I’m a big fan of the guy who writes the GrassRoots Modern blog. One thing he does really well is find great sales on retail merchandise or great modern pieces at a garage sale or on Craig’s list. I’m always thinking “how does this guy do this? Does Salt Lake City really have that many people throwing out mid-century modern pieces?” The jealousy subsided last week when I perused thru a nearby garage sale (something I never do) and saw these 2 chairs.
Of course they’re a little beat up, need reupholstered and some love, but I like the lines and the price. Well, maybe not the price initially. The guy was asking $10 for the pair in the morning and refused to come down. So then i sent my neighbor down 2 hrs later to give him $5 for the pair, but he came back empty
handed. Then I went again 2hrs later and offered $7.50 for the pair, but at this point the guy had dug in his heels and would rather die than sell the chairs for $10. And of course at this point, I’d rather die than buy the chairs for $10. But even at $10, they were a pretty good deal. So what did I do in this conundrum?? I sent the wife to buy the chairs for $10 (first she tried for less, but he didn’t budge). Everyone was happy in the end: I didn’t personally buy the chairs for $10 and he got what he wanted. The wife is the only person who thinks they lost out cause she had to haul them back to the place since I refused to let the guy know it was me buying them.
next step is to fix a piece of wood and have them reupholstered. Wonder if I’ll ever have this luck again; like the guy at GrassRoots Modern does every other week.
Creede said,
June 20, 2008 @ 3:41 am
Have patience young Jedi, you too can become a master of the bargain furniture shopping.
It looks like you did great! $10 is a steal for those chairs. Definitely GRM endorsed purchase. If you don’t already know about byebyelist.com check it out. Its a good way to sort through craigslist.
Any ideas for how you are going to reupholster?