Until this spring I never much cared for garage sales. If we went to one I would wait for my wife in the car or pick-up.
But earlier this year I started going to garage, yard, tag, lawn and estate sales looking for tools. Snap-on tools preferably, maybe some Proto or SK as a second choice or at least something unusual and of course old tool chests.
This is what I’ve learned so far……
If there is a Snap-On product in with a bunch of other tools, it will more than likely be on the very top where the sly old lady put it (sort of like salting the mine with a shotgun) and you won’t have to dig for others because it won’t be on the same box.
The next Snap-On socket or wrench in the original set will be in the next box mixed in with wrenches apparently made from recycled Revolutionary war pewter from India or Pakistan.
The net effect of this type of display/packaging is that it may cost you three million dollars to buy a set of Snap-On wrenches that you could have purchased from SOT for $450.00 and not have to stand next to some old geezer who farts every time he discovers a pre-war “MasterCraft” socket.
I’ve went to sales where the ad said “Tools” among other things. I been the first one there and after looking around and seeing no tools, I ask where are the tools? The homeowner will usually point to a garden hoe, two garden rakes and a long pointy spade laying on the ground nest to a cracked bird bath.
One time after I had driven two hours to the sale, I was so frustrated I screamed at the owner. “Those are ******** garden implements, not tools” the reply was “well around here we call them tools” so I said “then next time call the garden tools”.
The fact is people are willing to sound like used car salesmen because more people will attend for tools than garden implements.
Along those same lines, I’ve tried to explain that a “Plaino Tackle Box” with a dead minnow stuck to the bottom is not a tool box no matter how many “Ace Hardware” sockets you put inside.
Also that a tool box is not the same thing as a tool chest and Stack-On is not made by Snap-On.
I’ve learned that some super sly garage sale operatives think they are the only person who knows about “Harbor Freight”. What else explains a set of ten dollar Harbor Freight screw drivers for thirty dollars
I’ve learned to memorize addresses to sort the wheat from the chaff. The chaff being the same people who try to sell the same stuff week after week and can’t figure out why a cracked dry snow globe won’t sell.
I learned to steer clear of old ladies who wield white canes who aren’t blind. (really, what’s a blind person doing at a tool sale, unless she is a mechanic for China Airlines)
The purpose of the cane is to trip you before you can inspect something before she does.
I’ve learned that 8:00 am means any time after 5:00 am.
Lastly, I’ve learned that parking next to a pick-up exactly or vary similar to yours can sometimes yield a prize in the box.
But I still go weekend after weekend, in the faint hope of that one in a million find. Which has happened twice so far, so I guess that makes it all worth while. One time I got a SS pail full of nuts and bolts that I didn’t even know about until the first stop sign.
But earlier this year I started going to garage, yard, tag, lawn and estate sales looking for tools. Snap-on tools preferably, maybe some Proto or SK as a second choice or at least something unusual and of course old tool chests.
This is what I’ve learned so far……
If there is a Snap-On product in with a bunch of other tools, it will more than likely be on the very top where the sly old lady put it (sort of like salting the mine with a shotgun) and you won’t have to dig for others because it won’t be on the same box.
The next Snap-On socket or wrench in the original set will be in the next box mixed in with wrenches apparently made from recycled Revolutionary war pewter from India or Pakistan.
The net effect of this type of display/packaging is that it may cost you three million dollars to buy a set of Snap-On wrenches that you could have purchased from SOT for $450.00 and not have to stand next to some old geezer who farts every time he discovers a pre-war “MasterCraft” socket.
I’ve went to sales where the ad said “Tools” among other things. I been the first one there and after looking around and seeing no tools, I ask where are the tools? The homeowner will usually point to a garden hoe, two garden rakes and a long pointy spade laying on the ground nest to a cracked bird bath.
One time after I had driven two hours to the sale, I was so frustrated I screamed at the owner. “Those are ******** garden implements, not tools” the reply was “well around here we call them tools” so I said “then next time call the garden tools”.
The fact is people are willing to sound like used car salesmen because more people will attend for tools than garden implements.
Along those same lines, I’ve tried to explain that a “Plaino Tackle Box” with a dead minnow stuck to the bottom is not a tool box no matter how many “Ace Hardware” sockets you put inside.
Also that a tool box is not the same thing as a tool chest and Stack-On is not made by Snap-On.
I’ve learned that some super sly garage sale operatives think they are the only person who knows about “Harbor Freight”. What else explains a set of ten dollar Harbor Freight screw drivers for thirty dollars
I’ve learned to memorize addresses to sort the wheat from the chaff. The chaff being the same people who try to sell the same stuff week after week and can’t figure out why a cracked dry snow globe won’t sell.
I learned to steer clear of old ladies who wield white canes who aren’t blind. (really, what’s a blind person doing at a tool sale, unless she is a mechanic for China Airlines)
The purpose of the cane is to trip you before you can inspect something before she does.
I’ve learned that 8:00 am means any time after 5:00 am.
Lastly, I’ve learned that parking next to a pick-up exactly or vary similar to yours can sometimes yield a prize in the box.
But I still go weekend after weekend, in the faint hope of that one in a million find. Which has happened twice so far, so I guess that makes it all worth while. One time I got a SS pail full of nuts and bolts that I didn’t even know about until the first stop sign.
