Stuff I buy at estate sales

"TysMagic" (twjeffery)
09/27/2019 at 15:00 • Filed to: estate sale

Just picked up this hat and button on a lunch run.

Both are for sale: $15 for the Hat, $5 for the button - includes shipping

But more interestingly, this house was insane! Massive 5,210 sq ft home with a genius basement design (it’s probably common, I just don’t go to rich folks’ homes often). See below for reference to the basement set up. The stairs come down to the finished section (the red box) which has a door doing to the outer edge (black box) which was essentially unfinished and filled with storage solutions and a good sized work bench. Three car garage with space for work to be done upstairs. It was quite an impressive space.

And lastly, the Mrs and I have started to document our estate sale hopping on the instagrams. Check us out if weird and/or cute stuff is in your wheelhouse

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

DISCUSSION (15)

The Ghost of Oppo > TysMagic
09/27/2019 at 15:11

Hey I’m an estate sale junkie too, but I pretty much exclusively buy old tools.

fintail > TysMagic
09/27/2019 at 15:18

Sales can be very competitive in my area, with numbers and lines and hordes of people waiting to get in. I once went to quite a few for the thrill of the hunt, and when I was a student I’d even flip things as an income boost (ebay was young and more profitable then). I’ve only been to one sale this year, 2 weeks ago, where I found some old Hot Wheels:

Kinja'd!!!

I got there before 6am to put my name on the list for the line, just for these. Usually anymore I am busy on Saturday mornings, but sometimes if I am free, I am tempted to join the hunt. My parents were hobbyist antique dealers when I was a kid, and most of the material in their antique mall space came from such sales - I would go with them, they’d let me get something here and there, so I got into it a little. I still keep an eye out on nearby listings for anything I might want, but I try not to hoard, and getting up early on a day off isn’t always appealing.

It can also be cool to go through some of the houses, many of which are time warps and give a view into local middle class living that has mostly vanished in this century.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > TysMagic
09/27/2019 at 15:19

Why does that hat look so familiar?

OPPOsaurus WRX > TysMagic
09/27/2019 at 15:26

i’d want to finish one side or the other so that the finished space can have windows.

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz)
09/27/2019 at 15:35

ABC is a giant convenient/souvenir chain in hi

My X-type is too a real Jaguar > The Ghost of Oppo
09/27/2019 at 15:40

Great place to get old vices

MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick) > TysMagic
09/27/2019 at 15:50

Any recommendations for an aspiring estate sale shopper?

TysMagic > The Ghost of Oppo
09/27/2019 at 16:10

lots of that for sure! I went through an old tool box in the basement of this place. No particular goal in mind for me, I just like to find neat things - and my dad got me in to flipping stuff back in the day so it’s just a fun side hobby

TysMagic > Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz)
09/27/2019 at 16:10

perhaps you saw it in Hawaii?

TysMagic > fintail
09/27/2019 at 16:12

Typically we are taken back in time inside the house. This one was definitely different. On average, I’d say we hop through three on a Saturday morning. Early, but not first in line early. So we’re picking through the leftovers and looking at 50/75% off the “list” price kind of thing. We have a blast and don’t have any particular goals in mind.

I don’t think I’d do it if I had to put my name on a list and wait at 6 am haha

TysMagic > OPPOsaurus WRX
09/27/2019 at 16:13

it’s an underground basement so it would be dirt

TysMagic > MKULTRA1982(ConCrustyBrick)
09/27/2019 at 16:16

The Mrs and I just have fun with it. From flea markets, garage sales, estate sales, to whatever we just enjoy the hunt. I particularly look for things I know oppo would be in to yet I would still keep if it didn’t sell (not that I’m using y’all as market, but I’ve had good success), but that’s such a wide range of oddities there really isn’t a singular topic to stay in. The Mrs loves silver and blue/white things. I enjoy getting to polish the silver as the results are so impressive typically.

Our standard method is to have an early breakfast S aturday and make our plans to go to typically about three spots in the same-ish area. Then we go out! Saturday by 830/9 is going to be left overs, but it’ll be 50/75% off and plenty of weird things to see. If you want the good stuff, you need to be there early af the day the sale starts (typically Thursday).

fintail > TysMagic
09/27/2019 at 17:50

Most of the firms who hold sales here have 50% off on the second/third day, or maybe after ~3pm for a one day sale. A few times I’ve gone back to see if something was left. It amazes me how much eventually sells, some houses become really empty.

These days I mostly go after things I collect and think will be bargain priced, or things I like and might be able to pass on to fellow collectors. Generally these are also things the dealers/pickers want, so I have to be an early bird, or I will miss out. Some people make a living at this, and it is a competitive business. I’ve been to sales with 100+ people in line. I am glad I can do it for fun, and looking at the houses is cool too.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > gmporschenut also a fan of hondas
09/27/2019 at 18:58

Interesting, I’ve never been to HI but I feel very confident I’ve seen that hat before. Probably on someone who had visited and bought it I guess.

Galileo Humpkins (aka MC Clap Yo Handz) > TysMagic
09/27/2019 at 18:59

Nah, never been to Hawaii.