As Memorial Day weekend approaches, we are making our family garage sale wish list. By compiling a wish list, we tend to stick with the list instead of impulsively buying items on sale. I also give each child about $10 to spend for garage sale items. I noticed that kids tend to intuitively budget themselves and make tradeoffs when they are the ones handling the money.
Garage sale tips:
- Bring cash in small denominations (e.g. coins and single dollar bills) so after you negotiated a price you are not stuck in a situation in which the seller does not have the "change"
- Negotiate the price of a single item and then see if you are able to get a wholesale discount if you add another item
- Ask the seller if he/she has an item that is from your garage sale wish list, often sellers have items that are not on display yet, so this gives you first dibs on items that are available
- Be aware of the fair market value or cost of the new items (e.g. just because it is labelled $5 does not make the item cheap if you can get it elsewhere for the same or less)
- Buy items first thing in the morning when the sellers are energetic and in a great optimistic mood or last thing in the afternoon when the sellers are getting ready to pack up. Avoid mid day crowds because you may be psychologically tempted to bid on items you really do not want.
- Look for items beyond the dirt (often items that just need a quick wipe down or wash can be purchased for a good price).
- Avoid items that you need to fix (e.g. missing electrical parts) because realistically you will not find the time or energy to fix them.
- Bring all types of batteries with you (e.g. AA, AAA, C, D) especially if you are interested in purchasing electronics because you do not want to go home with a broken electronic purchase (you will not be able to get a refund).
- Be willing to walk away (if an exchange does not feel right, let it go and walk away).
- Share your list (to cover more garage sales) in the weekend, email your wish list to your friends along with the maximum price you are willing to pay for each item, he/she can search a different garage sale so that you can maximize your finds.
Garage sale tips:
- Bring cash in small denominations (e.g. coins and single dollar bills) so after you negotiated a price you are not stuck in a situation in which the seller does not have the "change"
- Negotiate the price of a single item and then see if you are able to get a wholesale discount if you add another item
- Ask the seller if he/she has an item that is from your garage sale wish list, often sellers have items that are not on display yet, so this gives you first dibs on items that are available
- Be aware of the fair market value or cost of the new items (e.g. just because it is labelled $5 does not make the item cheap if you can get it elsewhere for the same or less)
- Buy items first thing in the morning when the sellers are energetic and in a great optimistic mood or last thing in the afternoon when the sellers are getting ready to pack up. Avoid mid day crowds because you may be psychologically tempted to bid on items you really do not want.
- Look for items beyond the dirt (often items that just need a quick wipe down or wash can be purchased for a good price).
- Avoid items that you need to fix (e.g. missing electrical parts) because realistically you will not find the time or energy to fix them.
- Bring all types of batteries with you (e.g. AA, AAA, C, D) especially if you are interested in purchasing electronics because you do not want to go home with a broken electronic purchase (you will not be able to get a refund).
- Be willing to walk away (if an exchange does not feel right, let it go and walk away).
- Share your list (to cover more garage sales) in the weekend, email your wish list to your friends along with the maximum price you are willing to pay for each item, he/she can search a different garage sale so that you can maximize your finds.
RSS Feed