Some People!

Consignment shopping and friend swapping children's clothes is actually kind of fashionable these days.  Yesterday was Sheila and Michelle's big garage sale day.  Every so often, a group of mommies organizes a giant garage sale/flea market of children's clothes, toys, equipment, etc. at the fairgrounds.  It's called "Just Between Friends."  Apparently, the huge parking lot was full of "friends."  Many of the items sold are high quality and were expensive retail.  They're not cheap at at "Just Between Friends" but they are more reasonably priced.

Access is very carefully controlled.  The ladies who organized and worked at the sale get first pick.  As I

understand it, they got to shop all morning.  Then at 1:00 PM, folks who had items on consignment were allowed to shop for two hours.  At 3:00 PM, folks with passes from consignees and who had bought a pass could enter.  Paid passes are then accepted for the rest of the weekend.  From Monday on, admission is free.

Sheila and Michelle took new, cheap laundry baskets with a jump rope tied to one end so that they wouldn't have to try to carry everything they bought in their arms.  They just drug the laundry baskets behind them by the rope and added their purchases as they went.  They spent about $250.00 between them and little Ben Bob is now very well clothed for the winter and the next season of growth. 

After I dropped Sheila off, I saw a garage sale in our neighborhood.   As I drove past, I saw four chairs that matched my sister-in-law Gwenda's dining room set.  Over the years, hers had broken and become wobbly and she is down to one good dining room chair.  I pulled in to look and had to knock on the door to get somebody to come out.  The chairs were marked at $55.00 apiece.  That was really high.  I had seen an identical set at a used furniture store owned by a fundamentalist Muslim up on Admiral.  His were priced much lower to start with and those folks will ALWAYS bargain.  They expect it. 

Phone calls were exchanged and pictures texted.  Gwenda wanted the chairs. So, I came back and handed the woman two $100.00 bills and said we would pick them up today. She looked at me and said she had to have full price!  She wanted the other $20.00 !  She then trotted out the most ancient of all used car salesman's stories that someone else was interested and that she could get the money from them.

I bit my tongue and did not tell her that I could buy the same chairs for thirty five bucks up on Admiral and the only reason I hadn't was because I refuse to do business with anybody who had anything to do with putting a  Mosque five doors down from my house.

Here's a basic lesson in Business 101.  If both sides aren't happy with the deal, the unhappy side will never do business with you again.  That's OK at a garage sale, I suppose.  But if you doing the same thing in your career and personal life ..... it may be a rocky and lonely road.