Originally Posted by
Time Zone
Well, it was an enjoyable day, though unspoiled by sales success. REI gave out t-shirts to participants and had live acoustic music and a couple food trucks that provided complimentary BBQ (with slaw & chips), soda, cider, and ice cream. It was around 50F and cloudy, and I was glad to have bundled up heavily, since sitting in that weather for 3 hours is quite chilling.
I didn't walk around a lot to other seller's tables, but I did pick up little hints of what was selling and how. To my left, someone was selling a lot of well-used cycling gear for uber-cheap, about $5 an item, reduced to $1 near the end ... "everything must go", she said, as she was de-cluttering her 832 sq ft house. A couple tables to my right, there was a fellow selling a number of impressively lofted sleeping bags, though upon closer look, they were definitely discolored, esp. at the head end. I cannot see wanting to buy those, but don't know what his pricing was like (I'm not sure he sold any of them). Mine are in excellent condition, so I wasn't as concerned about setting up near him.
One buyer came by, expressed slight regret that she had already bought a 0 bag before getting to my table, but explained that she got a Marmot 0F bag for $50. "I didn't even take it out of the storage sack to inspect it," she said somewhat sheepishly, as she eyed my minty 0F mummy. To my immediate right, there was a Go-lite 20F long bag with 800 FP going for $200; it never sold. [wow, was it light!] Mine was merely 600 FP but priced at $80; the 0F bag priced at $100. Comparable new bags would be the Kelty Cosmic Down, which after-tax here would run $185 and $240, respectively.
So these few data points led me to think that what sold at this event were well-worn items sold dirt cheap, a step above throwing away. I'd say that Marmot bag was 80% off new, but I don't know the condition (and neither did the buyer! ha ha). It could have been minty too, for all I know, and if so, she got a great deal. It's kind of interesting how she apparently was so drawn to the price she bought without checking the condition.
My items have some "reserve" value for me, so I wasn't too vexed that they didn't sell - as a person who occasionally drives up to OH and MI in the winter, it's not a bad idea to have a down bag in the car if you get caught in an adverse weather event.
Bottom line, it didn't seem to be an event where you could get much for anything that didn't still have the tags on it. It was more useful for those looking for a landfill alternative at almost any price. As I said, it was still fun - for $20 split with a friend (who did sell a couple small items), we got some good food and drink, music, and t-shirts. And we learned a bit about the market for stuff at events like this.