Imagine the things you might find in an apartment that’s been occupied for half a century. Now picture what a yard sale for all those possessions might look like. For Sale: TVs, sets of dishes, fancy crystal stemware, so many china teapots that Alice would shake her head in wonderment, silverware, tables, chairs, dressers, desks and Curios for every type of collector. We called it a closing out sale to celebrate the end of life at this location. A move across country required a ruthless attitude to paring down. Stuff was given away, or tossed. We were determined to take nothing but memories.
I’ve known some folks who love to cruise the neighbourhood on the weekend looking for signs posted for yard/garage/driveway sales. Everyone loves a bargain. I’m always surprised what sells well at these events. One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure they say. My experience with selling/buying at a resale level has had mixed results. As a seller, I can never fully get the price I originally paid out of my head, so resentment builds as bargain hunters try to wheedle the cost down. As a buyer my primary concern is not to feel like a chump for getting something for more that it’s worth.
Value is the key to these negotiated transactions. Both the buyer and seller can feel respected for their choice if they can agree on a value. Many times this is less about the money and more about the wonder of the bargain. Sentimentality plays a role. One customer looked dreamily at a fine china tea set for four. She admitted she didn’t have much money. She called her mom. We talked price. I was happy to let the set go for one low, low price seeing how much it meant. Another young boy asked me to price a large family bible. I said I couldn’t because it was free. They both got a dose of wish fulfillment.
I think of the character Ebenezer Scrooge and how he learned that the dogged pursuit of a sale did not make him happy. I’m thinking of the Grinch; how he puzzled and puzzled about just Who could determine the worth of things. At my yard sale I went from thinking I’d never have another again in my life, to thinking a marketplace is one invention we humans make special due to the connectivity that is found in people gathering to fill needs and wants. Some of my younger customers left literally hugging their purchase.
I’m a reluctant salesman. Even when I enter negotiations as a buyer, I don’t like the back and forth of bargaining. In my perfect world, items are created and services provided in a free exchange. Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find. Before this apartment liquidation sale my wise eldest son calmed my jitters by remarking how it was an opportunity for me to play Santa. Great idea! I added some carnival/gangster style salesmanship: “Step right up and make me an offer that I can’t refuse!”
Catch My Drift? 