Estate Sale feelings

I use to feel bad when I totally under pay for expensive items estate sales.  But so often the heirs just want the stuff gone.  Most often money isn't even an issue.

And as one guy told me; its all a wash in his eyes.   Some things he might of underpriced but then he sells the Tupperware, old canned food, burnt spatulas......where would he sell that otherwise?  It would just get tossed or donated.   Their not resellers.  They don't find it fun



Another company convinced a son to let them sell off mothers goods.   All he wanted was to sell her antiques  and he was going to pay them to clean out the house. He got pissed when he saw they priced them way lower than he thought they should be.  But he made like 4x as much from the other stuff and got the house cleaned out for free.

And a lot want the house sold and need the stuff gone.  They loose way more having the house sit.  Morgage, tax, electricity.....
It cost us $600/month to have my grandmas house sit empty and its paid off.

Anyone ever feel bad for digging thru people's belongings for profit?

They can't take it with them, and the family usually doesn't have the space to store it all. The way I look at it is, I'm doing them a favor by moving it for them quickly..

To your point of underpaying.. To the heirs, you're not underpaying. Last weekend, I picked up a Robot Discovery vacuum for $15. Box was unopened. There was no price on the box, I asked how much they wanted, they told me $15. So I paid them what they wanted. If they said $50, I would have paid $50. But to them, it was worth $15. I don't feel bad for not telling them that I would have paid $50.

Went to a sale this morn and saw a copper pan.  I love copper cookware but frankly estate/garage sales usually price them way to high.  But I always look.

Unlike the one i found a couple weeks ago this one was spotless.  Tin lining was like new.  You could tell it had been used but just a few times....or they really took care of it.  Looked at price: $150.  Typical.

I was admiring it and one of the kids commented "oh...I don't want to ruin a sale but that thing sucks"

Asked why?

"It burns everything! It's beautiful.  Looks great for decoration.  I just don't want you to waste your money if your looking for cookware"

Told her its to much for me anyway and she looked at price and said she'd knock off five bucks.
That's when I noticed it wasn't $150....it was $15!  Now $10!!

I guess they didnt know how to cook with copper.  .
I tested it.  Made pancakes, Best thing to determine heat transfer.  I burned the cr*p out of the first two but then got the heat correct. 

Now I could make $100-$125 proifit or...yeah.....I'm keeping it.   
I can't get a Walmart pan this cheap and it will last the rest of my life!

But the point of posting in this thread:
I still felt a touch of guilt paying so little just because they didnt know what they had...
I'm just to much into Karma.    Had it been an estate sale company, screw them.  But this was the family.

When I was a kid, I used to love having garage sales with grandparents and parents. One day, I asked my mother if I could gather up things we weren't using from around the house and have a garage sale. She said yes so I spent a few weeks gathering things up. Well, the day of the garage sale came and my mother and step father had to leave but they said I could still have the garage sale. I was only 8 years old but I was up to the challenge.

After they left, I went through the house one more time to look for additional things for the sale. I went in my mother jewelry box (not thinking there would be anything wrong with that...I was 8 ) and I found some costume jewelry...or at least I thought.

Well, to make a long story short, the garage sale was going fine when this lady asked me if I was selling anything else that wasn't outside. I remembered that I had the "fake jewelry" in my pocket and I offered it to the lady. She took a look at the ring and asked how much? I think I told her $20. She looked at the ring closer and then told me she would give me $15, which I took.

About a month later, my mother asked me if I had seen her 1 carat engagement ring....needless to say, after I told her what happened, I couldn't walk for a week.

I was just a naive child trying to do something productive for our family. I didn't realize what I had and how much it meant to my mother otherwise I would have never sold it.

Every now and then I wonder how the lady who bought it could take advantage of a child like that. Sure, she didn't steal it but she had to know that it was a mistake and she totally took advantage of the opportunity.

I like a good deal just like the next guy and I don't believe it's my job to educate each and every seller. However, in some situations, I think it's appropriate to inform people of what they have.

Two things every "hustler" who buys and resells must know (NO ONE is above these facts):

(1) Everyone who buys and resells has made at least one mistake in their lives (by letting an item go for much cheaper than it is worth).

(2) You really cannot have a conscience to succeed in this business- as long as you didn't flat-out steal the merchandise, it's all fair game. Especially when buying storage units. Most everyone does not want to lose their stuff, and will be heartbroken when their things are sold at auction. While it is nice to consider the hardships of others, you really cannot dwell on the fact you are taking advantage of a situation where (most of the time) you obtain valuables from others for little money. EVER SELL A UNIT BACK TO A TENANT FOR A PROFIT? I have!!!