Saturday morn, the family ventured to a community garage sale. Over 40 homes inside a trailer park community. We made a few good purchases, and several "fail" purchases.
First-off, I've never been inside a Trailer Park community. The one we went to is surprisingly nice, serene, neat, and tidy. This one, where we were at, had a creek babbling through it, and some shared flower garden space, racquet court, and playground. I learned about this multi-garage sale by reading our free community paper. Over 40 homes?? We are going!
We strapped the kids into their car-seats, and off we went! The first homes that we hit, were just outside the trailer park. Tables were set up with knick knacks, old electronics, purses, CD's, DVD's, etc.. Along side these sales was a food tent where we could purchase hotdogs, chips, and drinks. In front, stood somebody who was handing out maps. Maps?? Well, I suppose a multi-garage sale involving 40 homes would require a map. We parked the car, and hoofed it to almost all of the 40 homes, with Little B eventually proclaiming... "I'm boring!!!!" (a.k.a., I'm bored!!).
We may have spent almost two hours, if not more, there, and we made a few good purchases, and a few not-so-good purchases.
CDs, DVDs, books, and toddler/baby things are always on our list of things to look out for. We did well with most things, except for a computer game, and one DVD.
Let's just say that you should ALWAYS check the inside of the DVD case to make sure that there is an actual DVD inside... I purchased a 2 disc copy of The Incredibles, for $1. Inside, was only disc 2 containing bonus features. Disc 1 (the main feature) was missing. Sigh. At least it was only $1. And at least there are 2 short animated films on Disc 2. As for the computer game... well a copy of the computer game is no use if the access key is already in use, or already registered with the previous owner.
In short, here is the low-down of our experience at this sale.
- My hawing and hemming moment... to buy or not to buy a Coach handbag. I like the colour, I like the size, but it's not my style. But OMG, it's COACH!!! Eventually I passed. I don't covet brand names, just for the sake of the name. If I don't like the style, I'd never use it. I don't know who purchased it, but on our way out of the community, I noticed that all THREE Coach products were purchased (two purses and one clutch). Husband questions their authenticity. I don't think they were fake/imitation.
- My WTF I-want-to-punch-you moment: Somebody asked how much my baby cost. Granted, I had "parked" the stroller and him two feet away from me as I browsed at a table full of knick knacks. My back was turned, but it was for less than 10 seconds before Ugly-Old-Man made that comment. Really??? That question is not funny. I really wanted to knock him over for asking that question. And yes, I know I fail for parking the kiddo to the side while I browsed, but at this particular sale, there was no room to maneuver the stroller, and I was just two steps away from the kiddo. But I've learned my lesson - never again will I do that again.
- My holy-smokes, look-at-all-this stuff, moment: One home had approximately 60 to 80 toddler and baby shoes for sale. I was flabbergasted.
- Little B's cutest moment: After visiting a home with hand-made wood crafts, Bethy sighs and says "I'm boooring!" Hehe, super-cute.
And those are the highlights.
We really do love trying to find bargains on books, DVDs, CDs, and the odd unexpected find. We don't hunt around, nor are we avid garage sale shoppers, but when we see large community events like this, we will make the occasional visit. Most of the time, we come out with a few bargains.
