Are estate sales scary? *update in last post*

[Haruna]

I've been wondering about estate sales. I know that sometimes people find ponies there, but I'm kind of afraid of them. I'm imagining having to arrive an hour early and the confusingness of taking a number to mark your place in line (?) and fighting rabid Ebay dealers if I find any ponies that I want Does anyone have any stories/advice/reassurances?

[moving to Off Topic ~ many thanks ~ hathorcat]

[wlyteth]

I guess I haven't been to any crazy ones, the estate sales I've been to have been no different than a yard sale except you get to go inside of the house. Most of the time when I go the only really desirable items are usually furniture and old figurines/glassware. I'm sure there will be some people in the toy area looking for stuff but not all of them are going to be looking for ponies.

[banditpony]

The people who resell/flip are pretty fast since they've been doing it for years.
So if they are there, it would be more like you won't find the ponies since they've already snatched them up. No fighting them off.

My husband told me a story how someone was looking at a single camera (making sure mechanics were good, no fungus, etc), and someone walked over and put his arms out and said "This WHOLE table is MINE". hahaha.

[SunPony]

OH man I've always wondered about these!  I have a friend whose brothers help run these and she makes them sound...friendly.  Never mentioned selling toys but maybe?  The responses here sound both reassuring and mildly concerning tho  

[Haruna]

Okay, so I've been to my first estate sale! Yesterday I went to one that was advertised on Craigslist, and I did find some ponies. The estate sale was a toy collector's estate. I arrived half an hour early (meant to get there earlier but got lost!) and got a ticket which put me about 20th in line out of maybe 50 people. Thankfully, most people were there for the other collectibles (dolls, bears, etc.) Everyone was surprisingly friendly, chatting a little as we waited in line and letting latecomers know that they had to get a ticket in order to get in. Once I got inside the house it was pretty friendly, too. People kept their manners and didn't snatch anything from one another. I was at the pony table so long examining the ones they had that I think people realized I was something of an expert; I got asked several questions. I think estate sales probably run the gamut of being crazy and hectic or being nice and friendly, and probably the vast majority don't have ponies. But this one was pretty good! I'll post in the Brag forum so you can see what I got!

[SunPony]

Wow that sounds great!  Glad you had a good experience and looking forward to seeing your finds

[kaoskat]

Sounds like fun! I'm glad you found some cool stuff!

[melodys_angel]

Ive never been to one--that sounds like fun

[CadePony]

I've only been to a couple estate sales (one of which a family friend had earlier this year), but they were on the small side and weren't heavily advertised, so there wasn't a line that I had to go through in order to see everything and granted both sales didn't have anything particularly special (at least in terms of what I wanted to find), but I did come home with a few things that caught my eye/fancy. I would like to go to another estate sale someday, especially if there are any toys and/or antiques that I'm looking to add to my varied collections.

I'm very glad that you were able to score some Ponies at the estate sale you went to Haruna, and that the experience wasn't at all what you thought it might be. It was nice that some people asked you questions about Ponies considering how long you were at the Pony table examining everything for such a long period of time. =D

[Harmonie]

I've been to a few. The first one was in a house so old with only objects so old that I was afraid if I pulled out my cell phone it would open up a black hole. 

They have never been scary to me... Just kind of saddening.

[rearing_palomino164]

I go to a lot of estate sales. I've come to get to know the main sellers in the area and know which to avoid. Some are a lot more ruder than others. Me and my husband filled 3/4 of our new house with furniture we bought from estate sales. If you go to the right ones you can find amazing stuff and meet nice people!

[ringwraith10]

Usually the only scary thing I ever experience is the possibility of getting trampled by the hordes of other people there. Somehow estate sales get advertised better than yard sales, I guess. I don't usually find anything great at them, but I go when I see them. I got my mom a really beautiful statue of an angel reading a book once -- that's probably the best thing I've ever found at an estate sale that hadn't already been sold.

[stopxmotion]

I haven't been to many estate sales but I didn't find them any more "scary" than a yard sale lol. They are kinda fun if you like picking through other people's stuff and you get to go inside the house to do it.