Official 2011 Yard Sale Thread

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I was just wondering today when someone was going to start this. Not that I've gone out since a week or two before Thanksgiving =P
 
I'll have to reconstruct my sick estate sale pick-up from the week before Christmas once I get done liquidating most of it. Some snipers got there an hour before me and picked up about a dozen games--judging from what was left behind I'm certain they snagged a Lunar Eternal Blue + Silver Star Story and probably a Star Ocean the 2nd Story.

If you're curious, here's some of the items I scored and that went right back out the door:

Guides
Final Fantasy Tactics Advance
Final Fantasy Tactics A2
Star Ocean 2
Final Fantasy 12 LE

Artbook
Trigun (Japanese Import)

Games
Monster Rancher 2
Gradius 5

I paid about $10 for the guides (stack of 18) and $60 for everything else. In with the games I also picked up goodies like Breath of Fire 4 (disc only, with guide), Zone of Enders the 2nd Runner, Pokemon Red Version, about five-ish video game soundtracks (including Final Fantasy X, hack. sign, Zone of Enders, Lunar 2 Eternal Blue, Grandia 2) about $15 bucks worth of screamo music flips, Puni Puni Poemy DVD, Legend of Zelda Windwaker Strategy Guide for the collection (yes!), a Phantom Brave guide, a Sega Gamegear w/ battery expansion and 3 games, just too much to list.

Oh wait, there's more:
Monster Hunter (Brady Guide) - Flipped to NorAm for $11
NBA Jam Tournament Edition Longbox
Phantasmagoria 2: A Puzzle of Flesh - Minty discs. I actually didn't like this game once I tried it out, so I sent my scratched up copy (bought for $10 elsewhere) back to Goodwill and sold the good one to cut some of my losses.
Diablo 1 and 2 Complete with both expansions.
Berserk Manga 1-3 (Nice! These are good reads)

Okay, maybe $200+ worth of stuff when all is said and done. This sale wasn't all gravy though because they were somewhat disorganized with lots of empty cases and a binder full of PS2 games (which upon closer inspection were furnished by Memorex). I got suckered on a PC case which I thought was Command and Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars for PC but turned out to be an unusable Pre-order deal. Gotta have a keen eye for this sort of thing!
 
Happy New Year! Good luck to all for 2011.

I'm already longing for rummage. Right now, its 10 degrees outside in WI. It will be 5 months before sales before sales kick in.

My total for my video find from last June was close to $900 in sales value:

3rd.jpg


I sold 2 $50 ones near the holidays. I have some left but I figure they won't sell.

My original post is here:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=248036&page=29
 
[quote name='schultzed']Happy New Year! Good luck to all for 2011.

I'm already longing for rummage. Right now, its 10 degrees outside in WI. It will be 5 months before sales before sales kick in.

My total for my video find from last June was close to $900 in sales value:

3rd.jpg


I sold 2 $50 ones near the holidays. I have some left but I figure they won't sell.

My original post is here:
http://www.cheapassgamer.com/forums/showthread.php?t=248036&page=29[/QUOTE]

I had a lot of surprising sales over the holidays too; however I'll say you take the cake pulling in that much from VHS :)
 
Yeah, its gonna be a while before I start reporting finds here since the sales don't start until April or May here and don't really go full force until after Memorial Day.
 
[quote name='slowdive21']Sold one of those (single) Pilates DVDs for $15 on amazon.[/QUOTE]

Was this a Winsor Pilates? I find that stuff I set aside in June is more valuable on Amazon in Dec-Jan.

I sold 8 of the 3-disc sets in the last 2 months (at an ave. of $26). I buy them through the year and dump them in Dec-Jan.
 
My cousin is into that and he makes good money, I know I wouldn't be any good at it though.

I do love those storage, pawn shop, antique shop, reseller-type shows. Sure are a lot of them cropping up, makes sense what with the economy I guess.
 
this thread motivated me to go yard saling this saturday. i have a car now and will be able to get to more sales than i did via bike.
 
Auction Hunters is another show like Storage Wars. I actually heard about it as somebody was telling me about an Atari that was mentioned on it (S1E4 Strated For Cash).

It seems as if it's always Atari 2600 on any of these types of shows and I figure because it was the first really popular home console system.

Details about the Atari found on the show -
They win a storage space with what was mostly computer stuff, as they are checking it out they find a box 2600 in the back of the mess of stuff. Don't show them selling it but mention twice that it's worth $250 (one time saying "up to $250"). I was thinking it would only sell for that much to somebody if it was sealed and what price they could stretch it for would depend on the condition of the box.
 
It sucks I barely got out at all last year. Would like to go this year a bit more but I've honestly started to grow bored of some of it all.
 
[quote name='FOnewearl']Auction Hunters is another show like Storage Wars. I actually heard about it as somebody was telling me about an Atari that was mentioned on it (S1E4 Strated For Cash).

It seems as if it's always Atari 2600 on any of these types of shows and I figure because it was the first really popular home console system.

Details about the Atari found on the show -
They win a storage space with what was mostly computer stuff, as they are checking it out they find a box 2600 in the back of the mess of stuff. Don't show them selling it but mention twice that it's worth $250 (one time saying "up to $250"). I was thinking it would only sell for that much to somebody if it was sealed and what price they could stretch it for would depend on the condition of the box.
[/QUOTE]

I remember seeing a hefty price like that on Pawn Stars or the like for a working Atari console with 40 games. I think for pricing like that they just assume that they can jack up every pennied out game up to $4 and that they can get a premium if they can show the customer it's working...other than that they can let the bundle sit until the right middle-aged collector with a padded wallet comes along.

I actually know a guy like this who's into the Atari stuff; where I can get something like $20 for systems of unknown virtue and $1.50-$2 for cart fodder, no questions asked. Makes him happy because he gets stuff at 50-60% of what he's used to paying, makes me happy because the local market for this stuff is more like 5-10% :drool:
 
And my .Hack Sign Original Soundtrack 2 is a bootleg from Taiwan, made by a company called Alion International. Very educational and hard-to-detectable, but unfortunately not sell-able.

Still got my health, skills, and a tidy $80 profit so far. Looking forward to the spring thaw!
 
[quote name='slowdive21']
I would like to add I am addicted to the show "Storage Wars" about storage space auctions. I wanted to get into those, but now everyone will be there.[/QUOTE]

I need to check this show out--this seems like a real adventure. My wife told me about an NPR story about this a while back . . . you can here the story here:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104521902

I don't think I could handle doing storage space auctions . . . I don't have the room or time for so much ebay-type stuff. I've been doing some basement cleaning . . . damn I have a bunch of systems to unload.

In one box I found a nice Platinum GBA SP that I just unloaded for $44 and a copy of Metroid Fusion that went for over $10. I cherry picked from the best of my left over rummage and sold off most stuff on Amazon during the holiday blitz . . . so its amazing to find stuff that I forgot I even had.
 
[quote name='FOnewearl']Auction Hunters is another show like Storage Wars. I actually heard about it as somebody was telling me about an Atari that was mentioned on it (S1E4 Strated For Cash).

It seems as if it's always Atari 2600 on any of these types of shows and I figure because it was the first really popular home console system.

Details about the Atari found on the show -
They win a storage space with what was mostly computer stuff, as they are checking it out they find a box 2600 in the back of the mess of stuff. Don't show them selling it but mention twice that it's worth $250 (one time saying "up to $250"). I was thinking it would only sell for that much to somebody if it was sealed and what price they could stretch it for would depend on the condition of the box.
[/QUOTE]
I believe there was a specific model of Atari 2600 that was worth some money a while ago called the Darth Vader model. It was a six switch one with a black faceplate on the front of it that says Atari 2600 on it. I think I had the more common four switch model when I was a kid, which I sold off to some kids in the one housing project while visiting a buddy of mine's one nephew with him about 15 years ago.:cry:

At least I'm hoping it was the more common 4 switch model and not the DV model.:bomb: Then again I dumpster dived like 90-95% of the games I had for it from a garbage can when the kids around here were leaving the local university for summer break. They used to leave piles of clothes in bags at the curb as well. Most of them still had tags on them.:roll:
 
[quote name='IAmTheCheapestGamer']I believe there was a specific model of Atari 2600 that was worth some money a while ago called the Darth Vader model. It was a six switch one with a black faceplate on the front of it that says Atari 2600 on it. I think I had the more common four switch model when I was a kid, which I sold off to some kids in the one housing project while visiting a buddy of mine's one nephew with him about 15 years ago.:cry:

At least I'm hoping it was the more common 4 switch model and not the DV model.:bomb: Then again I dumpster dived like 90-95% of the games I had for it from a garbage can when the kids around here were leaving the local university for summer break. They used to leave piles of clothes in bags at the curb as well. Most of them still had tags on them.:roll:[/QUOTE]

I had one of those...I may have given it to a friend for his b-day about 10 years ago when video games weren't collectible, yet were still cool to own. I'll have to check my Atari stash.


On a side note...My brother and I both had Atari Club jackets that we had to mail away for back in the day. They are probably worth hundreds now. I think my mom donated them in the mid to late 90s. They were bright Silver windbreakers with lining and Adidas style stripes on the arms and an Atari logo on the chest.
 
[quote name='slowdive21']
I would like to add I am addicted to the show "Storage Wars" about storage space auctions. I wanted to get into those, but now everyone will be there.[/QUOTE]

There is a Storage Wars marathon tonite. I managed to catch an on-demand episode (Time-Warner cable). Pretty good stuff . . . the one I saw had the midget with the stilts. How on earth did the guy get a storage locker with a mini-car?? The guy buying $20,000 worth of kitchen equipment for $2600 was pretty good . . . in that case you could see the value right away.
 
[quote name='schultzed']There is a Storage Wars marathon tonite. I managed to catch an on-demand episode (Time-Warner cable). Pretty good stuff . . . the one I saw had the midget with the stilts. How on earth did the guy get a storage locker with a mini-car?? The guy buying $20,000 worth of kitchen equipment for $2600 was pretty good . . . in that case you could see the value right away.[/QUOTE]

I watched a few episodes of that show and I think a lot of the "finds" were planted. In one of the episodes I watched, the guy who never changes his outfit (Jared, I think... the guy in the JNCO shorts with the "Outlaw" shirt) bought a locker he thought was a flop. It was filled with a dirty couch, several empty shoe boxes, some old food, rat poop and... a safe from the 1900s that was gold plated. Um, no. There's no reason that safe would be in that locker. The only explanation is that it was planted by the show's producers. It just stuck out like a sore thumb and did not fit in that locker in any sense.
 
[quote name='Doomstink']I watched a few episodes of that show and I think a lot of the "finds" were planted. In one of the episodes I watched, the guy who never changes his outfit (Jared, I think... the guy in the JNCO shorts with the "Outlaw" shirt) bought a locker he thought was a flop. It was filled with a dirty couch, several empty shoe boxes, some old food, rat poop and... a safe from the 1900s that was gold plated. Um, no. There's no reason that safe would be in that locker. The only explanation is that it was planted by the show's producers. It just stuck out like a sore thumb and did not fit in that locker in any sense.[/QUOTE]

I don't think they plant stuff...The show is scripted though. That locker was in Inglewood. Most likely it was either broken into or the renter cleaned it out knowing they were not going to pay the rental bill. In either case anything of value was already removed, except for the safe because of the weight (Or the person that cleaned it out was not aware the safe was worth anything).
 
i watched most of the marathon of storage wars last night and defintely like the show, its very scripted though like pawn stars and american pickers

Had a good haul yesterday, went to two different swap meets and a couple pawn shops.

http://i52.tinypic.com/19seoo.jpg
NES + 2 controllers and these 11 games:
SMB/DH
Pinball
Wrestlemania Challenge
Super Pitfall
TMNT
Bases Loaded II
Tiny Toon Adventures
Tiny Toon Adventures 2
Stinger
TMNT Arcade Game
Days of Thunder

$8 total. This was at the swap meet on the reservation, would've been gone in a second and priced more at the other swap meet.

http://i56.tinypic.com/wuo10x.jpg
Spyro: Ripto's Rage - $1 Dirty as hell but should be fine when I replace the case
Contra Hard Corps - $2
Super Mario World - $2
Super Metroid - $5
TI-83 Plus Calculator - $3
Leapster game (sealed) - $2

http://i56.tinypic.com/2mdnm21.jpg
$23 total for all the Xbox games and Luigi's Mansion pictured above, none of them have manuals.

http://i51.tinypic.com/ou5pxz.jpg
$20 for everything above, GBC game is oracle of seasons. one KOTOR doesn't have the manual.

http://i55.tinypic.com/auv69s.jpg
$5 ea for Psychonauts and Ninja Gaiden Black. $6 ea for Klonoa 2 and Godzilla, $3 for DKR, $8 for KOTOR (no manual)

Not pictured is a GBA Gameshark for $5
 
[quote name='slowdive21']I don't think they plant stuff...The show is scripted though. That locker was in Inglewood. Most likely it was either broken into or the renter cleaned it out knowing they were not going to pay the rental bill. In either case anything of value was already removed, except for the safe because of the weight (Or the person that cleaned it out was not aware the safe was worth anything).[/QUOTE]

The problem is that the safe didn't fit in that locker in any context. Nothing else in the locker was similar to that safe, so I can't see why it was in there. Maybe a newer, crappier safe, but not a vintage early 1900s gold-plated safe. Why would someone have that in a locker they are storing food and shoes in?
 
[quote name='Doomstink']The problem is that the safe didn't fit in that locker in any context. Nothing else in the locker was similar to that safe, so I can't see why it was in there. Maybe a newer, crappier safe, but not a vintage early 1900s gold-plated safe. Why would someone have that in a locker they are storing food and shoes in?[/QUOTE]

I dunno if the item was as strange as the condition it was in. It's one thing for a horder to pick up the odd broken-down collectible (speaking from familial observations here), but for something like that (identifiable etchings 'n' fancy lettering, the door wasn't falling off or rusted shut, etc.) most people would have at least tried a pawn or antique shop.
 
[quote name='slowdive21']I don't think they plant stuff...The show is scripted though. That locker was in Inglewood. Most likely it was either broken into or the renter cleaned it out knowing they were not going to pay the rental bill. In either case anything of value was already removed, except for the safe because of the weight (Or the person that cleaned it out was not aware the safe was worth anything).[/QUOTE]

I finally saw the "safe" episode. I think this is a pretty logical explanation--the safe was viewed as too heavy to deal with--"we'll come back for it later"--which never happens.

I agree that the safe was out of place but if you've gone to enough rummage sales you know that this is a real possibility. I've seen sales with a bunch of absolute junk and then one valuable item that is totally out of place.

If you want examples of the improbable, what are the odds that someone will leave behind a $4000 coin collection in a storage locker???

I think the real problem with the show is that they are (for the most part) just showing us "sexy" highlights collected over months of taping. We are not seeing the duds . . . there must be numerous examples of poor purchases that don't fit the narratives.
 
[quote name='slowdive21']I would like to add I am addicted to the show "Storage Wars" about storage space auctions. I wanted to get into those, but now everyone will be there.[/QUOTE]

Back to your original post . . . this show will great for the storage auction business but not for the people who have been doing this stuff for years. There will so many newbies driving up prices for the next 2 years.
 
[quote name='schultzed']

If you want examples of the improbable, what are the odds that someone will leave behind a $4000 coin collection in a storage locker???

[/QUOTE]

The only way I can explain is the person either died or couldn't get a loan from friends, family, or a financial institution. If I had something in storage of value I would definitely find somone to borrow the money from, especially if it is cost effective to do so.
 
Went to a big indoor yard sale today in Cape Girardeau.

Snagged a ziploc bag filled with Atari games (14) for $5. Don't have an Atari, but plan on making some cool wall art out of them. Had duplicates of Frogger and Donkey Kong plus an unlabeled one. Condition is fair mostly.

Saw lots of gaming stuff but nothing I had to own at the prices they were asking.
 
Wtf is up with everyone garage saleing all of a sudden, maybe it's our high unemployment rate. The sales around here are getting loaded.

Found mega man 8 $1 - overpaid - disc only and scratched to shit.
 
Yard sale / pawn shop finds:

Pikmin no manual
Animal Crossing no manual
$3 total

PS2 slim w/ cords, controllers, 7 crappy games - $8

Buffy Chaos Bleeds Xbox - $5
Left 4 Dead 2 disc only - $5

Beyond Good and Evil PC CIB - $3.5
Red Dead Revolver Xbox disc only - $2.5
 
I sense I will be posting here a lot. I didn't get much last year (mostly books and a Sega Genesis) but I'm definitely doing a lot more this year.
 
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So, today was PC bigbox bonanza for me :p
I've posted the complete haul with pictures and a list of the stuff here, but for now I'll just leave you with this picture...

dnjdkl.png
 
[quote name='bunnybum']So, today was PC bigbox bonanza for me :p
I've posted the complete haul with pictures and a list of the stuff here, but for now I'll just leave you with this picture...

dnjdkl.png
[/QUOTE]

Nice finds in there, seems like Planescape and Blood are just the beginning :bouncy:
 
[quote name='bunnybum']So, today was PC bigbox bonanza for me :p
I've posted the complete haul with pictures and a list of the stuff here, but for now I'll just leave you with this picture...

dnjdkl.png
[/QUOTE]

That PC box is full of win. Awesome pickup.
 
My only great yard sale find was 2 huge boxes of NES games, over 350 of them that I picked up for just under $100. I'll definitely be going more this year.
 
If you guys think anything needs to be added to the OP LMK. I saved the second slot...Maybe we could do a find of the week that everyone can vote on?
 
Yard Sales are in a deep freeze now, but I had one good find out in the Thrift Store world. A Buffy the Vampire Slayer Boardgame (sealed) by Milton Bradley. I paid $6.36 and sold it for $80 :D Cleared about $50 profit when all was said and done.

Now the only trick is not sinking that money into more collectibles!
 
Hit up a big indoor sale today at the Belleville, IL Fairgrounds. Saw quite a few games for most of the big systems, but the prices were average. $15-$25 for 360 games isn't a bargain.

Grabbed some random non-gaming stuff:
Blade Runner comic book adaptation (Marvel) $1
Silverware set $8 (very plain but thick and well made, wife wanted)
Kodak Instamatic in the box $1
Kodak Baby Brownie Special $5
Owl Trivet $1

Not bad for driving by and stopping on a whim.
 
I haven't posted my finds in a while, since most of what I've been finding has been the usual fare: a few uncommon titles here or there, but nothing amazing -- mostly just filling in gaps in my collection. The last three weeks, however, have been absolutely on-fire for me when it comes to deals and interesting titles.

In fact, in 14 years of collecting old games, there is one particular game which I have always kept an eye out for, but never found. That ended on Sunday...


N64 Beast Wars
N64 Rakugakids (EUR)
SNES Clay Fighter CE, $9 for all
N64 Spider-Man, $1.50


Gameshark Guide, FREE
PS Jade Cocoon (complete), $3


DVD Tron 2-Disc Collector's Edition, $4
BD Fringe, The Complete First Season, $7
CD KMFDM - NAIVE (original Wax Trax version), $1

I just about jumped outta my skin when I saw Fringe. The guy selling it wanted $8 originally, but I asked if he'd take six. He said no, but met me in the middle at $7. I've been looking for this version of Naive for a few years, since it's the only one with the unedited version of Liebeslied. The insert is torn, and the disc has some light wear, but I'm still pleased as punch to find it.



NES Donkey Kong 3, Final Fantasy, Win, Lose or Draw, Deja Vu, Werewolf, Ghostbusters, Incredible Crash Test Dummies, Jordan vs. Bird, Totally Rad, Elevator Action, Days of Thunder, Mega Man, $10 for all

Most of these are kinda banged up, but they're all new to my collection, save for Mega Man and Final Fantasy. They were originally a dollar each, but I asked for a better price if I bought a bunch.


Chia Homer planter (new), $1
Rubik's Clock, $2


Pokemon Red Version strategy guide
Pokemon Special Edition guide
Final Fantasy Tactics, FREE

The folks at this sale were putting things away when I arrived -- the same sale where I got the Chia Homer from. They said I could have these. Sadly, the FFT guide is completely loose; the binding is gone. However, it seems to have all its pages, so I'll probably just sort them, square them up and put them in an envelope. At least it was free!


DC Resident Evil, Code: Veronica
DC Dino Crisis
DC Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
DC Crazy Taxi 2, all complete, $16 for all
PS Theme Park (complete), $2
PS Final Fantasy Tactics (Greatest Hits, new & sealed), $4

While FFT is sealed, it has a hole punched through the upper left corner. Still cool to find it sealed, though.


SNES Toy Story
SNES We're Back!: A Dinosaur's Story, $3 for both
N64 GameShark v3.3, $1
32X Cosmic Carnage, $1


SNES Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
SNES Final Fantasy III, $6 for both
SNES Earthbound
XB Conker: Live and Reloaded (complete), $40 for both

Anyway, here it is. One of a select few games I've been seeking locally for over a decade. I've been refusing to pay the Ebay price which has sadly been steadily climbing for a while now. I caved in a couple times and tried to trade handsomely for a copy, but to no avail. Well, it seems my patience has paid off. I paid more than I wanted to, but I think it'll be a while before I find another copy, and I already have Conker, so I bought that to hopefully offset the cost a little.

FFIII and LttP are both dupes, and they're my second copy of each that I've found in the last six weeks.

I played Earthbound for about an hour and I really like it. I haven't played enough to decide if it's worth freaking out over yet (beyond finding the darn thing), but the humor in the game thus far is clever, and it feels pretty current. The art style is great! I'll definitely be playing it more today. Anyway, I'm delighted to be able to cross this title off my list of sought-after games, which is becoming pretty short now.
 
allyourblood has never played Earthbound? It's a solid RPG, my favorite part though is being able to travel to all the different (wacky) locations by bus in a modern setting. Next you should look for the strategy guide (it's big 'n' green).
 
[quote name='Indigo_Streetlight']allyourblood has never played Earthbound? It's a solid RPG, my favorite part though is being able to travel to all the different (wacky) locations by bus in a modern setting. Next you should look for the strategy guide (it's big 'n' green).[/QUOTE]

I've never had the actual cartridge to try it, and I can't get into emulation very much; for some reason, I can't bring myself to play through ROMs. And you can bet I've had my eyes peeled for the guide along with the game itself. Considering how long it took for this to appear before me, I'm not holding out much hope for finding the guide, but you never know!
 
[quote name='allyourblood']I've never had the actual cartridge to try it, and I can't get into emulation very much; for some reason, I can't bring myself to play through ROMs. And you can bet I've had my eyes peeled for the guide along with the game itself. Considering how long it took for this to appear before me, I'm not holding out much hope for finding the guide, but you never know![/QUOTE]

I can't remember if the guide came in the big box or through some Nintendo Power deal, but it's always good to ask about guides even when they're not anywhere in sight. Everybody forgets about guides; not long ago I picked up an Official Final Fantasy 3 SNES guide, a Baldur's Gate 2 Perfect Guide, plus a stack of eight other good ones for $26. Pricewise that was the exception too, usually the going rate in my area is $1 or less :)
 
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