Quoted from 27dnast:I was first. About 10 others came right away and were hawking over it... everyone knew I was first on list. I said I was buying it. About 1/2 said I was an idiot and overpaying . Lots of gamesmanship going on. They all left within about 20 min.
It took a while for one of the estate sale people to come over... she got there once everyone left. I told her I thought I wanted it, but she couldn't find the key. So we started talking... I told her it was way overpriced (which it was). She asked me what I would offer for it. She got on the phone with the owner of the home. She told the person she had someone there that really wanted it and what I was offering.
The owner said yes. I bought it.
No shenanigans. Just what happened.
I'd never been to an estate sale before. The week leading up to the sale, I did some research online and read that people start arriving at these sales as early as 3AM to get a place in line. Me not knowing up from down, I got there at 4AM. Nobody else was there. In fact, no one got there until 7AM and that person was from the ES company. Truthfully, if I hadn't driven an hour into the heart of No.VA, I probably would have left.
Anyhow, the salesperson took my name down and noted what I wanted. She told me I could leave and come back at 9am and jump to the front of the line.
So, went and grabbed some breakfast. Got back there at 8:50. It was PACKED and the line was long. A bunch of people had a problem with me walking to the front of the line. BUT, I was so exhausted I really didn't care and the ES people read names off the list...
The rest is history.
It was a fun adventure... had some funny moments (like one of the neighbors knocking on my car window early in the morning, asking what I was doing sitting there, telling me they were about to call the police). And I really don't think I'll ever do anything like that again. I'm to a point in this hobby where I'm willing to pay a little more for convenience... and I don't have a big workshop space anymore, so major refurb jobs aren't as easy to pull off.
What was the game?
