Would You Buy This or Not (July 25, 2009.)

There were no big neighborhood yard sales the weekend of July 25th, but the South Oak Hill neighborhood in St. Louis Park had about 25 homes participating, so we more or less broke our rule about avoiding the suburbs.  It is an inner-ring suburb, so there was a chance we'd find something other than baby clothes and Christmas ornaments.  After we were done there, we had a route of Saturday-only sales planned in the Nokomis and Longfellow neighborhoods in Minneapolis.

Find of the day

Who's Who in Minnesota, 1958

price - $7

sold

Book stores tend to ignore these as junk.  Some people who want to know who's who ignore them because they're out of date (please).  Fundraisers and anyone else who needs to know who's related to who prize these.  The 1942s are good; the 1964s are rare as hen's teeth.  I buy every one I see.  This will be a door prize at an upcoming gathering of fundraising researchers.

Thing we had the least use for

Pumpkin carving kit

price - $2

no sale

I own a steak knife.

Other things we did or didn't buy

Bike

price - $50

no sale

I don't need a bike right now.  This was a good one though, with baskets ready for yardsaling.

Table

price - $5

no sale

I told myself I had nowhere to store it and nowhere to sell it.  All of that will be changing within the next year.  Stay tuned.

Chile bandanas

price - 25 cents each

sold

Now that I'm growing my hair again, I have a use for bandanas, and these are extra large, so my doo-rag can be properly folded and tucked.

Great decorating idea

price - as cheap as taking a photo

sold

This is actually a great idea for displaying old bottles for sale.  I'm going to do it.

Another bike

price - $275

no sale

I know it's less than they paid new.  No sale.

Folk-art wind gauge

price - free

I could put it on our balcony, but I didn't have room in the car and - really - I didn't want it on my balcony.

Yet another bike

price - not for sale

Someone was out biking from one sale to another.

These folks in the Lowry Hill neighborhood always have a good sale, and even though it's a commercial venture, I appreciate their variety.

I found nothing to buy this time around though.

Nice sign.

I know I've taken a picture of the exact same sign in previous years.

Fishing snowman comforter

price - $1

sold

It's nice and compact, and it has crossover appeal with fisherfolk, apple cider sippers and Christmas collectors.

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Warm shirts

price - $1.50 each

sold

We're starting to pay more for shirts like this.  My mom's shop sells out of all the shirts we send her.  She's slowly raising the prices and we haven't yet found the true market price yet. Currently she's asking from $5 to $12.  Tip to Enron types: our primary objective is to deliver a good value at an honest price.  Do that and you'll need to try to fail.

Great green shirt for me

price - 50 cents

sold

Green is my color.

Jazzy dress for Janie

price - $1

sold

Book

price - $1

sold

Sometimes we pay what the used bookstore is willing to give us for a book, just so they will be motivated to encourage us to come back with more.

Metal toy

price - 25 cents

Yes, it did say "Made in China", but it had no bar code, so I'm thinking it's older.  At any rate, I'm pretty sure I can sell it for two or three dollars.

Cutting board

price - $2

sold

Someone varnished it =:[  but that's nothing a belt sander won't be able to fix.

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Shirt for Janie

price - $1

sold

Too flashy for me.

I can't wear long sleeves unless it's actually snowing out.

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Monkey plush toy

price - 50 cents

sold

It's in new condition.  We have all we need hanging from the plants in the house, so we'll pass this on for a buck.

Air horn kit

price - $1

sold

Whether it works on not is not in question.  It's still in the impossible-to-open wrap.

Records

price - 25 cents each

sold

The Steve Goodman had my dad's favorite song (It's a Sin to Tell a Lie).  What I was not prepared for was Steve's masterful rendition in double-time, though I should have expected nothing less.  The man was magic.

 Masonry drill bits

price - 50 cents each

sold

I'll easily get $2.  Price something like this the next time you're in Home Depot.

I should say something here about the slate on our balcony.  I wanted something other than the concrete it had when we bought the flat, but I didn't want to pay much.  All I did was spread sand on the surface, and "nestle" pieces of slate down into it.  As long as it's pushed in tightly from all edges (which is easy to do), the slate won't slide around.  Yes, it will crack, but that only gives it character.  And if any one piece breaks up more than you like, the fix is as easy as slipping in another piece of slate, which takes about 60 seconds.

Quality used books

price - 25 cents

sold

These are the kinds of books the used book store will buy.  We used to take them to one store, where we'd get $17.50 a box - no matter how big the box was.  One time we got sick of it and decided to experiment.  We went to Magers and Quinn first, where they picked through and paid us about $32.  Then we took the ones left over to BookSmart, where they picked out another $21 worth.  Then we went to the store which will not be named, and they gave us - $17.50.

More clothes for Janie

price - 25 cents to $1

sold

We hardly buy any clothes new.  There's better selection at yard sales.

And finally,

A fan

price - 50 cents

sold

It runs great and really blows the air.  The trick will be finding a place where it can be used safely, because it has no safety guard on it.

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Would You Buy This or Not is a weekly feature in its 4th season.  If you'd like to see other weeks of our yard sale adventures, do one of the following:

1) Check Gather's you-might-also-like recommendations in the upper right corner of this page,

2) Check our other articles.

3) Google "would you buy this or not" (don't forget the quotes).