Is this in poor taste?

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My recently divorced friend is having a moving sale and invited her friends to come. Would it be in poor taste to come and buy some of her things? Or should I just come and bring snacks/drinks and help her sell her things?

I am interested in some things she’s selling, though, but I don’t want to be insensitive even though she invited me.

What are your thoughts?

Peace.

+JMJ+
 
Why would this be insensitive? I am sure your friend would be grateful to have at least one guaranteed customer!
 
She’s selling things…which means she wants people to buy them…and she invited you, which presumably means she wants you to consider buying.

You are right to think you should be somewhat restrained in your approach. But other than seemingly like you are keen to pounce on her misfortune, I’m sure buying a few items would not be in bad taste. Just don’t haggle. Apart from that, let her know what you like and be prepared to pay a fair price for it.

And take some snacks/drinks. That’s a nice thing to do.
 
underacloud said:
She’s selling things…which means she wants people to buy them…and she invited you, which presumably means she wants you to consider buying.

You are right to think you should be somewhat restrained in your approach. But other than seemingly like you are keen to pounce on her misfortune, I’m sure buying a few items would not be in bad taste. Just don’t haggle. Apart from that, let her know what you like and be prepared to pay a fair price for it.

And take some snacks/drinks. That’s a nice thing to do.
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👍

This is a good way to help her out. She will probably see your buying a few items as supportive of her in her time of need. But yeah, don’t go overboard and don’t haggle. 😉
 
You could ask, “Would it be ok if I bought something?”

She might feel odd accepting your money though. I’d rather give a friend something (be it a blouse, or old appliance or nick-knack) than accept money for it.
 
jmj777 said:
My recently divorced friend is having a moving sale and invited her friends to come. Would it be in poor taste to come and buy some of her things? Or should I just come and bring snacks/drinks and help her sell her things?

I am interested in some things she’s selling, though, but I don’t want to be insensitive even though she invited me.

What are your thoughts?

Peace.

+JMJ+
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I’m wondering why you think it’s in poor taste? :confused: She told you about the sale hoping you would buy something. Snacks? At a rummage sale?
That, to me, is odd.
 
pianistclare said:
I’m wondering why you think it’s in poor taste? :confused: She told you about the sale hoping you would buy something. Snacks? At a rummage sale?
That, to me, is odd.
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I understood it differently. I thought the friend invited her to come and help.

Either way, if the OP is not sure, she could ask the friend,
 
Mary_Gail_36 said:
I understood it differently. I thought the friend invited her to come and help.

Either way, if the OP is not sure, she could ask the friend,
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Maybe so, but I’ve never invited my friends thinking they were going to help me sell. That’s like asking someone to drive you to the airport at 2 AM on their day off. 😃
I’ve told them in case they want to tell others about it.

We’ll see what the OP says…🍿
 
It’s really not any different from your friend having a yard or garage sale, or are they not common in your area? People have them all over the place here. Maybe it’s the “recently divorced” part that’s causing concern? In any case, there’s nothing distasteful about someone selling their belongings, whether they no longer want or need them, or because they need the money. In fact it’s economical because she doesn’t have to move unnecessary items, she’ll earn extra money, and someone will benefit from finding a real bargain.
 
Mary_Gail_36 said:
You could ask, “Would it be ok if I bought something?”

She might feel odd accepting your money though. I’d rather give a friend something (be it a blouse, or old appliance or nick-knack) than accept money for it.
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I’d insist on paying her for whatever she offered, but I would say, “You have some things that I’ve certainly admired and might otherwise want to buy if anyone else were selling, but I have one worry. You’re presumably selling them because you want them out of your life. I don’t want you coming to my house and feeling less comfortable because this stuff you wanted to forget is there. After all, it isn’t as if I don’t have enough stuff. I could stand to have a garage sale myself. What do you think?”

Maybe she’s say, “If you can use it, frankly, I’d say go for it. If it is out here for sale to my friends, I don’t care if I do or don’t see it again. I just want to down-size and get the money.” Or she might say, “Well, yeah, there are things that don’t have the greatest memory for me. Still, you can buy whatever you want.” In the latter case, don’t buy. In the former case, go ahead.
 
jmj777 said:
My recently divorced friend is having a moving sale and invited her friends to come. Would it be in poor taste to come and buy some of her things? Or should I just come and bring snacks/drinks and help her sell her things?

I am interested in some things she’s selling, though, but I don’t want to be insensitive even though she invited me.

What are your thoughts?

Peace.

+JMJ+
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Go! Bring snacks and buy stuff.
 
Hello everyone,

OP here – I went to her moving sale this morning and brought donuts and drinks. I bought some things that I insisted on paying for (as she wanted to just give them to me) and she asked me if I could stay and help a little. I stayed for 2 hours helping to price things and with customers. At the end, she was so thankful that I came and supported her (I was one of 3 friends who came so far as the sale runs tomorrow). She really loved the donuts, too!

I was just worried initially because her invite was to “come” without reference to buying or helping to sell her things. The whole “divorce” thing was the main problem as I didn’t want to seem to be benefitting from her divorce if I bought anything; yet I also didn’t want to go and just “help sell things” if she was also looking to make a little profit. All in all, it was a success! Thanks everyone.

Peace.

+JMJ+
 
jmj777 said:
Hello everyone,

OP here – I went to her moving sale this morning and brought donuts and drinks. I bought some things that I insisted on paying for (as she wanted to just give them to me) and she asked me if I could stay and help a little. I stayed for 2 hours helping to price things and with customers. At the end, she was so thankful that I came and supported her (I was one of 3 friends who came so far as the sale runs tomorrow). She really loved the donuts, too!

I was just worried initially because her invite was to “come” without reference to buying or helping to sell her things. The whole “divorce” thing was the main problem as I didn’t want to seem to be benefitting from her divorce if I bought anything; yet I also didn’t want to go and just “help sell things” if she was also looking to make a little profit. All in all, it was a success! Thanks everyone.

Peace.

+JMJ+
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Sounds like it all worked out well. Thank God 🙂
 
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