Saw an ad a couple weeks ago for a garage sale.  In the ad it said they had Legos, but the actual garage sale wasn't until today.  I messaged the posted several times and got pictures for the Legos, they were asking $250.  The last messaged I sent I said I was interested and would be there first thing today.  The gf and I got up, of course I had to wait on here to get ready, and were a few minutes later than I wanted to be.  The garage sale started at 9, I arrived at 9:10.  As soon as I walked in I saw someone else with the two tubs of Legos.  They were just getting ready to pay $200 for both tubs.  I interrupted, explained who I was, the woman seemed very happy since I had been told $250.  The guy that was about to buy the tubs not so much.  He wasn't to upset, just disappointed.  Not sure what I have yet, but it looks like mostly older sets.  Here are some quick pics of my almost missed haul, can anybody tell whats in it ?

Looking at the sails, I would say a Black Seas Barracuda and Caribbean Clipper from the 80s.  Raised baseplate is from 6082 Fire Breathing Fortress.  Big black wheels are from some old space sets, depending on the size of them.  If even the ships themselves are in good shape, you've made your money back.  I think this will do well if you have quality stuff, which the sails at least seem to be. 

That's what I'm hoping for, I think it was a good find, but we will see.  Weighed it and both tubs weighed about 28lbs a piece.  So I'm hoping for more treasure as I dig through it. 

I sold a used Black Seas Barracuda not so long ago for $250. Even after fees, that ship alone can get most of your money back.

Nice find! I had a similar find today after seeing an add for a garage sale with Legos. Unlike your find, I only bought three sets.

It seems that there are sails of the Caribbean Clipper (6274) and the Black Seas Barracuda (6285).

 

Not sure if all the hulls pieces are included in the boxes...

 

I pray for you that all the pieces of the barracuda are here...

 

*invoking*

 

Amazing find, great job!

I long for the day when I find a deal like this on my local craigslist. Few and far between deals like this are.

Reminds me of my last garage sale experience...got there ten minutes before the sale started, and someone had already been there an hour earlier!

 

It's rough out there, you have to have no life and pounce on deals at strange hours.

Yeah, I felt a little bad.  But then again I had planned on trying to get the tubs for $200 or less.  That went out the window.  The guy was really drooling over everything in it too.  After words he kept hinting that he would take a base plate or two for compensation.  Told him I'd rather see what all was in there before I gave anything away.  He was a picker too, said he'd been collecting for about a year.

He had 10 minutes. He should have plunked down the cash and left. Instead he probably tried to barter and him/haw/gee/shucks his way into a better price, and he lost. Good for you.

Two minutes later and he would have had it.

...something similar happened to me a few years back... saw a garage sale posting on CL and since the sale wasn't happening til Saturday (saw the listing Thursday evening), I decided to contact the seller and informed her that I'll be there first thing Saturday morning and would buy all the Star Wars Lego (there were like 15-20 sets - most were complete with minifigs) for a mere $80...

...Saturday came and as I was pulling up her driveway, I saw this Chinese guy and his son starting to put the Lego sets in a box... I introduced myself and she was surprised that the other guy was not me!... she said that when he came and asked if he was I, the Chinese guy said, "yes" so she let him take all the Lego... to make a long story short, she stopped the other guy from taking the Lego, gave his money back and gave me the opportunity to buy a good haul of Star Wars sets...

 

I find garage sales to be endlessly frustrating. I don't even bother anymore.

I find garage sales to be endlessly frustrating. I don't even bother anymore.

Why? I find a lot of useful items at garages sales and Lego sets sometimes. 

For the time I have to spend driving around, hoping items haven't already been sold, hoping they are as described, then all the time I have to spend sorting etc, I just find it's not really worth the effort. I've had one too many "Someone else gets there just before I do" experiences. If I can't get the folks to meet me ahead of time to sell, I don't bother going. 

 

I am not hating on all garage sales, but for me, I just find my time more profitably (and less stressfully) spent with other endeavors

For the time I have to spend driving around, hoping items haven't already been sold, hoping they are as described, then all the time I have to spend sorting etc, I just find it's not really worth the effort. I've had one too many "Someone else gets there just before I do" experiences. If I can't get the folks to meet me ahead of time to sell, I don't bother going. 

 

I am not hating on all garage sales, but for me, I just find my time more profitably (and less stressfully) spent with other endeavors

Ah, I see. I guess I haven't had many of those experiences where someone beat me to a great deal. I had several this past summer. I was really angry at the time, but I got over it within a couple hours.

My girlfriend and I both enjoy going to Estate sales and Garage sales, so it helps.  We enjoy the finds and deals to be made.   This one was posted weeks in advance, and i actually tried meeting prior.  It just took a while for me to get pictures of the sets.  I wasn't making the drive if it wasn't going to be worth my time.  But

I find garage sales to be endlessly frustrating. I don't even bother anymore.

I understand the frustrations, but there's gold in them thar garages.  I definitely pick and choose which I will go to.  I don't bother going to garage sales in certain parts of town.  Not that I'm scared, but there's about zero chance that a person in that neighborhood has a decent collection and has been treated well.  Sounds bad, but it's true.  Also being somewhat self sufficient at work, I can get over to a garage sale during the week that others may not be able to make it to.  It seems they all start on Thursday here, so you have to beat all the soccer moms that don't work, or the students out for summer break.  I'm sure I've made more money flipping stuff from garage sales and CL than I have on ebay so far.