Winsome Wisdom – One Man’s Trash, by Steve Chappell

As we approach the advent of summer, the late spring weather makes for a pleasant transition. Plenty of sunshine blended in with a little rain and cooler than normal temperatures are a welcome presence. Good for my newly planted lawn. Pleasant weather is also accompanied by the perennial outdoor activities, other than yard maintenance: softball, soccer, picnics, boating, camping, and that uniquely rural American past time called... the garage/yard sale!

 

Stories abound of treasures uncovered as a result of the "one-man’s-trash..." phenomenon. One such tale involves an insurance rep from Indiana who stopped at a yard sale on his way home from work. He bought a couple items of furniture and a painting he thought would be perfect for the dining room. The furniture went into the living room. The painting was positioned to cover a hole in the wall.

 

A few years later, while participating in a board game called Masterpiece, our friend from Indiana observed that one of the game cards featured a painting much like the one he had bought at the yard sale. Upon further research, he discovered that the painting was an original by Martin Johnson Heade, a classical American still-life artist. He sold the painting to a museum for $1.2 million.

 

Obviously, such windfall experiences are a rarity. More common are the unfortunate experiences brought on by poor purchase decisions. To that end, your E-Buzz staff is passing along to you, our valued readers, a Reader’s Digest article offering advice to would-be bargain hunters. The article is entitled 21 Things You Should Never Buy at Garage Sales, and includes such forbidden fruits as the following: Bicycle or Motorcycle Helmets, Child Car Seats, Cribs, Shoes, Swim Suits, Hats, and more.

If you’d like more information on how maximize value and minimize calamity when shopping for others’ discards, check out the following link: Reader’s Digest: 21 Things You Should Never Buy at Garage Sales.

 

Have a fantastic June, an here’s to your yard sale success! May you find a lost copy of the Declaration of Independence behind that unknown artist’s print you bought for a dollar! But remember.... as the Romans often said as they perused their forum looking for bargains, Caveat emptor! That copy of the Declaration of Independence may not be what you hope it is.