Auctions, garage sales, flea markets, thrift stores: a lifestyle

[Jetboy]

Does anyone else live this lifestyle?

I've been doing it for several years now. It's not for everyone but I really like it. You don't need much money to live and you can make that just by buying and selling.

I just shiver when I see what people are paying for stuff vs what you can find it for if you look.

Happy picking!

[Archae]

1. I love them too.

I get a lot of old music that way.

[Jetboy]

2. No doubt. It's not uncommon to come across entire record or cd

collections second hand. The right old 45 or 78 can be worth big money too.

[GReedDiamond]

3. I go every month with a group of friends...

...to the Pasadena (CA) City College Flea Market.

I have found several items that were turned into art objects.

Last time, I found a cheap Chinese-made "monkey lamp" which I had the artist Germs polychrome, and I'm having another artisan friend make two very small, stained glass shades for it. I'm adding a brass base with lead weights to better anchor it once the stained glass shades are done.

I also spend a fair amount of time in thrift and antique shops, looking for whatever is there to surprise me.

[Jetboy]

4. Very cool!

Is that sale held at the Rose Bowl?

I had a friend who lived out there and raved about going to the Rose Bowl for the flea market.

[GReedDiamond]

5. The PCC Flea Market is held the first Sunday of each month...

...on the grounds of PCC, in both outside areas and inside a parking structure.

The Rose Bowl flea market has many of the same vendors, but it costs to get in, so I don't usually go, as entry to PCC Flea Market is free.

I look forward to the first Sunday of each month - to be with good friends and maybe get some good stuff!

[Jetboy]

6. Sounds like a lot of fun!

I was out in the LA area as a child around 1981 and remember going to a swap meet. I'd love to make it back there again someday- so beautiful.

[GReedDiamond]

9. For me, it's a guaranteed good time...

...lemme know - PM me - if you're ever out here, you can join us at the flea market.

[Jetboy]

10. Hey thanks a lot!

I may just make it out there again someday.

[PassingFair]

7. Estate Sales!

It's what we love. Even if we don't buy and sell, we get to go through other people's treasure.

[Jetboy]

8. How did I forget Estate sales?!

The very best stuff in the very best condition is often found at estate sales. Usually a lot of interesting history there too.

[vanlassie]

11. Cheryl Wheeler

https://m.

[Jetboy]

16. LOL

I love the person first in line ready to sprint to the items!

[Lochloosa]

12. My parents quit their jobs and started selling at flea markets and festivals in there 50's.

They eventually traveled to 27 states a year. They did this for 17 years.

I never saw them happier. It's a unique lifestyle and not for everyone but can be a lot of fun.

I was the asst. manager of a Flea Market for six years and manager of a new start up market for four. It gets in your blood.

I have meet some of the most independent strong willed people being around that environment and am glad to have had that experience.

I still go to garage sales any chance I get. Flea markets, not so much anymore. To much imported crap now. Not enough "stuff".

[Jetboy]

13. Hey that's really cool!

Yeah it's the stuff that I'm after- no 'made in china' for me.

The lifestyle is a lot of fun and it's in my blood for sure. I don't do too much traveling though since I mostly sell on ebay.

It spills over into my whole life as I have no interest in today's pop culture. I just enjoy stuff, entertainment, cars, clothes etc from the 20s-60s. To me it's just a positive vibe.

[Lochloosa]

14. Most people don't get the work involved in that lifestyle.

You find it, clean it , fix it etc. then someone complains about the price. I love haggling. Lol

[Jetboy]

15. Haha! Some stuff is junk but the people are thrilled, other stuff you work so

hard to track an item down and clean and fix it then the customer complains. lol

[grasswire]

17. we have a whole forum here devoted to "the lifestyle"...

....and we could use your infusion of energy there! It's in the "recreation" topic area.

[Jetboy]

18. I posted there earlier.

It might be fun to start a thread with everybody's best tips.

[hunter]

19. I don't like to buy anything but food and some clothing items new...

... if I can reuse or repurpose something old. Even my car has a salvage title. My personal computers are salvage too. Flat screen LCD monitors are fifteen dollars at the thrift stores around here, or free for the asking if they are broken.

I don't like our current economic system and it's easier for me to simply boycott everything with a few exceptions than it is to keep a list of all the things I ought to be boycotting.

But I don't go much out of my way to seek stuff out. That would involve too much driving. Rather I rely on serendipity. If I pass a thrift store or interesting looking garage sale while I'm going about my usual business, then I stop.

I think every community ought to have a literally free market, a covered or enclosed space, maybe even an abandoned big box store, where people can trade stuff.

But it's not a lifestyle many appreciate, not even my wife. She loves art she finds in thrift stores, and various things she can repurpose as art, but she's not someone who is willing to futz around with discarded technology or wait for a DVD of a movie she likes to show up in the thrift stores.

[Jetboy]

20. I wish everyone would do the same!

A community building for folks to trade with each other is a great idea too.

Waaaay too much waste in America today. A community building for folks to trade is a great idea and would for sure put a dent in all of that waste.