On Friday I had to take the minivan for a checkup on the other side of town, so I searched Craigslist for sales in that area. And I was ecstatic when I found an estate sale that started on Friday less than a mile from the van dealership. Until I got there.
I drive up to this "estate sale" and there are no signs in the yard, no little notice by the front door welcoming me to the sale, no other cars? WTH?
The garage door was open, so I cautiously approached the garage. Yep, the garage was full of stuff.
Me: "Hello, anyone there?"
A little dog starts barking which is a bad sign, since you never see pets at an estate sale.
Lady comes to the door.
Estate Sale Lady: "Yes, I'm here. Just go ahead and look over things and I will be out in a second."
Out? What? OK, I could go on with our conversation for quite a while here, but long story shortened - turns out the lady was having a garage sale, not an estate sale.
People, an estate sale is a sale conducted by a professional company when someone DIES or is moving to a retirement home in order to get rid of most of their belongings. Not when you want to attract people to your little itty bitty garage sale!
So I bought nothing there, but did find a few things at a garage sale down the street. You know, where the people actually knew they were having a garage sale.
A wooden step ladder I am going to use in my Fall decor.
One of those metal trays from the 50's or 60's.
A silverplated platter. And chafing holder which I will use to hold some sort of spherical item.
So anyhow, does Estate Sale mean Estate Sale in your part of the country? Or is it just me that gets irked when people use the term liberally?
BeckyKay
I had nearly the EXACT same thing happen to me earlier this summer. And I made a fairly decent drive to attend. Fortunately, like you, I stumbled upon a garage sale with some nice things down the street.
I don't mind if it's not run by a professional company, but it should mean that EVERYTHING in the house is for sale.
Mark Himes
Back from my mini-vacay and catching up on my reading.
No, Estate does not mean Garage sale. And that woman knew exactly what she was doing with her tricks.
By the way, I am in love with the jar/light do-hickey in the previous post. Such a cool idea!
m.
Lauren @ My Wonderfully Made
Estate sale here means an entire house is being liquidated but not necessarily by professionals. We have estate sales here all the time that are held by the owners, their kids, etc. but they certainly ARE (or should be) different than a garage sale! Glad you still found some great bargains -- I love the ladder and tray especially!
Sherry@Back2Vintage
Aren't you glad you didn't drive way out of your way for her "estate sale"?! At least you found some neat things at the garage sale...love the little ladder!!!
Anita
Thanks for stopping by Pam!! I appreciate it so much! I have enjoyed playing with Adobe Photoshop this last week, and thought I was seriously overdue a new header, lol. Take care:-)
Sue
Used to bug the bejeezus out of me when I saw an estate sale listed on Craig's list or the newspaper ads only to find that it was a plain ol' garage sale when I got there. I learned my lesson, and these days, if an ad doesn't say who is holding the sale, I just don't go! I love me a real yard sale, too- I'm no snob, afterall! LOL But if a sale is advertised as an estate sale, that's what I expect to find! I have a little ladder just like the one you found. It didn't sell in the spring, so I guess I'll put little baby pumpkins on it this fall. I'm anxious to see what you use yours for. 🙂 Sue
Sue
Country Dreaming
Every "Estate Sale" we have been to have been horrible so we don't go anymore.
I have to see stuff out before I will consider stopping.
Melinda
BikerCandy
I had to chuckle when I read your post, I feel EXACTLY like you do! An Estate Sale is not someone's left over junk aka their garage sale. When I think of an Estate Sale I think you should go INSIDE the house and every room should be opened up (well maybe they will have one bedroom closed off that has the few things the kids are keeping of their parents or something) and everything in every room is for sale! I was thrifting one day and we saw an Estate Sale sign so we quickly did a Uey and pulled in. It was a gorgeous house in a very old neighborhood so I quickly got excited thinking this was going to be great. Uh...no...we walked in and they had every room blocked off except the living room. Then the only things they had for sale were a couple of couches and a few odds and ends. To top it off they were trying to sell a bread machine (you know the kind you can get at Walmart for less than $50) and the price on it was $100!!!! I left quickly afraid they were going to charge us for the air we breathed while we were there. So, you are not alone in your thoughts and I think exactly like you do.
PS...I bought a ladder exactly like yours too at the last REAL Estate Sale I went to. I love it! I can't wait to see how you use yours because I will probably "borrow" some of your wonderful ideas for it! 🙂
outjunking
Here's what has been going on in this area, they have an empty house they can't sell so once a month it becomes an estate sale. A few friends get together and bring in a load of yard sale items. Like you, I try to find something close to save the day.
Lisa
Tete
Oh, I missed this post and we have them around here. Here, it means that the contents of the house are for sale and that it will be a large sale- usually- but it always means that the prices are going to be high. As high or higher than in an antique mall.
It means that the people having the sale have either had a dealer come in and help them price it OR, they have looked things up themselves either in the books or on ebay or both.
Here, they are set up in the house of the person who either died or went to a nursing home, and it's the family that is having the sale. Every now and then, it spreads out into the lawn, but most of the time it's in the house and you can go from room to room.
They run them for several days to 2 weekends in a row, depending on how much stuff they have and how things are selling.
I usually steer clear of them. I would rather buy off of someone who puts a quarter on things and lets them go.