How to score at garage sales: 10 tips and tricks to get you the best deal.
Who doesn’t love a good garage sale? Or like two or three or four or five?????
I especially love the one in my home town, Mukilteo! We have a whole day dedicated to a city-wide a garage sale. It’s one of the main places I get my up-cycling stuff for my business. Given this, I take my garage sale-ing very seriously 😆 I just must get the best items for the best price!
That said, I thought I would share some of my best tips and tricks with you for getting the best deals and having the best experience. Ok, ready? Here we go!
1. Chart your course. There are several garage garage sale apps that will help you chart your course. My favorites are called “yard sale treasure map”, "garage sales by map" and "estatesales.net". You can also find garage sale listed on OfferUp, craigslist and Facebook marketplace. Some of these apps even allow you to chart a driving route for optimal efficiency. In addition to these strategies I also find that large communities, cities or organization often have community sales. These are my favorites because you can cover a lot of ground in a little bit of time.
2. Set a budget. Take it from me I can go a little crazy spending money at garage sales. I find that if I set a budget for myself ahead of time, I don’t spend money frivolously and only spend it on the best items I can get. This helps me stay out of trouble with the hubs! Also make sure you bring change - lots of ones and quarters.
3. Bring Help. Make And as ugly as it might seem,
I actually find that a small fanny pack or cross body purse allows me to shop with both hands and not worry about carrying a purse. I also have a wagon that I bring with me to some of the larger community sales, It allows me to carry things from sale to sale rather than making trips back to the car.
4.Timing is everything. Go early and go late. Usually the best items go first, so get up early, grab that coffee and hit the road. Large things like furniture, electronics and antiques often go quickly so feel free to purchase those early on and don’t wait around for a better deal. Smaller things on the other hand don’t go as fast, so if you don’t want it all that bad, wait for the end of the day and strike a deal when they want to offload the rest of their merchandise.
5. Buy in bulk. Rather than buy things one by one, start a pile and then make an offer for the whole lot when you are done looking. This makes it easier for both of you. You'll likely get a better deal that way. I'll add everything up in my head and then offer 20% less.
6. Negotiate! Now you’ll either hate this or love this. If you love it then I don’t need to tell you why it’s important to negotiate. If you hate it, please read on. Most of the time people don’t like negotiating out of fear of being told no, seeming foolish or not wanting to insult somebody. Remember that this is a garage sale and not Nordstrom. You probably will never see these people again either, so don’t be afraid to strike a deal. Offer low and then expect them to counter. Sometimes if I don’t want to haggle too much back-and-forth I just say, “what is your best very best and final offer.” If what they say is too high for me still, I'll offer a little bit less to see if they bite. The worst they can say is "no" and you can either except their offer or walk away.
7. Poker Face: Don't seem too eager or too wealthy. If you have a poker face this is the Time to use it. You don’t want to tip your cards to the seller letting them know that you either a have a lot of money or that you want an item too much. Leave the expensive diamond rings, high-heeled shoes and designer bags at home and keep your excitement to yourself.
8. Keep records: If you’re buying stuff for your business, bring a small receipt pad with you so you can get a record of your transactions for business. Don’t want to miss a single deduction at tax time. Also, if you see something you like and want to "think about it", take a picture of the house number and the item with your phone, so you can easily remember where you saw it.
9. Do your Research: Research prices ahead of time. If there something special you’re looking for, become familiar with the going rate on online channels. Garage sales are usually less expensive than these online channels, so determine what you would like to spend on any one particular item ahead of time. You can also use this information to negotiate.
10. Good cop bad cop. If you have a friend with you and you’re in the middle of negotiating, you can always use the "good cop bad cop" method to try to get the seller down. Now use this strategy with integrity and respect though. Do not insult the seller or it could backfire on you. (plus its juts not nice) Bonus: HAVE FUN!! If you don’t have fun what’s the point!?
Blessings from the garage sale power that be...
-Heidi
