Garage sales are the perfect excuse to get rid of some of the useless junk in your house while also making a few extra bucks. With the warmer weather, people are going to be doing a lot of spring cleaning, so don’t be surprised when a ton of garage sales begin popping up around your area. There are some huge ones that go down in my neighborhood and some people are like vultures when they pop up. Luckily for me, I’m a very frugal person and I have a few tricks that I always employ to find those hidden gems at garage sales. Do you want to know how to do this, as well? If so, I’m going to give you some tips that will most certainly help you out.
#1. Get there early.
We’ve all heard the saying that the early bird gets the worm and that’s completely true. Try your best to get at the garage sale before anyone else. Now, I’m not telling you that you should go and start knocking on the seller’s door before the garage sale has officially started. However, there’s nothing wrong with just doing a little bit of browsing while they’re still setting up. That way, as soon as you spot an item you want, you can purchase it immediately. This is what you have to do to get your hands on items before someone else does.
#2. Be Resourceful
This is where you will have to allow your imagination to take over. Look at everything at the garage sale and start thinking about what you can do with certain items. There are certain things that may seem useless to other people, but we’re frugal, so we can make things work. For instance, I’ve purchased some thrashed picture frames before, spray painted them, used a little bit of blackboard paint and before you know it, I made a menu for our kitchen. Also, you could buy things, get creative with them (like the chalkboard menu) and give them to family/friends for presents.
#3. Don’t be afraid to negotiate.
People go to garage sales, because they know they will be able to find cheap items, but some sellers think their items are worth practically what they paid for them. If you run into a seller that has marked items up, you should try to talk them down. Also, some garage sellers will mark items up a little higher than what they would take for them, because they know people will try to talk them down on the price. If you find something that’s you think is priced fairly, you should buy it. If not, you should negotiate. If they won’t come down on the price, you should tell them you’re not interested.
#4. Get Toys, but Avoid Stuffed Animals
Feel free to pick up certain toys, bicycles, etc… However, you should never buy stuffed animals or anything of that nature at a garage sale. You could end up buying a stuffed animal that has bugs inside of it, dust mites, lice, bed bugs, etc… It’s just not a good idea.
