Articles from the ‘For Shoppers’ Category

One thing a lot of people don’t consider when shopping at garage sales is the fact that they can find gifts there too. Many times you can find brand new items at a garage sale that someone didn’t use, didn’t wear or just plain forgot about. While these items maybe fewer and far between, they do exist. There are also many other things that can be used for gift giving, even if they are gently used.

Baby Shower Items

In today’s tough economy many new moms and dads are finding that the amount of items they need greatly outweighs the amount of money they have to spend. Check garage sales for gently-used baby items such as monitors, baby clothing and highchairs. These items may not be ideal for a baby shower gift, but as a gift that you can give privately they are perfect. Make sure to wash any items you purchase before giving them to the new mom.

Housewarming Gifts

When people move into a new home, especially those who are just starting out, being able to furnish a home is a struggle. Garage sale finds can make great housewarming gifts. Many times you can find sets of dishes, nice pictures to hang on the wall and other great, useable items that would be perfect for a housewarming gift.

Other Gift Giving Finds

If you know someone who is into fun jewelry or collects certain items (such as pig figurines, Elvis memorabilia, etc.) garage sales are the ideal places to shop for unique gifts. At garage sales you can find an array of neat items that will add to someone’s collection. Think about your friend who just loves panda bears. Stumbling upon a panda bear nick-knack that is really cute would make an ideal gift for your friend. Do you have a friend who is an avid reader? Getting a good deal on a box of books by his or her favorite author would be an amazing gift for your friend.

Before you purchase, always think about the person receiving the gift and how they will feel. There are people who will wrinkle their nose at second-hand items. For those folks, a garage sale find may not be the best choice, but with the move toward a greener world, most people welcome previously owned gifts and think of it in relation to the goal of “reuse-reduce-recycle.”

Here they are. If you use this and enjoy it, please let me know. I’d like to further develop the GPS output options if folks are interested.

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Garage sale shopping is more than just a bargain treasure hunt for children. It turns out that learning how to haggle over the price of an item can be an excellent way of teaching children how to negotiate. Start by teaching your kids always to be respectful of the seller. A politely phrased question, such as “M’am, would you take a nickel for this doll?” is more likely to get an affirmative answer than whining or crying to Mom or Dad. Plus, it’s hard for some sellers to resist a cute youngster offering a shiny nickel for a teddy bear or a toy truck. Next, school your youngsters for a “no” reply in case you run into a Scrooge. Some people are going to be rude and it could just be because they had to get up so early to set up their garage sale. Make sure that the children are armed with a stock reply, such as “OK, I’ll ask my mom or dad about it.” It gives the child control over the situation so they aren’t frightened by rudeness. At the same time it alerts the seller that the child isn’t unaccompanied. Sometimes this tactic can result in the adults conducting the haggling but be sure to include the child in the conversation, such as, “Would 25 cents for this doll be OK with you, Susie?” Older children with particular interests, such as sports trading cards, stamp collecting, video games of all sorts, etc., should be encouraged to become experts in the value of their interests. In this way, an older child can often startle an adult seller into a better deal by demonstrating knowledge of the object’s value. Parents and older children also can become a haggling tag-team through observation. Children are much more observant than adults give them credit for being. Often for this very reason, children are less threatening observers than adults. Consequently children can watch their elders as they haggle over other purchases and give their parents valuable intelligence about how flexible a seller is. This creates a bond between parent and child, especially when their teamwork results in the purchase of a bargain of mutual value and benefit. The proudest moment of course will be when your youngster successfully conducts the negotiation for an item all by himself or herself. When this happens, and it will, you’ve scored a double success.

Children outgrow their clothing so fast that it is ideal to shop at a garage sale to find gently-used items for your children. Here are a few tips to keep in mind the next time you are at a garage sale looking for clothing for your children.

Is it in style?

Make sure that the item you are purchasing is still in style, especially for older children. You don’t want to buy gently used pants that were in style back in the ’90s for your child now, no matter how great the price it. Keep your children in mind because if they wont wear it them it really doesn’t matter if you only paid 50¢ for it.

Choosing classic styles is a great way to avoid a wardrobe that looks “dated”.

Inspect every item

Never purchase any clothing before looking it over closely. Check for missing buttons, zippers that don’t work, tears and stains. If the area that the clothing is displayed in is dark, don’t be afraid to step into a better lit area to look over the clothing. You don’t to get an item home only to find it has a stain on it that you overlooked.

Check Sizes

Many people do their laundry differently, which can cause used clothing to vary in sizes. Ideally, if you are on the hunt for jeans for your daughter carry a pair of her jeans that fit nicely with you. Make sure that the garage sale owner knows you brought them with you before you start shopping. By having an item with you that fits well you can then hold up items you are considering purchasing to the item to get an idea on whether the new item will fit correctly. Likewise, a measuring tape can come in handy for verifying waist and inseam measurements.

Getting a Bargain

If you find several items that you want to purchase, don’t be shy about negotiation with the seller. Many sellers will give you a discount on a large purchase just to get the items out of the way. So if you find 5 pairs of jeans for $2 each ask the seller if they will take $8 (or less!) for all 5. This makes a better deal for you and it also makes them money.

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You say tom-ay-to, I say tom-ah-to…

Ah, the song said it so well. Whether you call it a yard sale or a garage sale is largely dependent on your region. Around here it bounces back and forth between garage sale and yard sale. But if you’ve ever watched Martha Stewart, up in Connecticut they call them tag sales.

Then of course in the mid-west they are sometimes called rummage sales, and churches frequently call them white elephant sales.

There are some definite advantages to actually holding your sale in a garage: you are sheltered from the effects of mother nature and if you’re having the sale inside you don’t have to worry about rain, which can be a problem in hurricane country! Plus you can set up ahead of time, and not have to worry about getting up at the crack of dawn to set out your merchandise. So a “garage” sale will keep you from singing the title line in that song, “Let’s call the whole thing off.”

Of course, one of the benefits to the shorter words like “Yard Sale” or “Tag Sale” is that they fit better on signs. And readable signs are important! So important that we have two articles about how to make good garage sale signs.

So whether you’re searching for maps to yard sales, garage sales, or tag sales, or if you want to advertise your yard sale for free, you’ve come to the right place!