I Thought This Was a Garage/Estate/Yard Sale?

Things have really changed in the last ten or so years as far as garage/estate/yard sales. I went to a yard sale this Sunday and this little guy was running around giving people tickets with numbers as they arrived. I got there early so my # was 5. That means I am the fifth person to be let in to the sale. I went in and sure enough there were half dozen items I was interested in buying. Until…the helpers went to the big boss lady to ask for a price. Ridiculous prices, ebay plus. Scratching my head I left this house of horrors and started doing a little research. They price everything so only a few uninformed dummies will buy the “estate sale” items. Then they tell the owners that they will donate the rest, written in their contract of course. Yep, they donate to their own store, storage, or another bogus antique store or organization they are in cahoots with. It’s a total scam business that has popped up all over the place. I scan the local papers for yard sales and many ads have a page long disclaimer. Gone are most of the mom and pop yard sales of yesteryear. They end up hiring these liquidation/estate sale managers. Who the heck needs a middle man to sell old house junk? Excuse me, the company gets any good “stuff” and what’s left in the house is usually junk with a few desirable things thrown in. Again, the desirable items are priced beyond market value so no one buys them and the “estate sale company” either has them donated to their connections or they buy them for pennies on the dollar. I myself wondered how the estate sale company makes a % of what is sold if little is sold. Again, simple, they get it at the beginning or end one way or another.  Moral of the story is, if you see an exceptionally well written ad for a yard/estate sale with a disclaimer and only so many people let in to the sale at one time, collectables, rules,  etc. Don’t even bother going, the only one who benefits is the estate helper/running company. Many times the estate sale company actually puts their name on the bottom of the garage sale ad. This is a great help so you know not to bother going. Also, this whole fiasco has to end up with many of the home owners extremely unhappy with their paid for estate sale partners. No one likes getting hustled or conned. The yard sale customers walk a way empty handed wondering “who would pay that amount.” It’s one thing getting a good deal from the home owner for an item or two, it’s another thing getting swindled by a company for the whole interior of your home. I find it amazing anyone even goes to these things. Sometimes I pass estate sales run by companies on Sat/Sun mornings and see elderly people waiting outside in 10-20 degree weather for their # to be called to enter the sale. Sad, pathetic, near criminal. Welcome to the new world of garage / estate / yard sales.