Nobody was making him do it. The deal was done, the cash was counted, and the seller had already agreed to $150 for a big pile of gear. But picker North Idaho Pickers stopped, pulled out another $20, and said it did not feel right to walk away paying only $150.
The moment came at the end of a yard sale hunt that had started slow in the Idaho cold. “The day started off a little slow, but it got better really quick,” he says, and he ended up at one of the most incredible yard sales he had visited in a long time.
A Slow Morning, Then A Blowout
The earlier stops were small. At one sale he bought a pair of motorcycle-related items for $30 after talking the seller down five dollars, and at another he found a hat stretcher and a pair of jeans, which together came to $40. The puppy he brings along to sniff out deals, a golden named Penny, got plenty of attention and a few babysitters.
Then he reached a sale put on by a man who builds fishing rods. The seller had been at it for 25 years, he says, after moving to Idaho from Washington. He built a shop but has too much stuff, and told his wife he needed his car moved back into storage so he could have the space. The solution was what he called the blowout of all blowout sales, with about a thousand rods in inventory.
Making A Pile
There were no prices on anything, because the seller said they did not have time to tag it all. Instead he was making deals. He had partnered with the gun show across the street to handle the marketing, hoping to push his people over there and have them send people back.
The picker, who sells on eBay and looks things up as he goes, began stacking items in a pile. Among them were a Hummingbird fish finder the seller wanted $30 for, a new-in-the-box piece a quick search showed selling for $120 to $200, a radiator gauge known as a Moto Meter from the early days of cars, a matching floating cooler, a Clint Black collectible, a sealed set of 1970s records at a dollar apiece, and a pachinko machine, a Japanese-style game he remembered playing during his time in Japan. He also grabbed lead-casting molds for fishing jigs.
The Moto Meter was a treasure, the seller said, that screwed into the top of a radiator and showed when an engine was getting too hot. The picker noted that such gauges can run $30 to $50 online. He also passed on some antlers because they are a pain in the neck to ship, a good reminder that a cheap item can cost you money if it is too bulky to mail.
The Math And The Moment
When it was time to settle up, the seller added things up out loud and arrived at about $110 for the pile with the pachinko machine, or $170 with a downrigger the picker also wanted. Then he offered a simpler deal. “How we always do $150 for all of it,” he said, giving a little discount for buying so much. The picker agreed.
It could have ended there. Instead, the picker said he felt he had scored on the deal. “There was a couple things in there I don’t think you counted,” he told the seller. “So I’m going to give you another 20, because I don’t feel comfortable at $150 because it wasn’t enough.”
The seller appreciated it. He said he really needed to get rid of the stuff, and the picker said he wanted to be fair. The seller also admitted he did not mind giving deals, since it does not hurt when you did not pay full price for the items yourself. The picker mentioned a small meter in the pile he had not even looked at, and said that was a good piece. The two parted square, and the seller said he would message the picker the next time he held a sale so he could get early pickings.
What Sellers And Buyers Can Learn
For buyers, the story shows the long game. A seller who remembers an honest buyer will call him first next time, and the best flea market and yard sale deals tend to go to people sellers like to help. Being fair costs little, and it can open the door to repeat business, including early access to a sale.
For anyone holding a sale, the rod builder offers a lesson of his own. He partnered with a nearby gun show for marketing and priced by deal instead of tagging every item, which saved him time. He also said people seem tighter with money right now, so bundle prices, such as one price for a whole pile, can move a lot of stuff quickly.
It is also smart to do your homework before you haggle. The picker checks comparable sales as he walks, which is how he knew a boxed piece was worth $120 to $200 and a radiator gauge $30 to $50. And when you do come out ahead, as he did, a small extra payment can feel good for both sides.
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