Would You Buy This or Not (May 8, 2008)

The last two weekends have been very busy.  I got out to yard sales of course, and I took lots of pictures, but I hadn't found the time to put together my column.  So over the next few weeks there will be more than one Would You Buy This or Not.

This article covers April 26th. 

A look out on the balcony that day was not promising.

The view down the street was no better.  But I headed out anyway, figuring the cold and snow would keep the competition away.

First stop was the Minneapolis Virkelyst Society's annual sale.  What I wish I could show you was the vintage 50s magazine rack I got for a quarter.  Unfortunately, I stopped by the retro store and sold it before I could take a picture.

Here's something I saw at that sale.

Compact disc.

Price - (wasn't priced)

no sale.

I'll bet it skips.

.

Find of the day

Onyx hi- ball set

Price $3

sold

My parents used to sell a lot of onyx in their shop when I was little.  Every part of this set is ground thin.  That increases its value because the maker was risking one of the pieces cracking apart after a lot of work had been put into it.

Least interesting thing of the day:

Day bed

price - $10

no sale

We've been looking for something a visiting journalist could sleep on while covering the Republican Convention this summer.  I sat on this and  - swear to God - bumped my butt on the floor.  It was little more than a chunk of foam rubber wrapped in polyester.

Other things I did or didn't buy:

The next stop was a school sale.  In Minnesota, you can carry a concealed weapon into any building that doesn't say you can't, even a church.  Thank you Jesse Ventura.

But, I digress.

.

Homemade pottery vase

Price - $2

no sale

People were joking about taking this into Antiques Road Show.  The joke may be on us, but no, not likely.

Assorted chairs

Price - free

A bit too plastic for me, no aluminum content, sorry.

These were at an alley sale, and darned if there weren't 8 garages open for business.  That was very heartening, seeings how it was actively snowing.

.

.

Grapes window art

price - 50 cents

sold

For my mom's shop.

Candle window art

price - 25 cents

sold

Same destination

Timer

price - 25 cents

sold

I'm looking for timers so I can turn everything off in the house from 2 to 8.  Even things that appear to be shut down - TVs, microwaves, CD players - use energy while being on some sort of standby mode.  Cutting off power completely should fix that.

Coffee grinder (never used)

price - $2, but half price day so it was a buck

sold

I made the mistake of grinding chiles in my coffee grinder, so now it says "Chiles only".  I got another grinder but made curry in it, so now that says "Curry only".  Hopefully this will be reserved for coffee.  If there's an abundance of anything at yard sales, it's coffee grinders.  People receive them as presents but their canned coffee comes already ground . . .

Scalp massager

price - 50 cents

oops, sold

I was under the impression these actually work, and in fact it does nothing for me.  I would have tried it before buying, but that would have been bad form.

Wallet size ice scraper

I wanted to take a picture of it and leave it, but they were half-way watching people and I didn't feel like pulling my camera out and then putting the camera back in my pocket just as they looked my way.  So I bought it for a quarter.  Pretty slick idea really, since a lot of credit cards get ruined for lack of one of these.

Jeans in my size

price - $1

sold

I have quite a few dollar pants that need to be shortened, which will end up making them six-dollar pants.  These were quite a bargain, if you take that into account.

8 ounces of pewter scrap

price - 25 cents

sold

The scrap price for pewter is about $4/lb., and there are lots of these engraved and forgotten cups at yard sales.  I don't know where to sell them yet, but once I get an outlet, this will be a nice high-margin item.

8 ounces of copper scrap

price - twelve and a half cents (half price day)

sold

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So, there you go.  A catch-up edition of Would You Buy This or Not.  Janie will be joining me this lovely weekend, and I'm betting there's a full-blown neighborhood sale awaiting us.  We'll keep you posted.