Garage sale shopping 101

Flea Markets and Junk Shops, Garden Junk

How to shop a garage sale

Actually it’s a rare sale held in someone’s garage. Normally it’s in the front yard, back yard or even on a balcony. Moving sales are great to take advantage of since it will be a whole household for sale. Parking lot sales organized by a business or church or whole community are the best, especially if they’re only once or twice a year. Here’s the scoop from our Flea market gardening experts…

Tips:

Starting out around 7 or 8 am is the time to go, however it’s too early for some sellers.
Bring cash in small bills. Sales like this are the absolute best for finding treasures and people just want to get rid of their stuff quickly.
Ask for ‘the best price.’ I normally leave a sale when folks refuse to dicker…that’s the fun of it for me.

Check the local papers for ads like this. Joy!

Estate sales

For estate sales, there’s a bit more sobering atmosphere…there has been a death and sometimes the family is there on site, so there is a certain solemn tone. In these cases the entire household is for sale and there is a good variety. I usually head right out to the back to search out garden furniture, tools watering cans and pots.

Estate sale – You’re doing it wrong:

In this case the “A” stands for Arkansas!

Sometimes estate sales are ‘hosted’ by antique stores or other types of ‘clutter clearance’ companies. Be prepared for higher prices, sometimes much higher, as these professionals are pretty savvy about what’s valued by junkers.

Tip for sellers:

Calling a yard sale an estate sale to get more customers is not fair, by the way, and will turn off your ‘customers.’

Special Occasion sales

Moving sales, baby item sales, divorce sales and community bi-annual sales,…all these are special occasion sales you can choose from according to your needs at the time.

See a sign for a divorce sale? It’s usually a gag to get customers… On the off chance that it really is a resourceful, if disgruntled spouse faced with a split, you might find good prices! I’m not sure,…she’ll keep all the good stuff and get rid of all his ‘man stuff.’ Good for male shoppers, but disloyal in a sense, huh?

In May, a Wisconsin woman caused a traffic jam when she held a “X-husband” sale in her front yard. The unconventional yard sale included piles of her ex-husband’s stuff and a SUV with flattened tires that was painted with obscenities and the word “Cheater.”

THE best sign:

The absolute best sales for discriminating garden junker’s are the once a year church parking lot sale and the family-run estate sale. Next best? A moving sale. When going out on a garage or tag sale round, this is the sign, above, you want to see. A community sale is the best, most efficient opportunity to see the most items in one spot.

Tip: Watch the newspaper for tag sales in the fancier neighborhoods. Movin’ on up,.. to the big time!

More signs than you’d ever be able to use!

Some of these are attractive, some, funny and entertaining, and some pure genius! Marketing is not limited to big business, clearly. If I had seen some of these signs, you wouldn’t be able to keep me from stopping!