Sometimes, ya just don't know whatcha got!

 (Are they high, Clarice?)

You will have to please pardon the Steel Magnolias paraphrasing!


Per our normal weekend routine, Mark and I scoured the estate sale listings for the St. Louis area using these 2 sites:


www.estatesales.net


and


http://gsalr.com/garage-sales-st-louis-mo.html  .


Mark's work hours currently do not allow us to have a 'normal weekend' together, so we had to improvise. His weekend is Friday - Saturday, instead of Saturday - Sunday.  Most of the functions (the art fairs, Japanese and Greek Fests, Gay Pride Fest, and many more) run the normal weekend, Saturday and Sunday.  We can attend Saturdays together, but if I want to go on Sundays, I often go by myself (which isn't a bad thing entirely, and that is another blog for another day!)


If I haven't done so earlier in the week, by Thursday night, I scout those 2 websites, and plot out any estate sales that might have items of interest that I didn't know I couldn't live without until I saw them listed for sale!  This weekend was no exception.  At an increasing rate, more and more estate sales are being listed for Fri - Sun, instead of Sat - Sun, to include one more day in the sale. 


We always arrive at the estate sale at least 15 minutes early, to get a number (which allows us to get in the door of the sale at a certain point in the waiting line), and to be standing outside the house waiting for the doors to open. We are always within the first 20 people in the house, and usually the first group they let in the doors. 


Also occurring at an increasing rate is unadvertised pre-sales.  We often arrive at an estate sale, and the large ticket items are already marked "Sold".  How can this be, when we're the first people in the house, and often the first customers in any certain room of the house?  The answer is simple:  The individuals in charge of running a particular sale will often allow antique dealers, resale shops, etc., in before the advertised sale date, to make pre-sales.  I would have nothing negative to say about this practice IF they remove the pictures of the pre-sold items from the websites (www.estatesales.net , etc) so the public isn't misled into thinking these items are still available. Most of the regular estate sale shoppers find one or two items in the pictures of the estate sale listing that they are interested in, and that is the reason they drove to any one particular estate sale. If the item in the picture is no longer available, there is no other reason for the shopper to come to this estate sale, when he / she could have attended another sale with items present in which the shopper is interested. 


Anywho.... Mark and I arrive at this estate sale:


3906 Roundtable Ct.
Saint Louis, MO 63129


which is being held by this company:


Midas Touch Estate Sales
703 Dutch Mill Drive
Ballwin, MO 63011


One of the morals of this beloved story is "If you jack me up, I will not hesitate to bust you out using whatever means I find necessary, and any venues that I have available to me!"


The story continues....


So, we arrive at this sale.


Actually, I am looking for an acoustic piano to complete my musical instrument collection. Even though digital pianos are phenomenal, and I have several of them, I am seeking an acoustic piano to aid my daily 2 hour practice sessions.  An acoustic piano has elements associated with it (the touch / feel, sound, etc) that a digital piano can 'come close to reproducing', but when it really comes down to it, there is no substitute for an acoustic piano. If I play for a nursing home, school, church or other function, and they have an acoustic piano (and I am accustomed to playing even the best digital piano), it feels like you're wearing somebody else's shoes.  It will work, but not the best feeling you can have in the world, and not the best job you can do at the moment.


This digital piano (manufactured in 1998) is available for sale:

I know I can't be the only person sitting out here on this limb, but I know very well that the internet is an affordable, easy-to-use resource for information that is available to virtually anyone.  If you can afford today's cable TV, a cell phone, or a couple meals at a restaurant a month, then you can afford to use the internet as it was originally intended - for informational purposes.  The only excuse to not use this resource is either some lame attempt at gaining control over the people in your corner of the world (Another subject for another blog), or pure laziness.  Plain and simple - and nothing more to it. 


Before we attended this sale, I did a very quick internet search. You can do the same search using Bing, Alta Vista, Dogpile, Webcrawler, Google, Yahoo, or any other web search engine of your choice.


The *first* page of search results returned this website:


http://www.mypianofriends.com/i-am-looking-at-buying-a-roland-kr-75.-is-it-worth-1000-dol...-186454.html


Please find on that website the following paragraph (In reference to the Roland KR-75 digital piano listed in the ad for the estate sale):


"It is worth $1000, only if the original owner has already had the piano serviced to replace the known-issue with the keys splitting. I purchased one recently for $1100. The piano looked and sounded great on the exterior, and basically IS in great shape, except when one key went bad, upon repair we learned that all of the keys are split and this is a known issue. Roland would have repaired it at no cost for the original owner with the original proof of purchase, but we would have to pay full-price even though it is a known major defect.


If that hasn't been done, then I would suggest you get the original owner to do so before buying it, or have them reduce $500 to $600 off of the price because that is what it will cost you to repair the keys once the problem surfaces."


A second website says, "These keyboards were manufactured in 1998.  That is 13 years ago.  Since these keyboards are basically computers with piano keys attached, how much would you pay for a personal computer that is 13 years old?  The answer: Little to nothing.  Considering the known issues with the keys on these instrument (They will have to be replaced at your own cost), and the fact that this 'computer' is 13 years old, they are worth little to nothing. I certainly would not pay more than $300 for this instrument."


Michael speaking:  "These Roland keyboards have the old 3.5" floppy disk drives in them. They ARE MIDI compatible, but have no other way of hooking up to your computer other than through an antiquated system that today's computers no longer supports.  Knowing what I now know, and all things considered, if I tested the piano (and I did!), and all keys are playing as expected at this point (And they are!), I still would pay no more than $200 for this instrument, and even in that case, I wouldn't admit how much I payed to another person!"


How much are they asking for it, you ask?  $2,500!  Yes, $2,500!  Even on 'half-price day' - the last day of the sale - the price would be $1,250, which is still FIVE TIMES more than the maximum price of this keyboard should be.  I would shoot somebody at close range, and directly in the forehead if they paid $2,500, $1,250 and maybe even $250 for this piano! To quote Franken-Furter in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", when he killed Meat Loaf in the walk in freezer (dusting his hands off), "What? It was a mercy killing, really!"


I know it is a free, enterprising country, and / or / but, folks need get off their lazy duffs, and do some homework before presenting themselves to the public.  Laziness (Sloth!) is not in the "Top 10" (Commandments), but it IS listed in the "Sub 7" (Deadly sins!)  Ignorance is no excuse.


The "Way over priced old digital piano" was strike one.


I was still doodling around with this piano when Mark made a quick sweep through the house. He was interested in these chairs, to go with our retro home:





Please remember - we were in the first group allowed in the house to shop when they opened the doors. 
As Mark relayed the story to me, these chairs had tags on them marked "Sold".  How is this possible that we were the first people in the house, and items were already sold?  These unscrupulous people held an unannounced pre-sale, and left the pictures of the merchandise that had been pre-sold on the website. These chairs were the **ONLY** reason Mark wanted to go to this sale. 


The moral of this story is that this sale was a general bust, from all points of view. These lazy-assed people didn't do their homework before trying to seriously rob people by overpricing virtual junk AND they had an unannounced pre-sale. 


Incidentally, the other sale that we went to this weekend also had items marked "Sold" due to a presale. HOWEVER, the proprietors did say on the website that they intended to sell antiques and large items on a pre-sale basis to those who are interested. OK.  Fair Game.  We were warned, and that is the way it should be listed. 


There are many people who run these estate sales that are as fair and square as they can be. The same can not be said for EVERYBODY running these sales. There are some individuals who will not hesitate to bring out their shady side.


The split second that Mark saw the "SOLD" sign on these chairs, he came up to me and said, "OK, I'm ready to go (leave the sale). They had an unannounced pre-sale.", and he headed for the door.  I didn't get past the first room of the house, and I followed him out the door.


We left the estate sale arena for the day, and I went to the Guitar Center to buy cables for some of my amps in my music room, and our weekly dietary splurge was at Haveli Indian Restaurant on Page Avenue:


http://havelistl.com/


and


http://havelistl.com/special_event.pdf


After a few plates of soul-satisfying Indian food
(and my Galub Jamun! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulab_jamun),





we went to the Indian Bazaar just a few blocks down the street, owned by the same lady that owns the restaurant.  This is an Indian-Pakistani grocery and supply store. I bought another box of Garam Masala - a certain spice mix used regularly in Indian cooking.   I use this spice several times a week in my daily lunches.


Yes, dear readers. I got stiffed by some crooked people of this country, but I turned to the many bright colors, people and tastes of the rest of this world to take me to another place for a welcome reprieve. 
My Indians / Pakistani / Syrians - and many other nationalities - LOVE ME!


(and Midas Touch Estate Sales from the St. Louis area will screw you like there is no tomorrow, but depending on your point of view, that may or may not be a bad thing!


I know my readers are 'smarter than the average bear', and they have already figured out that I am sending a copy of this post to Midas Touch Estate Sales.


- Michael

My loot from the Gypsy Caravan Flea Market

(For current Gypsy Caravan info, please visit:
http://www.stlsymphony.org/gypsycaravan/
(There is a natural crescendo to these things, you know!  I have to make a couple rounds before I actually get this thing off the ground.)

When my body will allow me to do so, I occasionally ride a tour bicycle. Specifically, it is a 2007 REI Novara Randonee:

This photo is a stock photo of the Novara Randonee.   Before I took my bicycle out of the shop (the REI store - www.REI.com ), I had the professionals install my iBike cyclometer, the aerobars - so I can take a little nap while pedaling! - a front luggage rack, and an extra water bottle cage.  I also bought my BOB trailer and Ortleib pannier touring bags, and I had everything installed before I left the shop.  My $1,100 bicycle turned into a $6,000 bicycle.  Yes, I am name dropping with a vengeance.  The reason for this blatant name brand dropping is simple:  Considering the occasional exception, as the old adage goes, "You get what you pay for."  If you buy a cheap bicycle with cheap equipment, and you choose to ride it for any real distance, it **will** strand you in the most inopportune spot.  There is also a good chance that cell phone reception will be poor in the place that your bargain bicycle decided to call it quits. 

I put almost 4,000 miles on this bicycle, which includes crossing the state of Missouri back-and-forth via the Katy Trail, all or in part, 3 times.  Each trip is 511 miles, and I did a Century ride (100 miles) every weekend.  With the exception of normal maintenance, I have never had a break down.  The moral of this seemingly expensive, extravagant saga is this:  You will NEVER regret buying an item of considerable quality, even if it means spending more money than on the the economy version.  I guarantee you that you will be cursing like a well seasoned sailor when your economy equipment poops out, and you have to either pay more $$ yo have it repaired, or better yet, pay more $$ to buy better quality once the poor quality item gives up the ghost.  If you would allow yourself to do so, please think of it as this simple math equation:

       The Price of the inexpensive item   
+    The Price of the more expensive, higher quality item that you should have purchased in the first place  =       More money than if you would have just purchased the better quality item FIRST!

My point?  I will very happily spend more money for a better opportunity, a better experience, or a better item.  I'm worth it, plain and simple.

Back to my loot at the Gypsy Caravan Flea Market.

If you go to this Flea Market (held only on Memorial Day in the St. Louis area!), you have 2 choices to get in the door. 

1)  Pay the $20 fee and enter two hours before the tidal wave of shoppers - many thousands of people, actually!  The advantage is that you get to shop from 7:00 AM - 9:00 PM, and even though there are an increasingly higher number of individuals taking advantage of this opportunity each year, there is a really good chance that you will be the only person in a vendor's booth at that particular time. 

2) Pay $5 for "General admission" after 9:00 AM.  Even though parking is abundant, equally abundant are the number of shoppers. You will FIGHT for a parking space anywhere on the premises of UMSL, the college campus where this event is held.   If you didn't being along a 'little old lady shopping cart', anything that you purchase will become a heavy burden before you spend at least 2 hours walking through this event, and lugging your treasures back to your vehicle.  Also attached to this option is the added privilege of fighting 50 - 75,000 people to squeeze into the vendor's booths to do your bargain hunting.

Thank you, but "No, thank you!"  Each year, I am sitting in the parking lot in the best possible parking space of the entire venue at 6:30 AM.  I have my little granny shopping cart with me as I stand in line at 6:45 AM, waiting for the gates to open at 7:00 AM for the $20 "Early Bird Shopping Special".  My strategy is to do a quick, but thorough shopping spree, and to be through all $500 vendor booths before General Admission is allowed in the gates at 9:00 AM.  Only by a margin of a couple minutes each year, I have accomplished this task. 

I also have utilize the "Let It Ride" principle, as follows:  "If I see an item on my 'first pass' that I absolutely cannot life without, I will buy it on the spot.  Since I have a readily identifiable look, the vendors will happily mark an item as sold, and put it in the back of their booth if it is too heavy for you to carry around.  You can then come back and pick it up on your way out, or you can put it in your little cart and take it with you.  **IF** you find an item that you are interested in, but you can 'live without it', you can "Let It Ride".   You can finish your shopping speed round, and come back to see if the item is still there on your second, slower, more deliberate shopping pass. If the item is there, it was meant to be - buy it!  IF it wasn't meant to be, somebody snatched it up before you returned to the vendor.  The major rule of this little game is that you gamble only with what you can afford to lose.  If the item is something that you have been looking forever, and the deal is great - GET IT NOW. If not, "Let it Ride!"  I played this little game with several items that I had my eye on at this past Gypsy Caravan (and any and all other Flea Markets that I attend).

I noted a Fender Amplifier for $24:
 
 


This little amp would be perfect for my vintage 1966 Wurlitzer electric (not electronic!) piano.  I saw this amp at the FIRST booth - out of 500! I decided to 'Let It Ride'.  I shopped two more booths, and lo and behold, the 'vintage lady' was there!  She sells mid-Century (1950's - 1970's) decor.  I am looking for another lamp for my vintage house - a hanging spaghetti lamp for $40:



I decided to "Let It Ride", and come back for it later. 

Because I hate suspense, I must tell you that when I returned for the amp, the lady in the booth whispered to me, "A gentleman was just looking at that amp, and he said he would be back in a couple minutes for it, but since you were here at 7:00 AM, and 'first come, first serve', I will sell it to you!"  Two seconds later, I learned that the older gentleman that also held an interest in this amp was standing right behind me!  I beat him to it by 2 seconds!

The lamp:  Somebody had beat me BACK to the lamp by just a couple minutes!  See how it works?  If you play "Let It Ride", you will win some, and you will lose some.  Never gamble with items that you do not want to lose!

H O W E V E R . . . .

I found yet another Hammond clock at a vendor's booth.  The motor turned easily when cranked with the the fly wheel knob on the back, but it had no electrical cord, and would need to be rewired.  The gentleman had $8 on the clock, and I already had 2 of these models (The Chronmaster from Hammond):



Because I couldn't help myself, I told the shopkeep the story of how the Hammond clock was the predecessor of the Hammond organ, and the Hammond organ was invented from the principle of the clock, and that they (Hammond clocks) were made from 1928 - 1941.  They are collectible, but on average, they are not very valuable. The only exception to this rule is the "Gergory Clock", which is an art deco calendar clock from Hammond:

Designer / Decorator Christopher Lowell once redecorated a room, and placed this particular model of Hammond clock on the mantel of the fireplace in the room he redecorated.  Within 15 minutes of that show running, this clock shot up to $600 on eBay!  Since that time, the price has fallen back down to $30 - 60, depending on the day and the market. 

Anywho.... I told the shopkeep the story of THIS particular model of Hammond clock, and I continued down the row of vendor's booths.  I was out of this man's booth by about 30 seconds when I ran into THIS clock at a booth. The price:  $5 !  I already have one of these models, but for $5, I had to have TWO!  SOLD!  No "Let It Ride."  I bought it immediately.  Of course, I took the clock back to guy #1 to show him the clock that I had just spun the Christopher Lowell story about.  He said, "What are the chances of you telling me that story, and 30 seconds later, finding that same clock in the next booth?"  What a quinkie dink!

My next purchase:
A bundle of socks for $5 from the "Sock Lady".  Everybody that goes regularly to the Wentzville (MO) Flea Market on Sunday morning  - EARLY - and everybody that goes to the Gypsy Caravan Flea Market knows the 'sock lady'. She's an icon. 

I also bought some gardening tools - a trowel, a weed puller and a small rake.  They are all metal, and I paid $1 for the package.  I use these little tools all season long.

I also bought a Steve Winwood CD ("Roll With It") and a David Bowie CD - $4 each.  That was a bit steep for CDs at a flea market, but I wanted the songs on the CDs, and I didn't feel like low balling the guy.

Unless I believe that an item is seriously over priced, I don't talk the vendor's down, or low ball them.  I paid $350 for a Hammond E-100 / Leslie 122 combo that is worth $3,500.  I know people that would try to talk them down to $250, and if they couldn't get the set for $250, they would walk away from the deal!  I quickly handed the lady the $350, and told her "Have a nice day!"  For many shoppers, the fun is all in the deal, and doesn't necessarily have anything to do with the item in question.  As I have stated many times in the past, "People are not my hobby!  I have other hobbies, and none of them relies on people to function."  I do not gain status, prestige or a higher position by taking advantage of another person, and the sauce for the goose is as good as sauce for the gander.  People who try to take advantage of me are in for a rude awakening after having attempted such a fiasco!

I paid $5 for a memory!  I can't say that I have a lot of happy memories from my childhood. If you know where I came from, and you are honest with me and yourself, you would agree.  The retro "melted popcorn decorations" were a memory from my childhood that I cherish.  I got the "Raggedy Ann and Andy" melted popcorn decorations for $5!  They're going on the wall in my office:




My last purchase was an item that I have been waiting 6 months for!  I don't often eat 'fair food', but there are a couple guilty pleasures that I allow myself.  I love the forearm-sized corn dogs from "Elvis' Place".  These people are a huge food vendor that set up at the Gypsy Caravan Flea Market and the Great Forest Park Balloon Race, and a couple other local venues.  ONE corn dog is all you need! 

To paraphrase: "One man's junk is his loss!"

- Michael