Everyone knows I love garage sales. They are my favorite thing to do Friday mornings! Here are a few of my favorite tips for garage sale hunting.Send a list to your friends and family. Write out a list of what you are looking for and send it out to friends and family. My sister-in-law was looking for a food dehydrator, bicycle and coffee grinder. She didn't find those things at the sales she hit, but she sent her list out to others and they found all of those items for her.
Clothing. If you have children, garage sales are the only way to go for kids clothes. My kids go though clothes so fast it pains me to pay full price at a store. Think about what clothes your child will need in the future. It is never to late to start buying clothes for next Fall or even Winter. When clothes are marked at a quarter or 50 cents it can't hurt to buy a couple different sizes if your not sure how much your child will grow. You can always donate or sell the other size. Don't forget things like boots, snowpants, hats and gloves.
Sports Equipment. This can be a big expense. Cleats, baseball pants, soccer pads all can be found at garage sales.
Household items. There are countless household items out there that people no longer want. If you are looking for an icecream maker, blender, bed, dishes you name it and it can be found. Don't rush right out and purchase something new. Wait a couple weeks, shop some garage sales and see what you can find.
Baby items. Baby items are big time sellers. My little peanuts entire wardrobe, bed, swing, anything you can think of that a baby might need will most likely come from a garage sale. I have already started a tub of items purchased! And just for the record I found an Eddie Bauer musical bassinet at a garage sale last weekend for $10! I also bought this swing for $20. I wasn't going to buy big items yet, but I just couldn't pass these up!
Games/Entertainment. We are always looking for a new board game to try. Puzzles, X-box games, you never know what you might find.
Electronics. Need a DVD player, radio or TV? Hit those garage sales! I have seen tons of electronics for sale this year already. Getting a VHS player for my son last year has been great. I find tapes all the time for as little as $.25.
Do you like to garage sale? What bargains have you found? This post is linked to Frugal Friday at Life as Mom.
This may sound silly but even tho I love shopping garage sales, I feel like I don't know how to do it right. Do you just drive around a neighborhood and cross your fingers? when I'm running errands I keep my eyes peeled but I never seem to find any sales. Any tips?
ReplyDeleteKelli, look on the internet for sales. I read the list on craigslist and write down the address and time of the ones I would like to stop at. I look at our newspaper garage sale listings online, also, I look at the map of all the places I want to hit.. closest first and farthest away last. I believe mapquest has this feature.. you can copy and paste all the addresses in and it will show them on the map! So I can hit more in less time. HTH
ReplyDelete-Christel
That is an amazing swing for $20!!! Great score!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michelle.
ReplyDeleteKelli, I agree with Chistel. I look on Craigslist and see if there is anything worth hitting early. I plan my route that way if there is anything worth going to. Otherwise I typically follow the same route each week. There are usually always sales to be found around me just by following signs.