The sale advertised as the eBay/Amazon seller going out of business ended up being way out in the middle of nowhere -- we went down DIRT ROADS. I wouldn't say they had thousands of books. Hundreds, sure, but not thousands, even counting picture books. On the bright side, it was a very picturesque drive. On the way we passed two pens of Holstein cows that were right alongside the road, and I saw 3 deer in a meadow. It was a beautiful sunny, warm day, too. Pity I skipped sleep on Friday night so I could both spam LJ and still get all my work done before we left in the morning, so I went to bed at 2:30 PM and woke up on Sunday morning.
Here's the culmination of Friday/Saturday's finds:
Friday:
-DVD: ER, season 10 - $7. I was just out biking, didn't even know this sale was there, and then they had seasons 9 AND 10, two of my favorites! Given the steep price and my general mistrust of used DVDs, I only bought one, after an agonizing bit of back-and-forth until I determined that this was the one where Carter brings Luka back from Africa. Scanning on Amazon, I made the right choice. Still - I must stop spending like a maniac! If they'd only marked it $10, I totally could have walked away.
-CD: Tori Amos, "Scarlet's Walk" - $1. I cannot BELIEVE I finally found a copy at a garage sale right after I finally bought it at Half Price after over 4 years of holding out. I still bought this one because luckily, I still have a few more days to return it to HPB for store credit. :)
-The woman who sold me this CD also told me I had beautiful hair, which made me happy all day.
Saturday:
Since they're already 3-5 miles from home in the direction of the Saturday-only Going Out Of Online Business, I decided to forgo both church sales on opening day and wait for their second, Fill A Bag Day. This turned out to be a poor idea. Both churches were picked clean, and my hopeful idea that I could at least load up on clothes at the larger of the two sales was cut short when I saw the madhouse of women in that room. It's the first time I've ever really seen a crazy-looking crowd at a bargain sale. I backed out quickly.
But at the second sale, which literally had next to nothing, it was not only fill a bag, but also half price day. I found a pair of cute post star earrings (Tommy Hilfiger?) that I thought would work well on 4th of July. They were only marked a quarter and she STILL gave them to me for half price (literally, 13 cents). I probably would have just given them the quarter anyway, but then I couldn't turn down a chance to unload my nickels. At least I didn't haggle over the pennies, okay?
Finally, at the big sale...yeah, it was worth going. It didn't blow me away, but the very first book I saw in the room, drawing my eyes like a magnet, was a Scholastic paperback of Marguerite Henry's Shamrock Queen (Always Reddy). Which, of course, I already own. My first once-over on the bookshelf, disappointingly, provided nothing. So then I went through book by book, determined to find SOMETHING, and I found... Spunky! (c. 1980)
I TOTALLY forgot about that book, but as soon as I saw it the memories of checking it out from my elementary school library came flooding back. It was one of my favorites; overly simplistic now, but still cute. It's the first-person POV story of an abandoned dog, thrown out in a sack as a puppy, and how she finds new owners and learns to be a pet.
Cost: 25 cents.
Also found Yukon Trail for a dollar, probably more than I should have paid, but I spent my childhood yearning to play this and I never got a chance, so I'm going for it. With my luck, it's probably considered abandonware and available for free download, or at least not half as fun to play as I think it is (Africa Trail certainly disappointed). OH WELL.
Here's the culmination of Friday/Saturday's finds:
Friday:
-DVD: ER, season 10 - $7. I was just out biking, didn't even know this sale was there, and then they had seasons 9 AND 10, two of my favorites! Given the steep price and my general mistrust of used DVDs, I only bought one, after an agonizing bit of back-and-forth until I determined that this was the one where Carter brings Luka back from Africa. Scanning on Amazon, I made the right choice. Still - I must stop spending like a maniac! If they'd only marked it $10, I totally could have walked away.
-CD: Tori Amos, "Scarlet's Walk" - $1. I cannot BELIEVE I finally found a copy at a garage sale right after I finally bought it at Half Price after over 4 years of holding out. I still bought this one because luckily, I still have a few more days to return it to HPB for store credit. :)
-The woman who sold me this CD also told me I had beautiful hair, which made me happy all day.
Saturday:
Since they're already 3-5 miles from home in the direction of the Saturday-only Going Out Of Online Business, I decided to forgo both church sales on opening day and wait for their second, Fill A Bag Day. This turned out to be a poor idea. Both churches were picked clean, and my hopeful idea that I could at least load up on clothes at the larger of the two sales was cut short when I saw the madhouse of women in that room. It's the first time I've ever really seen a crazy-looking crowd at a bargain sale. I backed out quickly.
But at the second sale, which literally had next to nothing, it was not only fill a bag, but also half price day. I found a pair of cute post star earrings (Tommy Hilfiger?) that I thought would work well on 4th of July. They were only marked a quarter and she STILL gave them to me for half price (literally, 13 cents). I probably would have just given them the quarter anyway, but then I couldn't turn down a chance to unload my nickels. At least I didn't haggle over the pennies, okay?
Finally, at the big sale...yeah, it was worth going. It didn't blow me away, but the very first book I saw in the room, drawing my eyes like a magnet, was a Scholastic paperback of Marguerite Henry's Shamrock Queen (Always Reddy). Which, of course, I already own. My first once-over on the bookshelf, disappointingly, provided nothing. So then I went through book by book, determined to find SOMETHING, and I found... Spunky! (c. 1980)
I TOTALLY forgot about that book, but as soon as I saw it the memories of checking it out from my elementary school library came flooding back. It was one of my favorites; overly simplistic now, but still cute. It's the first-person POV story of an abandoned dog, thrown out in a sack as a puppy, and how she finds new owners and learns to be a pet.
Cost: 25 cents.
Also found Yukon Trail for a dollar, probably more than I should have paid, but I spent my childhood yearning to play this and I never got a chance, so I'm going for it. With my luck, it's probably considered abandonware and available for free download, or at least not half as fun to play as I think it is (Africa Trail certainly disappointed). OH WELL.
