History Main / WeSellEverything

--> '''Weird Al:''' Would you look at all that stuff ... They've got allen wrenches, gerbil feeders, toilet seats, electric heaters, trash compactors, juice extractors, shower rods and water meters, walkie-talkies, copper wires, safety goggles, radial tires, BB pellets, rubber mallets, fans and dehumidifiers, picture hangers, paper cutters, waffle irons, window shutters, paint removers, window louvres, masking tape and plastic gutters, kitchen faucets, folding tables, weather stripping, jumper cables, hooks and tackle, grout and spackle, power foggers, spoons and ladles, pesticides for fumigation, high-performance lubrication, metal roofing, water proofing, multi-purpose insulation, air compressors, brass connectors, wrecking chisels, smoke detectors, tire guages, hamster cages, thermostats and bug deflectors, trailer hitch demagnetizers, [[{{Squick}} automatic circumcisers]][[note]][[NightmareRetardant Those things that cut the ends off cigars]][[/note]], tennis rackets, angle brackets, Duracells and Energizers, soffit panels, circuit breakers, vacuum cleaners, coffee makers, calculators, generators, matching salt and pepper shakers!

It sells things you would never expect to see in the same store together--such as, say, [[Videogame/EarthBound baseball bats, frying pans, instant ramen, and cold remedies]]. The smaller the store, the more specialized you would expect it to be, so the more unlikely this seems--[[Characters/AnimalCrossing why is a tiny general store out in the middle of the sticks offering fine art?]]

* In ''VideoGame/EarthBound'', the drug stores somehow found themselves stocking a ''lot'' of non-pharmaceutical items, like baseball bats, frying pans, and broken equipment. Averted later on in the major cities, where there are large shopping malls which have individual shops with different specialties, of which drugstores with slightly more reasonable stock are a recurring component; obviously the malls still sell everything, but there's a reasonable reason for it this time.

* Also suburban "pharmacies" in the United States, which sell grocery staples, office supplies, cheap toys, and seasonal merchandise as well as prescription and OTC drugs, and grooming products. They're basically a modern-day version of general stores. This arguably makes the aforementioned ''Videogame/EarthBound'' example slightly more TruthInTelevision. Furthermore, pharmacies everywhere in the US all sell cigarettes, and usually sell alcohol (if the laws of the state allow it). CVS eventually stopped selling cigarettes when they asked themselves why, as a health-and-wellness store, did they sell something as toxic as cigarettes? They then replaced all the tobacco products with stop-smoking aids. This approach with drug stores in the United States is [[JustifiedTrope justified]] due to laws in some places prohibiting stores from being open on Sundays unless they sell essential items. The easiest such essential item to obtain and sell is medicine, and so these drug stores become one-stop shopping in these towns for people who need (or really want) to buy something on a Sunday. Inversely, major department stores like Target and Walmart installed pharmacies into their locations so they could remain open too.

[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/{{Tintin}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tintin_bargain_3.png]]]]

* In a ''{{Franchise/Tintin}}'' comic, the first appearance of merchant Oliveira da Figueira somewhere in the Middle East is announced by natives as "The white man who sells everything". He then proceeds to sell Tintin a random collection of objects, including for instance skis and a parrot.

* The campus vending machines in ''TabletopGame/{{GURPS IOU}}'' can distribute almost anything. And we do mean '''anything'''.

* In ''Videogame/EarthBound'', the drug stores somehow found themselves stocking a ''lot'' of non-pharmaceutical items, like baseball bats, frying pans, and broken equipment. Averted later on in the major cities, where there are large shopping malls which have individual shops with different specialties, of which drugstores with slightly more reasonable stock are a recurring component; obviously the malls still sell everything, but there's a reasonable reason for it this time.

** Another example of this trope being the same singer's "Website/EBay", which features examples of would-be strange purchases on the eponymous website. (See the RealLife section for the sort of thing he's sending up.)

* Website/EBay

** You cannot sell purely intangible things, such as your soul, but you can come awfully close-- you could, for instance, sell a ''certificate'' that turns over ownership of your soul to the buyer. One concrete example of coming pretty close-- [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Sold_My_Soul_on_eBay Hemant Mehta]] sold the right to determine where he would attend worship services; the book ended up titled "I Sold My Soul On Website/EBay" because of the spin media commentators put on it.

** While the sale of relics and other ancient artifacts are fine on Website/EBay assuming that all guidelines are met, the sale of Native American items and other cultural goods is verboten. And Catholics took umbrage on what is seen as rampant simony, or the sale of sacred things such as saintly relics, which is in violation of Canon Law. Besides being seen as illegal and sinful[[note]]Though exceptions to this are however [[JustifiedTrope allowed]], e.g. if the relic in question is being bought or sold to keep it from falling into the wrong hands like greedy treasure hunters[[/note]], many of them relics are derived from human remains, which cannot be sold on the site.

* ''VisualNovel/RagingLoop'': The convenience store outside of Yasumizu. As Haruaki keeps dying and looping back, he somehow always finds what he needs in the store for the next storyline, including field rations, army flashlights, rock-climbing equipment, long lengths of rope, or a bulletproof vest. [[spoiler:The shopkeeper is eventually revealed to be a supernatural being and is literally pulling all of it out of {{hammerspace}} whenever she goes into the back room to get it.]]

* Subverted in ''LightNovel/RebuildWorld''. Akira tries to purchase an information gathering device from Shizuka's store, but she tells him that it's outside of her expertise and to go elsewhere. Luckily for him, he doesn't have to since Elena sells him her old, unused one.

** Next is the campgrounds, which has tents that guests can pay to sleep in, along with a hot tub. (It also has an "Expedition Lodge" where the player can dig for treasure, but it seems like this is only for the player, not for the customers.

* ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' games are often particularly bad about this, since the store that sells EVERYTHING, up to and including voodoo-dolls, ancient coins and magical gems, is a pharmacy. And not a fantasy-ish pharmacy either, the modern-day kind where you'd go to get a refill for your aspirin. And, apparently, everything else you need for basic demon-hunting.

* Inverted in ''VideoGame/XCom'', where ''you'' are the one who sells everything, from weapons and ammunition to spacecraft and tanks to alien corpses.
** Hilariously lampshaded in a fan fiction piece that notes how an underwater base (Terror from The Deep) that had to deal with Lobstermen frequently ordered higher-than-average amounts of butter. Go figure...
* Subverted in ''Videogame/SamAndMax'' (first and second seasons, at least.) At Bosco's Inconvenience, Sam asks for everything a convenience store would never have, and some things a convenience store ''should'' have, but none of it is available. However, Bosco always has in stock one arcanely useless item necessary to solving a puzzle later in the game, for an improbable sum that Sam will acquire by solving another puzzle.
** But in the final episode of season one, Sam asks Bosco for items that would've resolved the problems in all previous episodes, and it turns out Bosco has all of them! If only they'd asked sooner...

* In the main ''Videogame/{{Pokemon}}'' games, the biggest city in each region (except [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Kalos]]) always has a department store. In RBY, one floor sold the usually-rare ''evolution stones''! Good thing you get an Eevee in Celadon...

* The ''ComicBook/ScottPilgrim'' comics feature a battle scene at Honest Ed's, a multi level discount store that takes up an entire city block in downtown Toronto.[[http://honesteds.sites.toronto.com/ It's a real place.]]

It might be a little drug store down by the corner. It might be an expansive, labyrinthine mega-mart so large it has its own zip code. However, when you walk in, you can be assured of one thing: It sells ''everything.'' Absolutely everything. (Except, if you happen to be a ButtMonkey, the one thing you're looking for.)

* The 80's Anglo-American sketch-comedy ''Series/AssaultedNuts'' did a bit set in a small dingy shop whose owner (played by Wayne Knight of later [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} fame) explicitly offered this service: supply absolutely anything you need, and if he doesn't have it, you can marry his wife. A customer tries to prove him wrong by asking for ever-more-outlandish things, which are all instantly produced. (One being a multilayer cake supported by plastic frogs topped with a model of the crown of Scotland.) The owner finally gets fed up, and asks if the customer actually ''wants'' something. The customer asks for a can of beans. The owner sighs, and his hideous wife appears, eating the beans.

* The 80's British sketch-comedy ''Series/AssaultedNuts'' did a bit set in a small dingy shop whose owner (played by [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} Wayne Knight]], of all people) explicitly offered this service: supply absolutely anything you need, and if he doesn't have it, you can marry his wife. A customer tries to prove him wrong by asking for ever-more-outlandish things, which are all instantly produced. (One being a multilayer cake supported by plastic frogs topped with a model of the crown of Scotland.) The owner finally gets fed up, and asks if the customer actually ''wants'' something. The customer asks for a can of beans. The owner sighs, and his hideous wife appears, eating the beans.

* ''Podcast/TrialsAndTrebuchets'' has [[MegaCorp Crowe Mercantile Corporation]], which seems to sell just about any kind of product one could ever want or need.

* In ''Videogame/EarthBound'', the drug stores somehow found themselves stocking a ''lot'' of non-pharmaceutical items, like baseball bats, frying pans, and broken equipment. Pretty much averted later on in the major cities, where there are large shopping malls which have individual shops with different specialties, of which drugstores with slightly more reasonable stock are a recurring component; obviously the malls still sell everything, but there's a reasonable reason for it this time.

* The merchant from ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil4'' will sell you just about anything, but to unlock the really cool stuff you've gotta replay the game. A rocket launcher with unlimited ammunition? Got it. A laser cannon that'll melt the BigBad when used on the lowest setting? No problem stranga'.

* ''WebAnimation/HomestarRunner'': Pretty much ''anything'' can be obtained from Bubs's concession stand, including items that are either impractical for a place that small to stock (such as hot tubs or fancy leather chairs) or something that is difficult to imagine anyone ever ''wanting'' (such as a [[MyLittlePanzer hobby kit]] with only dangerous items inside). [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] because he has the only shop within city limits, as far as the viewers know.
** Not to mention that several other operations were based out of the concession stand at different times. Among other things it's also the source of Strong Bad's internet, served as both a veterinary clinic and an (illegal) hospital, the base of shady illegal dealings... in quality goods, and an insurance company.

* All-in-One Mart, "the store big enough to swallow your town!", only appeared in one episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Arthur}}'', but the loudspeaker announcements make it clear that they sell just about everything from bizarre food items to ''army-surplus jet turbines'' (the announcer suggests they'd make good house fans).

* The Tuuri Village Shop in Finland, claimed to be the largest little village store in the world, and sells pretty much anything that one can hope to need. Just for comparison, the village it stands in has 500 residents. The shop gets 5,8 million customers yearly.

** While the sale of relics and other ancient artifacts are fine on Website/EBay assuming that all guidelines are met, the sale of Native American items and other cultural goods is verboten. Not to mention that Catholics took umbrage on what is seen as rampant simony, or the sale of sacred things such as saintly relics, which is in violation of Canon Law. Besides being seen as illegal and sinful[[note]]Though exceptions to this are however [[JustifiedTrope allowed]], e.g. if the relic in question is being bought or sold to keep it from falling into the wrong hands like greedy treasure hunters[[/note]], many of them relics are derived from human remains, which cannot be sold on the site.

* ''WebAnimate/InanimateInsanity'': If a character has some ridiculously crazy item, you can be sure they got it from {{UsefulNotes/Walmart}}, including items that would definitely ''not'' be found in the real life Walmart, like ''a time machine''. OJ {{lampshade|Hanging}}s it.

** This is an online version of this trope. After a bit of searching, you start to realize that there is someone on Earth selling the most random crap. Selling human beings, weapons, and anything that simply cannot be sold legally is out. Beyond that... It gets weird. Hatching eggs are salable... go on, bid on some Rhode Island Reds, they get FedExed to you, and you put them in the incubator and they hatch in a suitable time frame.

* ''Series/CornerGas'' has a store that sells both liquor and ''insurance'' of all things. The eponymous store also is pretty well stocked for a gas station.
** TruthInTelevision: The town of Rouleau where the show was filmed really has such a store!

* ''VideoGame/{{Fallout 3}}'' has traveling merchants who specialize in various kinds of equipment, including one whose speciality is... [[VendorTrash miscellaneous junk]]. Anything in the game that isn't a weapon, piece of clothing or consumable, [[InsaneProprietor Crazy Wolfgang]]'s your guy.

* In ''LastChanceToSee'', Creator/DouglasAdams describes shopping in Zaire:

* In the anime ''Magical Play'', there is an episode with a market were you buy anything, and when you run out of money, theres a stand that sells money too!

* ''Store Wars'' had Bloggs' corner shop, which sold anything and everything and was next door to a Superstore which did no business as a result.

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' demonstrates this trope with their [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NLK5GHZtBFo quintessential song.]]

* In one of Denis Norden's monologues on ''My Word'', he recalls being a {{Blitz Evacuee|s}} to a village with one shop that sold everything. He well remembers the proprietress going up and down the ladder to get a motorbike or piano from the shelves. She also sold ladders. And shelves.