A couple years ago when I used to shop until I dropped, two of my favorite stores were Marshalls and T.J. Maxx. They both sold quality merchandise at a price that was kind to my budget.
I loved those stores. I couldn’t pass a Marshalls without turning my car into the parking lot, prowling the aisles and buying something. It was an addiction.
I overcame that addiction and now I gladly drive past the store – unless I really need something. At auction recently, I spotted some items that felt familiarly Marshalls to me: They appeared to be straight out of the store’s Home Goods department.
The items had that mass-manufactured look, still gleaming and clean. There were a momma cat and two kittens in polished and painted wood, stylish glass bowls, lacquered covered boxes and other merchandise.
It looked as if someone had gone shopping much too often and bought more than they could use.
I’ve come across similar items like this before, but not this much. Maybe a piece on a table here and two pieces on a table there. Sometimes, the price tags were still on the items. In many instances, bidders paid more than what the stuff sold for in the actual stores.
I was at a new auction house recently where a large modern vase straight out of the Marshalls Home Goods store sold for more than the store price. Several of us other auction-goers were astounded and remarked among ourselves the foolish of it. That’s what happens when two people get into a tit-for-tat bidding war, and no one will back down.
The person who actually got the vase was the one who lost.
As for the items at the latest auction, I shouldn’t be too hasty to judge. I still have stuff in my house that I bought from both Marshalls and T.J. Maxx that I have no use for. Like those six woven straw baskets that will soon find their way to a flea market. Or all those touristy and inauthentic African masks that are hanging on my walls.
At another auction last year, the results of someone else’s overspending on modern stuff was piled on table after table. They were Asian-themed items– Japanese pottery and tea sets and just about anything else you could imagine. Many still had the cardboard boxes they came in and apparently had never been used. The owner appeared to be a binge buyer who didn’t know how or when to stop.
These modern items illustrate the eclectic nature of auctions. They’re not all antiques and collectibles. Several tables set up under a shelter just outside the auction house had scores of pots and pans, dishes and linen from someone’s house. Sometimes, you can even find opened containers of household products that people don’t bother to throw away. Apparently, it’s all useful to somebody because it does get sold at auction – even if for only a few bucks.
I wasn’t around when the Marshalls-style items were sold, but I’m sure there was a lot of interest. People will buy anything at auction – and sometimes pay too much.
