Hugh Kelley - How To Find Hidden Treasures At Garage Sales

Some people dream of being astronauts; others aspire to be doctors. I grew up to be a part-time picker.

Finding treasure for sale cheap in other peoples garages or basements, combines the thrill of the hunt with the payoff of some extra cash. It feeds the curiosity bug, and keeps me out of crowded, expensive malls. Its a passion, and its got some basic, unspoken rules that will help you search out, identify and collect items for your pleasure and profit.

So what kind of picker do you want to be? This is important, because one size does not fit all here:

1. Are you a collector? Do you have a passion for, say, antique mesh purses? Old woodworking tools? Sterling silver? We all have basic interests were all excited about finding something cool what is it that makes your heart beat a little faster?

1. Do you want to find and buy things to own, or do you want to buy things to turn into cash? Or both?

1. Whats your budget? How much can you put at risk? (Ive bought things I was sure would turn over quickly, and its still on the shelf in my garage. We all make misjudgments about stuff, dont jump in on an item for too much money if you cant afford it.)

1. And speaking of the garage, how much room can you commit to your finds? Are you better off seeking little stuff, or can you handle an occasional end table or chair? There are a lot of items out there for sale every weekend; what is your appetite for bringing things home?

1. And there are the other people in your life to consider. Is your spouse or partner in the game with you here, or are you going to have to hide those original Nancy Drew books that you bought?

Okay, so those are a few things to think about. Basic stuff. First, figure out where you fit in the world of buyers and sellers then go forward and conquer!

Garage sales, Estate sales, tag sales, yard sales, inventory reductions, junk sales: in all cases, the owner wants to unload his unwanted items as quickly as possible, while making back as much cash as possible. Young couples trying to unload the worn out toys and outgrown clothing of their kids; older folks getting rid of the travel tchotchkes; a family moving into a new home might settle for a bargain price on that lightly-used Stairmaster.

As a general rule, yard sales and garage sales are at the lower end of the spectrum in terms of the goods that are offered for sale. They are most often run by the individuals that own the stuff, and they usually contain a mixed bag of used clothing, toys and unwanted, lower-priced goods. And in a somewhat counter-intuitive pattern, Ive found that many folks running their own garage sales can really overprice their things. (This often happens in newer, expensive neighborhoods, where people think they ought to get top dollar for their used Kitchenaid food processor.)

There can be exceptions to this Ive found signed jewelry for a quarter in a bin next to plastic Mardi Gras beads, and a first edition in a stack of old Readers Digest books. So while it doesnt happen often, there can be valuable things at a yard sale. You just have to develop a practiced eye.

And dont lose sight of the first rule of picking: there reallyaretreasures to be discovered . Just dont ever forget that most of the stuff you will see for sale is worth leaving behind. Sometimes, one mans trash is just another mans trash. This guide is all about helping you find, identify and own the good stuff.

T raditionally, many of the best items and best deals are found at estate sales. These sales are usually run by a small local company that cleans, organizes, prices and advertises the excess stuff in an estate of a deceased or elderly person, and in turn takes a percentage of the take.

There are great estate sale companies, as well as sloppy ones. After a couple of months of visiting their sales, youll be able to tell the difference. This is important: youre looking for the best deals, and how a company runs its operation can greatly affect whether its worth your visiting their sales or not.

So how to begin? First, you have to know how to find the sales, next, try to identify the ones that have the most promise to deliver what youre looking for, third, a trick or two to get you into place to get first dibs on the goods, and finally, once youve got something you think is worth buying, how to make an informed judgment about what it might be worth and what the heck to do with it next.

First, lets sing the praises of the internet. It is truly a wonderful thing. Before the net, you mostly found out about sales from the classified section of the newspaper. And from signs in your neighborhood that were posted the day before the sale.

Today, the newspaper classified business has almost completely migrated to the internet, and that, combined with web entrepreneurs who have set their sights on aggregating information for consumers, will make your life scheduling a successful estate sale hunt very easy indeed. Craigslist is a great place to start. Youre already internet-friendly (youre reading an ebook, after all), so check out the garage sales lists on your citys craigslist page. It is also worth perusing estatesales.net , estatesales.org , and estatesales.com .

These web sites are all hungry for you to view their listings and get you exposed to their advertisers. There is often an easy-to-use search function thatll help you dial into your state, city and local area. Some of the listings web sites are free, so there is plenty of incentive for local estate sale business owners to list.

Others, like estatesales.net , charge the company for the listing. Whatever their business model, use the internet to search out all the opportunities for you in the coming week. And dont forget to spread your search geographically at times. Look for upcoming sales in towns near your town, or even a drive away. If you live in a major metropolitan area, there will be plenty of sales, but dont ignore the outlying areas. Sometimes a drive will bring you to a sale with great prices and not much competition for the best stuff.

While most garage and yard sales are Saturday/Sunday affairs, many estate sales companies begin their sales Thursday or Friday, and then run through the weekend. They do this to appeal to their main clientele: antique dealers and collectors. Running a sale on a Thursday morning means that the traffic coming through the door has cash and is ready to spend. These buyers are professionals, and the estate sales companies know that theyll come back week after week if the deals are good and the merchandise is priced right.

This guide is all about giving you the best shot at getting the great stuff. And Ive got a few rules you should follow. These tips will set you up for success:

• Be prepared to get up early and stand in line

Youve googled this weeks sales, youve looked at the photos, and youve figured out who might have what you want, and where you have to go to take a look. Now plan to get there early. Get there well before the sale if you think theres an item in which there will be a high interest. Ive arrived four hours early to a sale that opens at 10am, and found two other pickers ahead of me in line. It doesnt happen all the time, but if theres something that you see advertised that you want, there may well be other folks who want it just as bad. Be the early bird.

• If you find something you like in a sale, even if you just want to think about it, pick it up and dont put it down until you make up your mind