That's Entertainment

I digress from the theme of Estate and Garage sales for this post because my priority today is to book my kids birthday party.

As a work-at-home mom, I enjoy a little extra time while I am not commuting to a place of employment to do extra things. One of the things I do with my extra time (around 5 a.m. usually) these days is research entertainment for events that I am planning to have in the future.

In the past I have done my kids' parties at my local community center and the Little Gym (which I highly recommend as well). This year, however, I am doing a joint birthday party for my son and daughter because: A) their birthdays are only nine days apart; b) they are getting older; C) I can’t handle planning two birthday parties, especially around holiday time.

This year, their party will be held at DoodleBugz, a gift store and children's party center in Madison, NJ. The store and its attached party studio are located at 55 Main St. DoodleBugz offers several party themes to choose from and this year we are going with superheroes. DoodleBugz recommends bagels served when the party begins in the morning (I booked 10:30 am) or pizza served at the end. You provide any food, drink and paper goods. During the party, parents can take comfort in a parent lounge located at the front of the store featuring a flat screen TV and couches and chairs.

According to the party center, the Super Super Hero Convention theme which I chose has the kids decorate their own original power cape and super hero eye mask. They are given super hero (or villain!) names upon arrival and they will watch a mini laser light show with superhero music. The capes are decorated by the kids with felt stickers of different shapes, letters and numbers. The kids also get their face painted by the resident artist and play a kryptonite game with glowsticks directed by DoddlBugz professional party staff.

They get to take home their personalized (with initials) decorated cape, eye mask, and glow stick and the 90 minutes ends with a super hero parade. Now that’s what I call a party!

Another great sale and a fantastic view!

This morning I was on my way to a garage sale in Stirling, NJ when I happened upon and Estate Sale sign. I didn't know about this one, so I was curious and I followed the crowd.

Well, what I found was one interesting sale that I am actually going back to again tomorrow and bringing my husband. Check out the ad here. They were selling many different items from antiques and furniture to handmade quilts and records.

The location of the estate sale was beautiful as well. It was on a horse farm near a tranquil lake. Can't get better than that!

A garage sale you can learn from!

I had the pleasure of stopping by at a garage sale in Maplewood, NJ today that was a great example of what people should do when having a garage sale.
This particular sale was listed in my e-mail blast which I send out on Thursday evenings. The sale is located at 3 Oakland Terrace and will be tomorrow and Sunday starting at 9 am. For those of you who are around in the area this weekend, be sure to stop by! There is definitely something for everyone.

The reason I thought it was a great garage sale was because it was well organized and the prices were fair. The items being sold were either in their original boxes or in ziploc bags. There were toys and halloween costumes in one area, tools in another and housewares in another. Furniture was displayed in all areas and that made shopping more interesting. The items actually being sold in the garage was nicley set up as well.

I picked up a great wood and fabric folding chair while I was looking for toys, which they had an abundance of!

When you go out exploring and shopping garage sales, always try to notice the way people set things up and the prices they charge for items. Try to notice what their customers are buying too-these tips can help you with your own sale one day!

My opinion only

I went to a few estate and garage sales this past weekend, but one that really stood out pretty much shocked me for what they were selling. Now, I have seen many companies sell the entire contents of a house, right down to the window treatments.

This particular sale featured "famous maker bags and boxes. Tiffany, Gucci, Hermes, L.V.", the ad said. I assumes that I was going to see many beautiful handbags from these luxury designers. What I saw was the PAPER shopping bags being sold. Truthfully, this particular estate company did show the famous-maker shopping bags in the photos advertising the sale, I just thought there were prodcuts in those bags. Silly me.

I just couldn't believe that this estate company actually advised the client to sell the shopping bags. In fact, I asked the estate sale person in charge about selling the bags and she said people buy them if they actally have one of the real bags or even for window dressing for stores. She said the bags go for a lot more on the Internet and if you go into a store, "they sure don't give them away".

I know it's the estate company's responsibility to make the client as much money as possible, but selling paper shopping bags just didn't sit well with me.

Neither did it go over well with the store managers of these companies which I interviewed. I spoke to representatives from Louis Vuitton and Tiffany and they were very disturbed that profit may have been made on items that really should not be sold. Clients are given those shopping bags when they purchase a store item. It's that simple. Estate companies should not be selling Louis Vuitton paper shopping bags for $12.00.

Just so I didn't think I was overreacting, I asked another estate sales company owner her opinion. I actually had to explain myself a few times because she couldn't fathom selling the paper shopping bags. She said all paper shopping bags, regardless of who they are made by, are given to shoppers when they make a purchase at the sale. She added that if there are luxury brand shopping bags, these are the ones people choose first. However, they are given them to take their purchase home in.

That is how it should be.

A nice staff equals a nice experience

Since I have been visiting and shopping estate sales for several months now, I am learning a great deal about the estate sale business and who I can freely ask questions to.

One such person is April, from April's Estate Sales. I visited two of her estate sales this weekend, and she and her staff could not have been nicer to me. And it wasn't just to me-I stayed around to observe and they were pleasant and professional to everyone.

They are also knowledgeable and patient. A lot of people ask questions about items and some people want the items at such a deep discount that it's insane. I'm all for bargaining, but don't ask for a big discount on the first day of the sale; it just won't happen-and shouldn't. The people who hire estate sale companies expect them to get the best price for their belongings and that is what they should do. Truth be told, prices do go down on the last day of the sale, but rarely the first, let alone the first hour!

April and her staff are very organized and know their stuff. She has quite a few estate sales every weekend and makes sure every one is run professionally. If you or someone you know needs April's services, they provide on site free appraisals for every sale they book. They also will set up a free in home consultation to discuss your options and recommend what is best for your situation. They have porters or staff available to help you with you larger purchases. A month or so ago, I bought a table fro one of April's sales and Ritchie was kind enough to help me get it into my car-and it wasn't an easy job. Ritchie was courteous and very helpful on that day and all the other days I've seen him at the sales. I missed you today, Ritchie!

You can view April's upcoming sales here.

Beach town antiques

My family and I visited Ocean City, MD for the first time last week. I love the beach and it was so nice to be staying there.

On our way back after a day of sightseeing, we stopped off in the small town of Berlin, MD. It is really a charming town, full of antique shops, art galleries, and boutiques. There are even horse drawn carriage rides and live outdoor music on Friday nights. In fact, Berlin is so charming that two feature length movies were filmed here - Tuck Everlasting and Runaway Bride.

I visited Town Center Antiques, which is a large shop with many different vendors selling eveything you can think of. A few blocks away, was Toy Town Antiques. Toy Town sells vintage toys and it is great! They have a lot of trains and trucks, but they do have a room full of Barbie Dolls too. They also have vintage gumball machines and advertising signs.

I'm just sorry I wasn't in Berlin for their Annual sidewalk sale and the The Famous Berlin Bathtub Races that takes place during Berlin 2nd Friday Art Stroll in July. Maybe next year!

Back from the beach

I am sorry that I have not blogged in what seems like quite a long time, but I am now back from a family vacation in Ocean City, MD.

I will blog about this great little town I visited called Berlin, MD which was full of antique shops, but I wanted to start my first day back blogging about an estate sale I visited today.

I had the pleasure of going to a Red Star estate sale run by Mary Ann and Lily. They were both very friendly and knowledgable-and were very fair in thier pricing. Not only were they very professional, but they also were patient and answered the many questions I had. They were both attentive to all the buyers that were there and you could see they enjoy what they are doing.

I never really know what I will find when I visit estate sales, but I was very lucky today. I found a vintage New Yorker poster. A View of the World from Ninth Avenue, was The New Yorker cover of March 29, 1976. We had it in our home growing up and it brought back a lot of memories. It's now hanging in my kitchen.

It was my first visit to a Red Star estate sale and I will be back for others. In fact, they are holding another estate sale next week, in Morristown NJ. You can contact Red Star at redstarsales@optonline.net