I am ALIVE. I know it must seem that I fell off the face of the earth but its been quite the busy last few months. We moved safety to Texas + are settling into our new home. Mr. Wonderful started his temporary job of summer sales so life is a bit different right now but we are loving the warmth + sunshine.
I love the summer season for so many reasons. One of those being that I am not cold and I can lay by the pool everyday but one of my most favorite things about summer is GARAGE SALES! I have been going to them since I was a little girl with my Mom and sisters. I have picked up some tricks along the way and thought I would share them with you.
NEGOTIATING IS ALLOWED!
I almost never pay the price listed on the tag at a sale. Just think to yourself whats the worst thing that could happen if I ask them to take a lower price?.... they could say no. Well then it's worth a try. Now if someone is selling clothes for .50 you don't really need to negotiate that price because thats a great price for clothes. But lets say you are buying $5 worth of clothing priced at .50 a piece there is no reason you can't ask if they would take $4 for all. More often than not the people selling the items just want to get rid of it, so they are more than willing to take a few dollars under the asking price.
LOOK UP GARAGE SALE ADS BEFORE YOU GO.
This will help in saving you time and money on your trip every week. There is a few resources that you can use to look them up. Craigslist, local newspaper websites or city websites. This also will help in leading you to the yard sales that have what you are looking for. I usually map them out so I can do as little back tracking as possible.
BE QUICK.
A secret to getting to the best sales is being as quick as you can. No I don't mean driving 15 over the speed limit (although that might help) but if you scan a yard sale that has a bunch of junk don't stick around, head to your next one. Try and make quick decisions, if you don't love it, don't buy it. Even if it's only $1. Every PENNY counts in garage selling.
DID I GET A GOOD DEAL?
A good gage to know if the price is worth it or not can be based on three things. 1. Would I buy it at that price brand new? If not, than you definitely don't want to buy it used at that price. 2. Is it something I love enough I don't care the price tag, I NEED it?! Some things you can justify the price you pay because you found that gem of an item you have been looking for. 3. Is it more than 50-75% off retail price?
LOOK FOR NEW.
Keep your eye out for new or high end items that you can resell. It can really make a difference if you find items still in the packaging or with tags to sell and make extra money for your garage sale season.
Hope this can be a fun and successful Garage Sale season.
Happy Thrifty Shopping.
P.S- Everything pictured here is actually things I bought at garage sales. You really can find awesome stuff. Go find your treasure!
[Lacey]
