The day I stopped showing up early to estate sales

I used to get to estate sales like an hour before they opened, you know, thinking I had to be first to get the good stuff. But last month at a sale in Tacoma, I stood in the cold for 45 minutes and watched the same five people rush in and grab everything interesting before I could even get past the front door. Then I overheard one of them talking to a buddy about how they only bother with sales that post detailed photos online, so they can skip the ones with junk. That really got me thinking. I realized I was wasting weekends staking out houses when I could just check the listings the night before and show up at a reasonable time. Now I aim for 30 minutes after start instead, and honestly I find better stuff because I'm not competing with the pros. Has anyone else shifted their timing and seen better results?

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troy9964mo ago

Whoa hold on, showing up late is a terrible idea! You're basically giving the pros first dibs on everything before you even walk through the door. I'd rather stand in the cold for an hour and get first shot at the hidden gems than sift through leftovers.

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sean_murray4mo ago

Man exactly, I did the same thing for years and it was miserable. Once I started showing up like 20 minutes after the start time I actually found a set of vintage Pyrex bowls that someone must've missed because they were buried under a pile of blankets. The pros are too busy fighting over the obvious high-ticket stuff and they leave perfectly good items behind.

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