Let's tell SCARY(but true) junking stories....

[latenightcoffee]

Have a "junking" story that is suspenseful? Creepy? Or just plain scary? Break 'em out!
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Here's mine:
This happened in the fall of 2010.

It has all the ingredients of a good tale: adventure, a villain, obstacles…and  a great ending.

It all starts on a Sunday afternoon on Craigslist…where most good stories begin. I had been listing most of the morning and needed a break, so I perused the Craigslist garage sale section to see if there were any last day estate sales. An ad caught my attention. It advertised a house packed full from a hoarder and that they needed to get everything out.

Seeing this…I jumped into the nearest telephone booth, sprung out with my “junkin’ cape”, and flew across town in my Jeep Liberty.  After a little trouble locating the house, I managed to find it in a pretty rundown neighborhood. No one was parked in front. I listened to see if I could hear the “chachacha” sound from those Halloween movies.. not hearing any… I decided to venture in.

There was a young 20ish woman out on the carport with some stuff on a makeshift table.  I decided to pick up something to get a feel of what the pricing was going to be. Her first part of her answer was what every junker wants to hear:

“Oh that…how ’bout a dollar? Or whatever. The whole house is packed. My aunt was a hoarder and so was her 90 year old mother. You can go through the whole house….”

The second part of her answer made me pause for a moment and  get on my thinking cap.

“….course we haven’t gone through everything…so there might be some stuff you find that I can’t sell.”

Now…some people would be turned off by that. Why? Well…there are those that want to have everything they find. Me? I’m willing to take the risk. Sure..I might have to put some stuff back…but they ARE trying to sell stuff….some stuff HAS to pass through the sieve and into my arms.

“Hey..thanks!” I said and trudged in. Oh….my….gawd. It was exactly what you see in the tv shows. Wall to wall boxes of stuff. I quickly did a mental check of when my last tetanus shot was and gingerly walked around. As I carefully looked into some of the boxes, I soon found out this was going to be ONE awesome time.  This lady didn’t hoard gross stuff…she just hoarded stuff….fun stuff…stuff that makes you go “Wow…that’s cool she kept this!” This was a house that junker’s dreams are made of.

I’m not going to lie. It wasn’t for the faint of heart. And as some of you know from my past posts, I am a certified germaphobe. But…I have been blessed with the power to “numb” that side of me should the situation need it. The situation definitely needed it.  It was pretty gross in there. A house shut up with stuff for a long time in the Florida heat can manifest some interesting critters. Luckily, the woman said they had “bombed” the place so everything should be dead. So…I was looking at more of a lung problem than a rabies problem.

I was looking around in one of the rooms and starting to fill a small box with some fun stuff…..when I heard THE voice.  This is where the villain comes in.

It seems the boyfriend of the woman had just come back from…oh I don’t know….watching a marathon of “Locked Up” and eating Velveeta sandwiches. His loud know-it-all voice, his shirtless ,flabby body, and his general obnoxious attitude let me know I had another obstacle to face. It appeared the woman had given this dude “the power of scanning” the picked items for good stuff….’cause I guess he was all smart and stuff.

Him:”Uh yeah…hey. I don’t know if the girl told you but we  have to look at everything here before it sells.”

Me: “Yeah..she told me…no problem.”

Him:”Yeah…there’s some cool stuff here. Oh wow…look at this Avon bottle. I think thats an eagle….stuff like this.”

Me: “No problem. I’ll bring out my stuff and you can look at it”

He reminded me of Matt Dillon in all the movies that he played the mean boyfriend that you just wanted to punch.

So, I brought out my first load. I had to take a breather. It was over 90 degrees yesterday…and in an UN-air conditioned house…that’s fierce.

He went through it…piece by piece. Sadly…he was just smart enough to be dangerous. He did pull some things out..nothing horrible….and I paid $20.00 for the first load. And went back in…again..I’m the only one there.

There was just so much stuff. I hadn’t brought a lot of money, so I decided on my next strategy. I picked up a large sturdy shirt box FILLED with ephemera (see this post for that definition).  I scanned the box and knew there was some really great stuff in it….but would it pass the “Matt Dillon” test? I would take the chance.

He started scanning the box..piece…by….piece.  He only took breaks to fight with the girlfriend. My eyes maintained a steady gaze onto said box. He got down to the bottom of the box and there was a section carefully wrapped in tissue paper. I hadn’t noticed it when I picked up the box. He pulled it out. I tried to hold in my gasp. Inside were original 1920′s and 1930′s pictures of movie stars….some signed.

Matt Dillon: “Wow…look at these. Yeah…I’m not going to be able to sell these. Hey…is this that lady from “I Love Lucy? “

I’m not kidding…he said that.

I paid $20.00 for the remaining things in the box, which I knew were going to be WONDERFUL to look through, and left. It appeared that they needed to leave….the Velveeta was calling.

I got back home and went through the box. I gasped again. Inside the box was 4 Hopalong Cassidy bread label albums with over 20 bread labels. Over a hundred vintage cards, 1939 World’s Fair tickets and stickers, vintage menus, an old unused advent calender, tons of vintage restaurant advertising cards, a Nixon flag, booklets, pamphlets, and brochures from all kinds of places that are probably gone, postcards….just a ton of cool stuff. (The pictures don’t do the stuff justice)….Plus I still hadn’t unpacked the 3 yearbooks, the Bucilla ornaments kit, vintage Strawberry Shortcake stuff, vintage t-shirts, and ton of other “smalls” that were still in my car.

Rebecca
www.latenightmarket.com
www.latenightcoffee.wordpress.com

[Big Daddy Audio]

I hate dealing with sellers who are unprepared (items not priced, unsure if they want to sell or not).  

I hate dealing with sellers who are super-sleazy (Everything has to be "approved" by us in order to be sold), so essentially, YOU are going through THEIR stuff (obviously you'll pick out the good stuff to buy), at which point THEY will decide whether to keep it or deign to sell it to you.  They can't be bothered to sort it or go through it, but if something catches their eye, they won't sell it.

No stories of my own, though.  It's just not that dirty or sleazy out here.  Prices are often off-the-charts high, in which case I just bail.

- Paul in AZ
 

[FleaQueen]

That first story reminds me of an experience I had that angers me to this day.  

I got a call from a lady who was disposing some of her aunt's stuff.  Lady was in Harleysville, I'm in Philly -- it's at least a 90 minute drive.  

She asks if there's a charge to come out.  (A charge to come out and buy your aunt's stuff?  No.)  

I get there and the lady is very sweet, but her husband is a lot like the Velveeta boyfriend.  His has all the intelligence of a head of lettuce, plus you can tell he's the type that angers easily.  A taller version of the Joe Pesce character in Goodfellas.

I go through each and every item (more than 50) and tell them what I'll pay.

At the end, they say "Thanks, we'll think about it."

I got zilch for what I didn't realize was going to be a free appraisal.  And I sincerely hope that the shed they stored it all in was hit by lightning and all of its contents turned into ash.

www.fullservicebohemian.blogspot.com

[Big Daddy Audio]

Look at it this way - they'll likely sell for what you said you'd pay.  They're not gonna get top dollar.

They did B-S you, and for that you should be rightfully steamed.  There should have been a red flag when they asked if there was going to be a charge for you to come out.  If you responded that you were coming out to buy their stuff and they still let you come, then they were purposefully deceitful.

FWIW

[valleythriftshopper]

I posted a thread here a few years ago about the scariest junking experience I ever had, here it is

http://www.thethriftshopper.com/forums/shopper/10/ahhh!-trapped-at-a-tag-sale!/msg10325/#msg10325

I got locked into a condemned building where an estate sale was taking place because the lady though everyone was gone.  I still drive by that building all the time I will try to post a pic, it is spooky, it would make a great haunted house!  

[FleaQueen]

I posted a thread here a few years ago about the scariest junking experience I ever had, here it is

http://www.thethriftshopper.com/forums/shopper/10/ahhh!-trapped-at-a-tag-sale!/msg10325/#msg10325

I got locked into a condemned building where an estate sale was taking place because the lady though everyone was gone.  I still drive by that building all the time I will try to post a pic, it is spooky, it would make a great haunted house!  

That IS scary!!!!!!!!!

www.fullservicebohemian.blogspot.com

[valleythriftshopper]

I took a picture of that building when I was driving by today, it is actually worse looking from the front, haha.  It is probably still full of great relics, there was plenty left when I broke free the last time, the lady never had anymore sales because the building was condemned and she was told not to let people in there anymore.  

[FleaQueen]

I forgot about this one, but now that I remember I SO wish I'd taken a camera along.

EONS ago I put an ad in the local paper, 'I buy this and this and this...'

I got a number of calls from seniors living in apartments in downtown Philly, including this one elderly lady who had a very large apartment that looked like it had been picked up and moved from Paris circa 1935.  Sort of a European vibe, and oodles of old stuff, tastefully placed here and there.

There were also two other old things there: two bald men about 70 years old, both sitting in straight-back chairs (like side chairs), staring into space.  Both were immaculately clean, and didn't look anything like your average oldster in decline.  Except for the staring into space part.

If I hadn't known better, I'd have assumed it was a set from Twin Peaks.  

She showed me what she had to sell -- most of what I was going for at the time was paper ephemera and photos -- all of it was nice, and we struck an amicable deal.

Oddly at no time did she refer to the men as even being there.  It was as if they were part of the furniture.

She called me back a few months later, having found more stuff in my line.  I went back and this time only one of the men was there.  But still in his seat, still staring.

www.fullservicebohemian.blogspot.com

[Big Daddy Audio]

If I hadn't known better, I'd have assumed it was a set from Twin Peaks.  

www.fullservicebohemian.blogspot.com

It WAS the set from Twin Peaks.

"That is some damn fine coffee." - Special Agent Dale Cooper