Tales from a Yard Sale - MLP related

[lovesbabysquirmy]

So I had a yard sale last weekend, made some money, have more space in my shed, woo hoo!

I had a LOT of pony stuff at this yard sale, too.  I had like 6 bags of G4 (put 10 G4s in a bag for $5), a huge bag of G1 "bait" ponies, a bunch of MIB G4 playsets, all my Hasbro G1 Softies for $2 each, and a bunch of G4 plushies, including Muffin Pony, and... I only sold ONE Hasbro Softie!  ONE MLP thing during the whole yard sale...  

So I dunno... clearly it is time for MLP G4 to die off so that the next generation can get excited about it when it's new again.  Nobody even looked at the G4 bags! 

I'm just so confused.  I spent years going to yard sales and asking people if they had MLP, and then I have a yard sale FULL of pony, and nobody wants any of them???? 

[invaderhorizongreen]

Same thing happened at mine, I was lucky to sell 5 of my ponyville play sets, and mini figures, sold a tiny bit of gen 3. The rest , back in the bin for next year.

[Taffeta]

I haven't done a sale for a while, but last Monday I was at a carboot sale and saw a fair amount of G3 and G4 stuff. If it cheers you up at all, one of these items I saw was an equestria girls set of Sunset Shimmer and Twilight in package. And as I went past, I stopped and noticed it. And this little girl went up to it and was like..."My Little Pony!" and grabbed at it.

I don't know if she bought it or not. But when I came back round later it was gone.

On the flip, the reboot pose ponies are turning up at carboot sales already, which shows how quickly kids are getting fed up with them. I found Lyra on Monday, and she was only 20p.

I think it's clear we're going into a pony lull. It's probably a good thing, though if it gets the dealers disinterested. I do find most of what I see these days is fakies.

It will be interesting to see how the retros sell, how long before they show up at second hand sales, and whether they'll keep/direct attention back to G1 and away from G4...or whether it will just be a one off burst and then gone.

[Ponyfan]

I'm sorry you didn't sell more pony stuff lovesbabysquirmy. I would have bought some of your Hasbro Softies.


It seems like kids change their minds on their favorite toys rather fast these days. One day MLP is their favorite and the next it's LOL dolls.


Ponyfan

[tailrustedtealeaf]

Where do you guys find all of these yard sales?  My area has hardly any.
Are there a lot of young kids in your area?  That may be why they didn't sell all that well. At least, that's why I'm guessing any yard sales in my area just have no ponies. The kids are either too old now to not have any left, or too young so they're still very interested and don't want to sell them.

[banditpony]

Eh. My opinion -- take it with a grain of salt. 

TBH... the bags seemed over priced for what they are. Maybe $1 or $2 each for the pony-- and let people choose who they want. Really I think < 10 year old ponies should be a $1.50 tops.

When junk is in a bag and I don't get a choice what's in there, I want it dirt cheap. Like 6 ponies for $3 or something.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Eh. My opinion -- take it with a grain of salt. 

TBH... the bags seemed over priced for what they are. Maybe $1 or $2 each for the pony-- and let people choose who they want. Really I think < 10 year old ponies should be a $1.50 tops.

When junk is in a bag and I don't get a choice what's in there, I want it dirt cheap. Like 6 ponies for $3 or something.

Considering the cheapest that a single G4 is sold at retail is $6.99- 7.99 here, I would think that 10 G4s in a bag for $5 is pretty good... works out to $2 a  G4 pony.
I put all the G1s together, they aren't the best condition, but I would think that $10 for a bag of 10 G1 ponies is pretty good.
Fakies were 8 to a bag for $2
There is someone on Kijiji here who is trying to sell the Hasbro G1 Softies  for $25 EACH so I am thinking that $2 apiece is a good price.
MIB playsets were $5, sold in store for $20

I priced everything lower than Value Village prices (much to DH's dismay) but still I had a really hard time selling toys at all!  I am sure we will deal with crazy haggling buyers when my DH puts out the Star Wars action figures... what we did sell mostly was the kitchen and housewares... 

[Taffeta]

Maybe it was just unlucky you had the wrong crowd as customers?

I prefer stuff out of bag but for a kid its an instant collection so it depends on the audience I think.

I have just moved to a new area and now can get to my favourite huge car boot sale by bus instead of paying through the nose on the train and tube...but sales in the city on tarmac were much less successful for pony stuff than the one on grass. So I think it depends a lot on who is shopping and selling in that area.

[lovesbabysquirmy]

Maybe it was just unlucky you had the wrong crowd as customers?

I prefer stuff out of bag but for a kid its an instant collection so it depends on the audience I think.

I have just moved to a new area and now can get to my favourite huge car boot sale by bus instead of paying through the nose on the train and tube...but sales in the city on tarmac were much less successful for pony stuff than the one on grass. So I think it depends a lot on who is shopping and selling in that area.

Yeah we have a lot of seniors and a lot of dudes looking for tools.  I'm like... "Uh we would never sell tools!  Never know when you might need a wrench!"  :-p

[banditpony]

Eh. My opinion -- take it with a grain of salt. 

TBH... the bags seemed over priced for what they are. Maybe $1 or $2 each for the pony-- and let people choose who they want. Really I think < 10 year old ponies should be a $1.50 tops.

When junk is in a bag and I don't get a choice what's in there, I want it dirt cheap. Like 6 ponies for $3 or something.

Considering the cheapest that a single G4 is sold at retail is $6.99- 7.99 here, I would think that 10 G4s in a bag for $5 is pretty good... works out to $2 a  G4 pony.

What I'm saying for a BAG of toys, I think it's high. If I buy something in bulk, I want it to be cheap. That's usually the point of bulk. If they were separate -- no more than $2/each for the luxury of my choice... But really At that price I might buy 1 thing if I REALLY wanted it... but if they were priced at $1 -- then maybe a few more.

*shrug* I'm stingy, and I don't pay $$$ for toys at garage sales. I say this as a mom, not as a collector.

We were paying $0.25-0.50 for ponies when they retailed $4.99-5.99 in the 80s, no?

Again totally my opinion of how I buy second hand. And really I can find lots of dealers at my local flea market with prices I'd like to pay. So my area, I'm not really off the mark.

But Taffeta is right, you probably didn't get a toy audience.

[Leave a Whisper]

Money and space are good Squirmy.

[Taffeta]

LBS is also dealing with $CAD I think. So it isn't the same as $1US...

[banditpony]

LBS is also dealing with $CAD I think. So it isn't the same as $1US...

It's also not that much different. $1USD = $1.30 CAD . 30 cents isn't that much.

Again -- totally my opinion -- to be taken with a grain of salt.

[brightberry]

I guess it all has to do with age groups.  G4's are really not that expensive in store and repeat themselves so often. I bet there are lots of families looking at their piles of toys and thinking of getting rid of theirs too.  I really think these last few years have been the decade of inexpensive cute and nifty plastic things.

I'm not complaining, I have tons of that stuff too.   

[lovesbabysquirmy]

I guess it all has to do with age groups.  G4's are really not that expensive in store and repeat themselves so often. I bet there are lots of families looking at their piles of toys and thinking of getting rid of theirs too.  I really think these last few years have been the decade of inexpensive cute and nifty plastic things.

I'm not complaining, I have tons of that stuff too.   

I think you are very right! 

we had some obvious flippers who I kindly moved along by not bothering to negotiate prices.  But not even the MIB Monster High dolls sold!