Above and Beyond

So Thursday night I was perusing through some estate sale listings and came across these photos of a big antique oak farm table.

It was love at first sight. That's exactly what I want for my dining room. I decided right then and there I'd have to check this sale out. Turns out it was a three day sale run by Above and Beyond Estate Sales. I wanted a chance at that table, so bright and early Friday morning I headed out with my mother-in-law and my youngest for a little treasure hunting.

There were cars lining the street as we neared the house. Uh oh. We ended up being #55 and #56 in line but they were already calling in those with numbers in the 30s. The line moved fairly quickly but almost everyone on their way out was empty handed and complaining about how outrageous the prices were. I got the feeling that the table wasn't exactly going to be a good deal if it was still available.  Then I heard a woman in front of me asking the woman working at the door - "Do you know if the farm table is sold yet?" ( I got nervous.) "No, I don't think so." (Phew. But she was still ahead of me in line.) "How much is it?" (Hold my breath.) "Oh, I'm not sure but its up there. I want to say around $800 but I'm not sure."

YUH??! That's insanity. This is an estate sale, not an antique shop. I get it, its the first day. But come on now. Clearly all the shoppers were irritated at the prices that were way above and beyond what is typically expected at estate sales. Explains the company name.

Well, we'd come that far so we still had to check it out. It would be interesting if nothing else. And it was. Turns out the table was actually $650. Not exactly in my budget!

Here are some pics from the online listing of some other items that would have tempted me if the prices were not ridiculous. Like these $20 silhouettes. Just one or two more for my girls shared room would be fun.

But I picked up my last estate sale silhouettes for $5. Not $20. And the other day I grabbed a couple of these adorable plates at Salvation Army for $0.99 each. Not $20.

I saw a woman walking out of the sale with this old wooden toolbox.

I'm curious what she paid. Probably more than the $5 I paid for my last one.

These wicker rockers were beautiful. Would love them on my front porch but I didn't even look at the price.

In the end we did walk out empty handed. Which is fine. It was worth a shot and always fun to poke around. But I'm not just any old treasure hunter. I'm a bargain hunter. Above and beyond are the types of treasures I expect to find at estate sales, not the prices.