Wednesday, September 28, 2011

They Would Want Me to Have It, Right?

If you’ve never been to an estate sale, you haven’t fully lived. Why? Because an estate sale means you are walking around the home of someone who likely just died. All of their possessions are priced and laid out on tables, and a bunch of strangers are milling around touching everything. That’s weird. And I’m one of those strangers. A part of me feels like I should be somber and dressed in black when I go to these things, but honestly, I just want bargains on cool stuff. I justify it because I truly love the things I buy. Better those vintage Anchor Hocking glasses go home with me than to Goodwill. Who knows what unappreciative lout they’ll end up with there?

Sometimes it’s the family who runs the sale, and sometimes it’s a company. They’re called “estate liquidation companies.” Clinical and cold-sounding, I know. That’s why they have names like “Caring Transitions” and “As Time Goes By.” They are professionals at organizing, pricing, and executing the sale of stuff left behind when you are gone.

I think of these sales as antique stores without antique store prices. This equation usually holds up: Estate Sale=Old People=Cool Old Stuff

AND the last day is usually half-price. Heaven.

There is one estate sale company in Milwaukee that seems to have the corner on the market. They have a suspiciously large number of sales. They’re called “Prestige” and they’re hardly prestigious. I hate them. Here’s why:

1. They have an “estate sale with antique store prices” policy

2. They refuse to barter. Ever. I’ve tried.

3. They are always having a sale. Ratty orange signs advertising 60% off are an insult.

I avoid sales by this company now, but before I knew better, I would become so irate my blood would boil. Five dollars for this old cookbook?! Are you insane?? Oh, it’s 60% off? Well, in that case…Ugh!

For some unhealthy reason, and for which I am supremely embarrassed, I felt it my duty to steal from these people.

Everything about these sales seemed like a major injustice. I would show them. I would steal this Santa Claus-riding-a-bike-plastic-canvas-magnet and teach them a lesson!

And even now, I wonder if stealing this makes me a horrible person. I mean, can a horrible person even own a bike-riding-Santa-magnet? Is that possible? My brain tells me it’s wrong to steal, but that part of me that feels entitled to a bargain is powerful and it tells me that I’m right. And maybe, just maybe, the dead person who spent an hour of their life creating this Santa magnet would want me to have it.


7 comments:

  1. i've always wanted to go to an estate sale but have never found the time. next time i drive past one i'm going in. no matter what!

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  2. You could return it to them at their next sale. You could say, "I'm sorry, I stole this a while ago from one of your sales, because your high prices make me so mad. This is the last time you'll see me, though, so don't worry." With this, you'll feel the catharsis of rectifying the wrong, and of letting them know their prices are ridiculous.

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  3. I say you rescued that Santa from soulless a-holes. Also, this blog just made the anual Christmas album. :)

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  4. I just went to a Prestige estate sale in Tosa. It was awful! Lots of antiques, what was priced was priced skyhigh. It looked like the guy running it priced 10% of the items, threw things on a couple tables, left other things in piles (ON THE FLOOR) and opened the doors. He was charging a $20 entry fee to get in the first day. We went on the third afternoon and he had SO MUCH STUFF left over I wonder if he had so much to sell or if no one was buying.

    My mom, who is an estate sale savy lady, thinks he runs such a bad shop on purpose, then offers to generously take the leftovers off the owners hands at a fraction of what it would have sold for. He was an a$$ to my mom who asked a simple question too. I will know to steer clear of this company.

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  5. There is definitely something sketchy going on. I can't believe the $20 entry fee! That's ridiculous! I really don't know how they stay in business. I asked once what they did with everything that doesn't sell and was told that they "give it to charity." Seriously? Is that really the best lie they can come up with?

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  6. Estate sales are for people who have gone through a death, or loss of sort. People are educated for their belongings and want the top dollar for their antiques and items. The estate sale person should be working for owners to make top dollar for their prized collections. When people come in with no respect, and think of people who owned these items, and to even steal from people now that is the person I would find an issue with.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Estate sales are for people who have gone through a death, or loss of sort. People are educated for their belongings and want the top dollar for their antiques and items. The estate sale person should be working for owners to make top dollar for their prized collections. When people come in with no respect, and think of people who owned these items, and to even steal from people now that is the person I would find an issue with.

    ReplyDelete