids hence why its just furniture and larger items, priced by a company not the family of the deceased.

A moving sale not run by a company on the other hand, could be very good, especially if the person is in clear out mode. These are the best sales to hit.

Church sales are usually epic, out of all the types of sales, if there is a sale at a church or some other type of organization, GO GO GO! They are usually the lowest priced out of all sales and they usually have a bag sale, I don't think I need to mention how epic bag sales can get.

Most people don't realize but there are hidden costs involved with keeping a lot of junk, not to mention the work involved if you are having a yard sale, bringing it all back in the house, and bringing it out week after week like I see some people do here. The space you are using to keep junk could be used for other purposes, and the time you are using to sit out and sell this stuff could probably be better used for other things, especially if you aren't making anything and paying $30 for a newspaper ad which is pretty much mandatory here for a sale. It might be better in other towns in other areas, where yard sales get cleaned out more, but that doesn't happen here, you will only sell about 25% of what you put out here. I can roll into yard sales at 3pm which I do and see tons of stuff left and sometimes I even find games, most of my finds are purchased after 12pm on Saturday.

I have tried having yard sales here, even tried pricing most items at 25 cents each and lowering the prices come late in the day, tried clothing bag sales ($2 for a grocery bag) and everything and still couldn't get rid of the stuff on the lawn due to lack of customers who wanted what I had.

Honestly I would rather spend my time throwing away junk if I had a lot of junk to get rid of, and anything worthwhile and shippable can be sold on ebay, the rest can be thrown out, since there are limited ways to sell stuff here and few customers buying the random items. At least I would have the space I set out to clear at the end. If you collect stuff you have to toss stuff eventually, if you want to have more stuff. You are best off holding onto the things you will truly like and use when deciding what to keep. If you have stuff that is declining in value and you don't think you want to keep it you are best off selling it while you can and getting something for it, you may not be able to sell it in a short while and then you are stuck with a pile of worthless junk.
 
[quote name='schultzed']No offense intended but my guess is that you don't have that much competition. That and you are good at sniffing out game stuff :)[/QUOTE]

The competition isn't nearly as bad around here as it would be say around a big city, I could picture some areas being wiped out of anything good and reasonably cheap (or cheaper) before 8 AM if said area has resellers & gamers yardsaling all over the place.

I'm more worried about people that don't know what they are doing, I'll hear about somebody buying all of the PS1, PS2, Xbox etc type games when I ask about games and it's hard to imagine that it was really anything that great in what actual games it was that I missed and probably somebody who haphazardly bought a bunch of games that I wouldn't be all that envious of missing if envious at all of the selection I missed out on. Some Grandma who isn't really looking for video games but sees (sp?) a NES for $5 with a few games may buy it for the kids rightfully figuring it's a deal. Something like Final Fantasy VII I could see sitting around with nobody buying it for awhile if it's not a buck around my area or the right person doesn't come by and buy all of the Playstation games while some areas would surely have buyers all over the place that know what it sells for online.

Good at sniffing out game stuff? I wouldn't say so as if I was I wouldn't have walked by a DKC 3 for GBA that I missed while an old lady reached across a table to grab it from under my nose a few years ago :) It would probably be better said that I try not to leave any stone unturned.
 
I live in South Florida, and the competition here is tremendous. It is more so the Haitians here than other gamers. Haitians are like yard sale ninjas, they get there first, every time. I have found it easier to let them scoop up all the games and then go buy them from them second hand at the flea market where there are thousands of them. They are getting smarter though, recently one Haitian lady separated all the Mario games (N64) and said they were ten each. I asked about the others and she said 3 dollars, so I grabbed Conker, Killer Instinct and Worms and went on my way. So they are not that smart yet.
 
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