I had no idea people would be so rude when it comes to garage sales!

wow that is crazy! i have never had a garage sale before

I had a friend who didn’t even advertise in the paper. He’d just put signs out on the morning when he was ready.

I had similar problems with our first garage sale. We had people knocking on our door at 6 a.m., when the ad said 9 a.m. We weren’t even remotely polite to them. One man said “Oh, but I’ve got to go to work, and I won’t be able to come back until after lunch” & I told him that we’d still be there after lunch, so we’d see him then. He came back at 9 a.m. & someone else there said he was a second-hand dealer. A friend said that they always put the street name in the ad, but not their house number. This way, nobody knew which house the sale was at until they went out to their gate at the stated time & put some balloons & a couple of signs up. You’ll find that a lot of people who try and bully you into showing them what you’ve got for sale (either the day before or very early on the sale day), are second-hand dealers, or people who sell stuff on eBay & Gumtree, or at local markets. Stand your ground. Yes you want to sell your gear, but don’t be bullied by professionals who are out to rip you off so they can make a profit.

Thanks everyone for your comments and tips, some helpful tips for next time, if we have the patience. lol.

we too have had a few garage sales over the years and I will not budge on the price with the pickers. I simply tell them if its still her after 1pm then we will be dropping the price. And we are lucky enough that we have a garage door, so we don’t pull it up until the time specified in the add.

Its sooo annoying when people do that!!, I think your right they are rude and inconsiderate if they cant make it on the day or times, then they miss out not harass people a day before hand!

That’s ridiculous. I had no idea that was going on. It’s not fair for the rest of the people who want a bargain, but mostly it’s not fair to bother you (the seller) when you aren’t prepared. It’s very deceitful. I would be annoyed too.

Everyone that has garage sales experiences the same thing …. But your husband did the right thing don’t be pressured at all it is your sale and under your terms.

Some people have no common decency. Turn up on time, it’s not like all the items will run out the door.

Yes, there are always the early bird trying to get the good stuff.

I think it is just plain rude when people do that as you have a start time for a reason but people just do not care if they are interrupting your time. Just rude and no manners

You live & learn. We padlocked our gate but they still rattled it to get in. Garage sales are alot of work & cause a lot of frustration. Can’t be bothered anymore.

I don’t think we’ll be doing any more garage sales. It’s too draining with people not wanting to play by the rules. We used to have combined sales with neighbours – that was fun because we only set up in one of the front yards on the actual morning so early birds just had to wait.

That is so rude. I cannot believe how inconsiderate these people are!

This is very rude. I guess they’re hoping to score a good bargain, and maybe they’re desperate, but still… It’s rude.

I’ve noticed that lots of people now, only put their street in the ad and no longer include their house number to stop people from turning up early. It’s really rude to turn up a day early

i didn’t even know this type of thing happened!! people are strange- in such a rush all the time.

We only had one garage sale and the same thing happened. Very off-putting and I’d love to have another one, but really don’t like the “professional” garage sale hunters. They really spoil the whole experience.

This happens everywhere, nothing you can do to stop them apart from maybe keeping some of your good things and put them out late or put a higher price on stuff for them as they are wanting to buy early. I suppose though, a garage sale is about selling and you do want to sell all your items. Some people do write on the ad that they will turn back early buyers.

• • 
  • • hopefullyheidi replied
    • 16 Jun 2014 , 9:39 pm

  ---

  That’s an excellent idea to put in the ad they will turn back early buyers. Hopefully it deters those annoying people.