Dime Store Chic

Estate Sale Adventures: Paranoid

Hello, My Friends!~~

I hit a "privatley listed" estate sale today, only to learn that it was being held by professional estate sale sellers. That wasn't so bad but the two ladies running the sale had brought with them a huge dose of paranoia. I was #10 to get in but was told by one of the ladies that this is a big house (no, just a ranch house) and they would only let 6 people in to begin with and then let one person in when one person left. They explained that they didn;t have the staff to watch over each room. I rarely go to sales where there is staff in each room. Valuable items are kept in cases or by the check out. Duh.

However, before the sale opened the same lady asked everyone in line what they were looking for. A couple of folks behind me in line said they were looking for books. She let them in telling them they could only shop for books in the basement. Really? In a few minutes the rest of us in line saw the "book people" shopping for knick knacks through the living room window. That sent a nasty wave of "WTF?" through those of us "non-book people" waiting in line. The first person in line, who had invested almost 2 hours in waiting time, knocked on the door. The lady opened it and told him that he would have to wait for someone to come out beofre he went in. I really felt bad for that guy. After a few minutes the rest of us made it in, and the sale was not worth the wait.

Nothing was priced and everything was pretty much new, Wal-Mart stuff. I did find a box of vintage buttons but the lady running the sale declared: "Oh, I haven't sorted through them yet. Some of them are VINTAGE." I picked out a few pretty plastic ones, and was told they are VINTAGE and a dollar each. Not even in an on-line bidding war would the buttons cost that much. I left with nothing, which is very rare for me. I usually find something. Oh, yes, and Miss Paranoid had to unbolt the door to let me out. WTF is right.

I headed home knowing that not all estate sale adventures end with treasure but the hunt can be really interesting.~~Hope your luck is better than mine today!~~~XXOO, Beth

What Were They Thinking Wednesday: Pop Up

Hello, My Friends!~~

This week in WWTTW is a doozy. There is a thrift shop near me that is completely donation based and run by folks on furlough who need something to do before returning to society. I support that completely.

What I don't support is the woman who runs the shop who thinks she is running an antique store. This thrift shop is jam packed with stuff, tossed all around. The reason for the large amount of goods is not because of an overwhelming supply of donations, but because the prices are ridiculous and things don't sell. They just sit and sit on the shelves. If anything looks remotely vintage, the price placed on the item is something so high, not even found in an antique store or on-line bidding war.

Here is a perfect example:

This Mother Goose Jack-in-the-box from the late 60's/early 70's. This piece has rust and general well-loved wear. In an on line auction site, a piece in much better condition with original box may sell for $20 but most go for around $10. Take a look at the price on this example in a thrift store.

Would you pay $30 for a rusted Jack-in-the-box at a thrift store? I had to look twice to believe this was the correct price. All I can say to the person who runs this shop is "good luck"! I'm sure I'll see this on the shelf for a long time.

You may ask yourself why I go into this shop if I know the prices are crazy. Well, it is on the way home from my very favorite shop and once in a rare while I have found a treasure that was reasonably priced. Even in a store that has usually higher (and sometimes stupid) prices, it's always worth a look from time to time as you may find a treasure with an affordable price.

Happy treasure hunting!~~~XXOO, Beth

Estate Sale Ads: Read Between the Lines

Hello, My Friends!~~

This week there was an unassuming ad for a local easte sale buried in the dozens of other ads for sales in the area. I live is a huge metropolitan area, and there are dozens of estate sales in the area every week. The trick for me is to read between the lines of the ads, especially when they don't contain photos. Here is the text of an ad that appeared this week:

Oriental/China, Furn, Tools, H/H Items, Cut Glass, Books, Military Models, Collectibles, Art, Costume Jewelry, Silver, Turkish Brass, Stamps, 1st Day Covers, Knick-Knacks, Very Full House. Cash Only.

OK, is there anything about this ad that pulls you in? For me at first glance there was nothing special about it. But after reading it a second time, two things stood out to me.

1. "Very full house." That tells me that, if the ad rings true, that the residents could very well be long time residents and were reluctant to toss anything. For me, a digger sale is the best kind. That sort of sale may not work for everyone, but they are the ones I like the best for finding treasure.

2. "Cash only." This tells me that the items in the house are priced to sell. I don't know how much cash most shoppers carry to estate sales, but I am sure many of them aren't carrying around more than a few hundred.

So what was the reality of the sale? Exactly as I guessed. The house was indeed packed full from long-time residents and the items were priced to sell. What was another bonus for me and the others that arrived a few minutes prior to opening was that since the ad was buried in dozens of other ads and had no photos, it didn't attract a huge crowd before opening. There were only about ten of us waiting in line. Customers did trickle in after opening but it was nice not to have to wait in a huge line before opening.

I found wonderful goodies for crafting and had a great time searching without too many others to work around. I was glad my reading between the lines worked today.

Have a great weekend!~~~XXOO, Beth

Oriental items, Turkish sword, antique Yetecan sword, china, furniture, tools, household items, cut glass, books, silver plate, loads of Turkish brass, first day covers stamps, thousands of nick nacks, silver and costume jewelry, rugs, cameras.  Very Full House!!!!  Come and shop!!
View full details at EstateSales.NET: http://www.EstateSales.NET/estate-sales/VA/Vienna/22182/661821

Oriental items, Turkish sword, antique Yetecan sword, china, furniture, tools, household items, cut glass, books, silver plate, loads of Turkish brass, first day covers stamps, thousands of nick nacks, silver and costume jewelry, rugs, cameras.  Very Full House!!!!  Come and shop!!

Cash Only!!

View full details at EstateSales.NET: http://www.EstateSales.NET/estate-sales/VA/Vienna/22182/661821

Oriental items, Turkish sword, antique Yetecan sword, china, furniture, tools, household items, cut glass, books, silver plate, loads of Turkish brass, first day covers stamps, thousands of nick nacks, silver and costume jewelry, rugs, cameras.  Very Full House!!!!  Come and shop!!

Cash Only!!

View full details at EstateSales.NET: http://www.EstateSales.NET/estate-sales/VA/Vienna/22182/661821

Oriental items, Turkish sword, antique Yetecan sword, china, furniture, tools, household items, cut glass, books, silver plate, loads of Turkish brass, first day covers stamps, thousands of nick nacks, silver and costume jewelry, rugs, cameras.  Very Full House!!!!  Come and shop!!

Cash Only!!

View full details at EstateSales.NET: http://www.EstateSales.NET/estate-sales/VA/Vienna/22182/661821

What Were They Thinking Wednesday: Construction

Hello, My Friends!~~

Each Wednesday I hope to show you a price that I think is a bit outrageous (translate "over priced") at thrift shops, estate sales, flea markets, yard sales, and other second hand "retailers." For the most part I see reasonable pricing out there in the field, but there are sometimes prices that make me scratch my head and ask: "what were they thinking?"

Here is the first of what I hope you will find amusing weekly posts.

Green construction paper, 50 sheets in an unopened package, in a thrift shop that takes all of their donations for free. Priced at $5.00. I found the same paper for $2.19 on Amazon. $5.00 in a thrift store. More than double retail price. What were they thinking?

Cheers!~~~XXOO, Beth

A Morning At The Auction

Hello, My Friends!~~

Recently I attended an auction located on the grounds of a beautiful old home in rural Virginia. Attendees could walk amoung the goods and decide what they were interested in placing a bid. I saw one box of goods I wanted to bid on, but that was all I wanted and how much time (and money) was I willing to spend for it to come up for bid?

I registered for a number by showing my ID and waited for the auction to start to see how fast things would move. I asked the lady at the registration table why people have auctions instead of estate sales. She replied that at auctions all of the goods are sold and the property is cleared of all goods the same day. As the bidding began and rolled along I learned what she meat by that. If a box of goods doesn't get any bids another box lot is added to it and another until a bid is made. The winner gets all of the boxes. A few people ended up geting several boxes of household goods for only $5 for everything. The box I wanted steadily made its way to the front of the queue of boxes. A couple of boxes that had a few vintage goods were snapped up by the same person and I thought she could want the box of vintage goods I had my eye on. She did and we bidded againt each other, but I still won the box for a reasonable bid. we had to take possession of the box right then and I went to pay. The bid sheet was given to the cashier and I paid a 10% buyers premium in addition to the price of the box. There was nothing else I wanted so I left about 45 minutes into the auction.

I learned that boxes of "junk" are auctioned first as a sort of warm-up to the finer things such as furniture and jewelry. Since I wanted a box of "junk" I didn't have to stay all day. There were Cub Scouts selling food and drinks for those who wanted to stay longer.

Auctions are fun! Give one a try!~~~XXOO, Beth

Dime Store Chic: A Slightly Different Direction

Hello, My Friends!~~

I have spent a while thinking about how my blog would best serve anyone who reads it. I thought about the blogs that I love to read and why. The common denominator of those blogs is that I always learn a little something each time I read them. That is what I want Dime Store Chic to be for you.

In the past I have blogged about things I have bought, a buy and brag if you will. I decided that posts like those really don't serve any purpose other than for me to crow about a good day at a flea market or estate sale. There is nothing for the reader to take away and use from posts like those. If you, dear reader, take time from your busy day to stop by Dime Store Chic, I would like for you to take a little something away with you to use out there in the world of vintage treasure hunting.

So, on that note I will be posting little snippets of my time out there treasure hunting the flea markets, estate sales, yard sales, thrift shops, auctions, and other locations. These small stories will share with you things I have learned to help you with your treasure hunting. Seems like with each outing I learn a little something new to pass along, and it may be new to you too!

Let's get started!

Church rummage sales are not only a great place to treasure hunt for vintage goodies, but they support a good cause as well. In my area one church hosted a preview night for $5 admission. A cozy group of other "hunters" and I lined up at 5 p.m. on a Thursday night with our five dollars. I have been to many church sales but never had I sifted though the stacks of used wares with entertainment right there in the same large room.

A young priest, quite handy with harmonica and guitar, sang for us while the volunteer parishoner (on the right in blue) decided that he needed her to accompany him. He was doing quite well by himself, but there are some folks who need to be "on stage" all the time. You can see part of the piles of rummage in front of the entertainment. In between songs another volunteer spent a good deal of time making announcements that were more annoying than informative. There wasn't a huge amount of people shopping the preview sale which was good for those of us who were there, less competition. If a local church or other charity offers a preview charge for early admission to a rummage sale, pay it. Getting first dibs is always the best course to get the best treasures!

Thanks for stopping by!~~XXOO, Beth