Campbell-Neumann

I have been going to Campbell-​Neumann sales for years and I have found some amazing deals there. You know those legal bookcases with glass doors? I got two stacks of them for like $ 200. I got an awesome vintage suitcase for $ 3. I think the prices here are high, but here is my justification: I work on Friday and Saturday during the day, which is when most estate sales take place. It seems like nowadays estate sales next-​to-​never extend through Sunday. So if I want to get my fix, C-N’s evening and Sunday hours are where it’s at.
Early in the day, the sale kind of has that auction excitement, with people running around frantically trying to get sold tags. It’s a chaotic environment, and especially if it’s hot and crowded it can provoke fits of claustrophobia in almost anyone. There is a more sedate crowd later in the day, so wait it out if you don’t like being jostled. The mailing list system is only $ 3/​year, and I think this year they continued mine for free. If you don’t want to be on the list you can call them to find out when the next sale is.

Campbell-​Neumann is a company that buys local estates and then has a huge sale in their space on Guadalupe roughly once a month. It is always swarmed and there is always a TON of interesting stuff to check out.
My only beef with them is that I’m a regular yard saler, so their prices seem really high to me for used stuff. Also, they make you pay to get on their mailing list, and they have this bizarre system where the payment is good until the end of the calendar year no matter when you make it — so if you pay in, say, November, you get notification of one sale — but if you pay in January, you get notification of 12 sales.
One thing to note is that they have a policy of discounting everything as the sale goes on — so on Sunday, everything is ½ off, and on Monday night, everything is 75% off. If there is something you really want, though, get there early, as the beginning of each new discount day is some kind of crazed madhouse. People RUN in and put their hands on the things they scoped out from the day before as if their life depended on their being able to purchase that item. I’ve heard of mob scenes like this in New York at designer sample sales, and this type of behavior is always attributed to crazed women on a shopping mission. After witnessing several Campbell-​Neumann sales, let me just assure you that middle-​aged men are just as capable of acting this way as women. It’s not pretty.
However, if you’re needing an estate sale fix and it’s raining or something, then Campbell-​Neumann is a fine place to satisfy your shopping needs.