Yard Sale Tips

"Yard Sale Tips for Beginners

Yard sales are a great way to buy the things you need for less. You can usually find name brand items at yard sales. It is a great way to purchase children's clothing since they grow so fast and sizing is always changing. Also great antique furniture can be purchased at estate sales for discounted prices. Whatever it is you are looking for you are more than likely to find it at yard sales.


Keep your eyes and ears open to find out where the yardsales are. Many people advertise the classifieds of the local newspaper but a lot of people will just put up signs, post a flyer in a grocery store, place a free classified ad on a local community website such as craigslist.org.


Then you will need to map out the best route, or group yardsales in the same area together to reach them faster. You can use google maps or mapquest.com for directions.
make sure you wake up early too get great deals. You do not want them to be gone once you get there.

I like to arrive early at yard sales but I'm not the dreaded 'early bird.' An early bird is someone who shows up before a yard sale is supposed to begin. Sometimes even HOURS ahead of time. I've found that most yardsales are not organized well enough to handle early birds. Others believe that arriving late at a yardsale is good too, because the seller may be willing to give better deals later in the day.

It's good to bring a lot of small bills and change especially if you plan on making small purchases. Don’t be afraid to haggle a price down if you feel it is too high. The worst that the seller can say is no. I think it’s in very bad taste to haggle a price down from $1.00 to .50 only to whip out a $20 bill to pay for it. Believe me, it happens. If I think the price is fair or a steal, I don’t bother haggling. Nothing is more annoying to me (when having a yardsale) is to have a customer who wants to haggle on every little item. Also, I would not drive up in a Lexus expecting to haggle. Drive the junker instead. Or at least park the Lexus around the block before you walk up to the yard sale.

Lastly, if you see an item you would like (but is priced too high and the seller won't negotiate), give the seller your name and telephone number and tell them you are interested if it doesn't sell by the end of the day and they are willing to come down on the price. One reader's suggestion: carry extra business cards for this purpose, who knows, YOU may end up selling THEM something!"

And last but not least if you see several items you would like to purchase, offer a lump sum for all the merchandise under the asking prices, This is how i get some of my best deals on items.

Happy Sailing!!