To Buy or Not to Buy is a weekly column on things I did and didn't buy during the past week. Yard sale season has begun.
Find of the week:
Automatic milking pail
price - $30
no sale.
Not that it wasn't cool, but I have nowhere to put it and I knew someone else would really appreciate it. Plus, thirty bucks goes a long way at yard sales.
Other offers I encountered:
Pleather duffel bag
price - free
sold
Serious yardsalers need lots of bags. Bags are cheap, sometimes even quality bags are free.
Mechanical bank
price - $1.00
sold
I would not want to get on the part of Antiques Road Show where this would be featured. The philips screws it was assembled with would have been a givaway, but I was in a hurry and it's my policy to gamble a buck on such things. It's "new" (1970s maybe), and it works. You put the coin where the ball should be and then you hammer a button behind the caddie.
Box of Beanie Babies
price - 50 cents each
no sale
I don't have kids and those I know who do have kids would be skeptical about the viral content of such things. From an invesment point of view, I think this commodity has further to fall before bottoming out.
Dr. Zhivago (in Russian)
price - 50 cents
sold
I can't read Russian, but those who do really crave good books. This will go in my stash headed for the second-hand bookstore. I got one more book in Russian, and another in Dutch.
Bling Bag (like new)
price - $5 (but half off)
sold
Janie say she would have paid $5, but we lucked out. This is even more gaudy than it looks in the picture. If this doesn't make you want to be a drag queen, you are straight, straight, straight.
Hideous aluminum party tray
price - $22.
no sale
No comment either.
Orange player piano
price - unknown
no sale
This was in the basement of an estate sale. No price. I've seen 55-gallon drums with nicer finishes. Perhaps George could appreciate it. See /viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976742263 .
Top soil (40 pounds)
price - $3.90
sold
Don't tell 23-year-old Ron that 48-year-old Ron is buying dirt. In my defense, a balcony full of bright Nasturtiums is priceless, I don't own a pickup any more, my time is valued at way more than it was in 1981, and all the good topsoil I could go dig is already being used by perfectly nice plants.
Baltica porter (25 oz)
price - 2.39
10% off if you buy a case of 20
sold
This Russian beer has a nice winey richness, almost like a stout. The only store that carries it I don't go by often, so I stocked up. One of these is plenty for an evening.
Spicey steak burrito with guacamole
price - 6.90
sold
Janie got a vegie burrito. We ate half there for lunch and had the rest for dinner. This corporation doesn't need product placement in my column, so they're not getting it. It is however a superior product, and the guac is real (avocados, lemon juice, garlic, cilantro, salt).
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To Buy or Not to Buy will be posted every Sunday on Groups: "The Weekly Press Gathered", "Microeconomics", "Top Ten Lists" and "Yard Sales & Such".
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Comments: 22
Ron, I'm afraid the only person who would have gotten my money today would have been the seller of the beer!!! Hey, I'll buy one for 2.00!!
That was the first automatic milking pail I'd seen at a sale, but you're right. If someone wanted something like that, this wouldn't be that bad of a place to look.
This was fun! I want to see a new one of these each week.
i REALLY wish i had janie's bling bag. wow!! this is so fun!
Sorry, got a little carried away there, but - it *is* Bryn Mawr. Ninteen days and counting . . .
The "free stuff" area on craigslist has recently been the source of interesting finds...