White Elephant Hunt

My thrifting buddy Mary and I, plus my boyfriend Wayne, went to the Preview Sale of the Oakland Museum's huge White Elephant Sale a week or so ago. Last year we had gone to the actual sale, a free 2-day event held in a huge warehouse off Fruitvale Ave. here in Oakland. There was so much great stuff at such fabulous prices (I bought a beautiful wicker table for my guest room - $25!) that we resolved to go again this year. True - it was packed with hundreds of people and the line to get in was massive - the only serious drawback.

This year we decided to go to the Preview Sale and pay the advance charge of $15 each because we'd get to see everything first. Surely there would be fewer people since everyone had to pay. Not a chance! When we drove up, comfortably on-time for the opening at 10 a.m., it was obvious our optimism was unfounded. The line stretched from the warehouse door, 4 or 5 shoppers deep, down two city blocks, around a corner, down four more city blocks and out onto Fruitvale Ave, the main road going into the area. Someone said it had been like that since 6 a.m. Yikes.

We let Mary off at the door, since she has some trouble walking long distances, and went to park the car. Just up the street, neighbors had opened a little lot for $10 parking fee (which benefited local artists), so we did that and went to get in the Incredible Line, which had diminished somewhat since they had opened the doors. Soon we were all inside, separated and each of us looking for treasure.

Man, it was a crowd of people, and now there was an air of urgency about the shopping that we hadn't felt last year. Probably it was because the professionals came to the Preview Sale to get the really good stuff first - just like us, except we're not professionals. Long story short, we lasted an hour and didn't buy much because each purchase involved 45 minutes in line to pay for it. And there were just too many people.

Lesson learned: Go to the regular sale March 2nd and 3rd, which is free and not so hectic. Besides the weather is warmer and the warehouse isn't freezing cold! Enjoy ourselves and still find good stuff.

Second lesson learned, because we got new information from a savvy woman in the entrance line: Donate to the sale. People who donate at least $50 worth of goods on certain days of the week get a free Donors Pass to shop that day between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. We're going next week to both donate and shop. I've had a very productive couple of weeks cleaning out bookcases and closets with good stuff to donate. Yay!! Thank you, Savvy Woman!!

Special Bonus: The good neighbors where we parked our car (we'd do that again, it was so convenient) turned us on to a very cool local coffee shop, Kefa Coffee just up the street on 29th Avenue, where we satisfied our after-sale hunger with delicious fresh-made ham-and-egg sandwiches and even more delicious Ethiopian coffee. Hunting white elephants had left us famished!