MUSINGS ON ESTATE SALES
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March 15, 2015
As much as I would like the world to be a loving and peaceful place, and do try view it through rose colored glasses, it’s often otherwise. Even at an estate sale. Which is supposed to be a fun and relaxed event, where folks gather to explore, meet, greet, and buy a few new items they can’t live without or have never seen before. Although it often happens this way, there is usually one person who gets the idea that it’s a show meant exclusively to please them (and I’m not speaking of the estate owner.)
Why do customers get upset with me if another buys an item they wanted before them? Could be the other person arrived earlier, or was willing to pay the asking price and the darn government sales tax, or didn’t nit-pick a teeny/tiny little bump in the manufacturer’s process and carry on as if it were a crack in the Liberty Bell.
At one of our estate sales, an elderly man and a teenage boy got into an argument over a pair of shoes. They each had a shoe. They were a very nice pair of shoes, but they were not made of gold. It escalated into a loud debate as to who got their shoe first, entitling them to the entire pair. When our associate tried to help, they ignored her and continued their stand-off. Just as I was about to jump in as King Solomon, (I probably would have taken the footwear away from both, like my mother did when my brother and I fought over a toy), they settled the matter, luckily without bloodshed. At another estate sale, two women each had a shoe, got into a shouting match and one hurled her shoe at the other, giving in un-graciously. Although the winner had a small bruise, she was nevertheless thrilled because she got the sling-back pumps. We do try to avoid these stress-inducing situations, if only to protect the shoppers around them and I’ve now had our associates practice their karate moves in the event there’s an issue over a vintage yo-yo. Each will get half.
Please be considerate of others . . .
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