Would You Buy This or Not? (My yardsale purchase mistakes)

Today it's 38 degrees out.   There are four yard sales in the paper.  I think next week I'll be out starting the new season, and you won't have to suffer through these "best of" recaps of my glorious yard sale finds.

In fact, let's do a post for all who are a bit tired of my smugness.  Even by my estimation, I do make the occasional questionable decision on a Saturday morning.  Here are the ones I remember from last season.

Vintage 60s drills.

Price $1.50 each.

All seemed to be in great shape, which you can tell by seeing the condition of the cord as it comes out of the tool.  I passed them all up because I already had two such drills, but why not start a collection?  The one at the top is just hilarious; very "I Robot" looking.  I also think they'd make great guy Christmas gifts.

Shower head

I paid a buck for it, and even though only two of the eight settings worked, I proudly put up with it, telling myself how much money I saved.

Soon afterward I passed up this brand-new shower massage assembly for $12, again patting myself on the back about how much money I was saving while suffering with the leaky dollar job I'd been using for the past 4 months.

After about 8 months of this nonsense, I went out and bought this war-of-the-worlds-looking shower head for about $30.  Some of the best dollars I've ever spent.

This little set of flashlights looked like a bargain at a $1 for the three.  I thought I could just leave them scattered around the house and car.  Just about anything that screwed off broke off with the threads still inside.  I've had better quality Cracker Jack prizes.

This is an over-the-top version of a typical homemade Minnesota end table.  They are usually quite plain, very inexpensive and practically designed.  This was made of cedar and had an extremely well-done viking motif.  It was $40 and I should have bought it.   This was a true work of art.

But, no.  I had to buy this rotary corn remover instead.   I had no intention of using it on my own foot, but thought instead if I needed to grind something plastic . . . I just tossed it when I got home.

Janie and I are currently in the market for a new couch, and even the uncomfortable ones at that Swedish mega-outlet that will remain unnamed cost a thousand dollars?  I should have gotten this one and had it re-upholstered.  I love the lines, and on the nights when my snoring lands me on the couch, I think this would be just the ticket.

"Silver" necklace.  She didn't claim it was silver and I didn't take the time to look closer.  I paid $2.50 and moved on.  I still haven't been told it isn't silver, but it just doesn't look right at all.  It weighs about 4 ounces, so if it were silver, it would have been a great buy.

Chastened by that experience, I started to be a lot more critical.  A few weeks later I eyeballed this for a good five minutes, left, came back and looked at it again and still didn't pay $5.  It weighed like a half pound, and in retrospect, it looks a whole lot like silver to me.

I got these harmonicas for a dollar apiece, but now I have to find a place to get them tested for lead.  I didn't think that at first, but the thought grew on me, I'd better do that before selling them to someone else.

I was sure this was antique, and paid a quarter for it.  It was the empty bag of a product you can buy at the grocery today.

I had the bright idea I would mount this on the back of Janie's wheelchair, but when I got it home I sobered up.  Mounting it would have required splicing into some of the wires on a chair (like I used to do mounting tape decks in my car as a kid).  I don't want her chair catching fire, like my car did.  Even more likely, she wouldn't have a good way of having the light off during the day, and it would end up running down her battery and leaving her stranded.

I'm a sucker for unopened vertical blinds or other types of window treatments.  They never turn out to be the right size for any of my windows, or I end up with two that are perfect for each side of my sliding door, but they don't match and would look stupid.

I know.  I know.  I know.  Why the hell would I want this?  And yet I regret passing it up because as much as I ran screaming the other way when I saw it, it really needs to go into that box I have marked "Ebay someday".

I told myself if I didn't like this shiny aluminum wine rack I could always scrap it out and recoup $3 of my $4 investment.  But now I have it, I hate it, and I don't feel right about sending something in this nice of shape to the recycling plant.  I'll most likely send it to the thrift shop down the street.

I know Black & Decker makes garbage, but I still paid $3 for this thing and I can do a much better job - using much less effort - standing over whatever it is cleaning holding a rag in my toes.  I can really put my weight into it that way.   I ended up taking the brushes and just trying to scrub with them by hand, but the bristles weren't even stiff.  The whole thing went in the trash.

I told myself this 50 cent weather goose wouldn't fit in my bird collection.  It would be perfect on the balcony though.  Oops.

And finally - I must say I still have mixed feelings here - there's this.  I passed it up, but I think it would have been a good addition to my "ebay someday" box.  I didn't ask about the price, but most everything on the table was less than $2.

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Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but I smell a spring breeze headed our way and I'll be watching for yard sales next weekend.  If all goes well, we'll get started with a new season of Would You Buy This or Not.