“Follow Me Monday”: How to Yard Sale!
Today’s “Follow Me Monday” video is actually not going to be following me, but instead one of my awesome readers! Reader, Sarah, shows us the ins and outs of “Yard Saling”! She offers lots of awesome tips, takes us along to a few yard sales and even shows up some of the amazing deals she was able to score!! With yard sale season upon us, this video will definitely motivate you to get out there and score yourself some bargains!
Enjoy!
**If you can’t see the video, then go here to watch it
Side note: I know, I know… it’s been 2 weeks now since I’ve done a “Follow Me Monday” video. Well, my excuse— I’m getting prepared to head out to Lafayette, Indiana this Thursday, 4/29! I’m getting my coupons clipped, spending time with my adorable kiddos and hubby… and just trying to get caught up on everything before leaving. BUT don’t worry, you will get to see lots of video footage when I’m in Lafayette. I will be posting periodic updates like I did in Tampa, so stay tuned! Oh and I may even have a few special guests too! 😉
Here’s a suggestion from a guy….
My wife and I went to a sale where it was all the baby clothing you could fit in the bag. I got 35 items (shirts, jeans, sweaters, etc) in the bag….. How? You roll them REALLY tight and bring a bag of rubber bands to put around each item.
No air or wasted space in the bag!!!! The entire bag cost us $15 bucks!
I like the way you think! 😉
Yeah, rip off the person having the sale. Nice going.
I just love it when knuckle heads show up the first day of a sale in the morning, plow thru ALL the kids clothes I have set out and come to me with a huge pile and want them all for a couple of dollars. I tell them in a polite tone that I won’t be lowering the clothes prices until the next afternoon. I am usually told well these are nice clothes and won’t be here tomorrow afternoon…. I’m not stupid, I’ve seen the prices they sell stuff at Goodwill, much more than the $1 tops and $2 bottoms I price my stuff. All my left overs go to Goodwill for the tax write off after the sale.
I haven’t had that particular experience, but other things have convinced me not to have any more yard sales. I have seen some bad and rude behaviors.
One lady broke something and didn’t even apologize~it was part of a collection and I had specifically gone in my house to look for extra pieces and she decided she didn’t want it.
I have seen other people break things at garage sales and not offer to pay or apologize.
And more than once, someone offered me 10 cents for something marked 25 cents.
I know, i’m so over having them also. Unfortunately, the small town I live in has a town wide sale and I have hundreds and hundreds of people walk by my house over the 2 day sale. My daughter loves the sale and we let our kids keep the money from the sales of their toys and clothes. It’s not worth it to me anymore. I would rather take it to Goodwill and just take the writeoff.
Once she is out of the house I’ll be like some of the other people in town and rope off my yard to keep the people off my grass and go on vacation! I have had people hand me their garbage, sit down and have a picnic in my yard, change their kids diaper in my yard (and leave the diaper), ask me to go look in my house for sunscreen since she forgot to bring some for her kid ???? and the list goes on and on. I can’t believe the rudeness of people.
I love the .10 offers on .25 cent items also. If the person looks poor or is Amish (we get van loads of Amish here for the sale) I just tell them to take it as a gift. I don’t want to waste my time looking for .15 cents change.
yikes! $15 to fill a bag!?! Are they the big black trash bags? lol! That is a little pricey for me. I guess that is why you use the rubber bands! 🙂 the most I have paid for a “fill a bag” sale is $5 and I was cramming it as full as I could! 🙂 What I really like is the church sales that have “fill a bag” for $1!!! These are the best!
Not sure how this is ripping anyone off!?! The rule is to fill the bag and pay the appointed price! There is no limit as long as it is in the bag! Now charging Goodwill prices would be ripping someone off! I do not shop at Goodwill because they are like an overpriced garage sale! And those people who are not willing to bargain, I let them keep their overpriced junk! More than likely I will find someone who knows how to have a garage sale with the exact same item! I ask to pay .10 for quarter items all the time! 🙂
Thank you SO MUCH for those websites! I often wish that mapquest and googlemaps could show multiple destinations at the same time. This is going to make my life much easier! (gsalr and drivingrouteplanner)
Yes, yes……you’re coming to Lafayette….only I won’t get to see you and you will be SO close to my house!! I’m so sad, as well as my basement pantry…..we won’t get to meet Collin….*sniff, sniff*
I’ll come over and Sniff sniff with you. That is the ONLY contest I really WANTED to win LOL but now I just wait to watch the video 🙁 and go I KNOW where they were at 🙁 SNIFF SNIFF SNIFF LOL…….I told Collin to try to find Terri at the check out. She is one of the older ladies that we are told to avoid LOL but she is the one that gave me Collin’s site! She has list in her pocket to give people of coupon sites 🙂 So when in Meijer, look for Terri, the older gray haired lady LOL Might say Theresa on her tag. I knew her from owning llamas. Oh well, sniff sniff sniff……you know we could go and LIVE in Meijer for the day LOLOL sniff sniff sniff
Thanks so much for the info!! I had a great weekend at yard sales last weekend. I got a perfectly good dryer for $10!! A BUNCH of toddler clothes, a few toys, about 40 kids books and some beautiful paintings from the Virgin Islands. I spent about $25 including the dryer!!
loved seeing your great deals- good ideas!!!
Generally, I stay away from stuffed animals or toys that can not be washed or wiped down. They can harbor dust mites, bed bugs and others pests. I also won’t purchase used shoes.
Rummage sales here have an entrance fee so please read the stipulations carefully.
In the last 3 weeks, I’ve picked up:
Ralph Lauren wallet $6
Burberry wallet $.50
Coach wallet $5
Kenneth Cole wallet $2
Nine West wallet and key chain FREE
3 Dooney and Bourke purses (one with matching wallet) NWT $10 each (authentic with serial numbers)
14 brand name (Lauren, Cole, etc) mens dress shirts $.30-$1/each (most dry cleaned in bag at sale)
New Large Yankee Candle $1
Perry Ellis Mens belts $1/each (new)
Croft and Barrel ties $.50/each
Eddie Bauer Sweater NWT in gift box $5
Ralph Lauren Turtle neck FREE
New FILA mens jacket $2
Women’s Puma jacket $.75
NIB Buxton wallet $3
TO JULIE, AN ENTRANCE FEE AT A GRAGE SALE??? omg WHERE DO YOU LIVE?
Far northeast. $.50-$1 entrance fee.
A few more tips I forgot:
Dress down. If one goes to a garage sale in trendy, brand names, expect the non price tag items to increase in cost. I leave my purse and wallet in the car for this reason.
Change is a issue. If you want to barter an item down from $20-$10 and hand the person a $20, the situation becomes uncomfortable quickly. Smaller bills also give bargaining power.
I don’t bargin because I don’t have the money to pay their price! I bargin because I don’t think the item is worth their price! I don’t mind pulling out a 20 for an item I just bargined for!
I bargain for the same reason Jamie E. It is generally bad etiquette to barter an item down from a larger to smaller price and hand over a large bill.
Plllllease don’t buy car seats/booster seats used. Horrid, terrible people sell them after they’ve been in wrecks. We try to cut their straps after a wreck, but sometimes you don’t get the chance. Even a little fender-bender can’t mess up the car seat. (And, if you do get in a wreck, car insurace will reimburse you for a new car seat/booster seat! YAY!)
I know that wasn’t in the video but just wanted to tell you guys that.
Also, Sarah, I know you said that stuffed dog was for when your super cute kiddo is older, but I just wanted to remind you not to put it in her crib. All that needs to be in a crib is a very firm mattress and a fitted sheet. No bumper pads, pillows, sheets, comforters, stuffed animals, etc.
Saving money is second to our kiddo’s saftey!
CAN mess up, CAN! Sorry, typing from my phone!
Really great video, by the way. Great finds!
I agree with your concern about stuff in a baby’s crib. However, in Sarah’s defense, I don’t think she indicated the stuffed dog was for the baby’s crib. She just said her baby would enjoy it when she gets older. But even if it did make it’s way to the crib, that is a pretty firmly stuffed dog.
I didn’t figure she was going to, but others need to know as well. The dog still could get mushed into a little babies face. My kiddos have one.
As far as putting things in baby’s crib goes…both of my kids had bumpers, blankets, pillows, stuffed animal or doll AND sleep on their tummies! Personal choice. You are the mom, You have to decide what is best for YOUR baby. Obviously if your baby has breathing problems or health concerns you want to be careful. Just wanted to throw my opinion in to the pot. Thank you for the GS tips. I live in the mid-west and it is growing increasingly difficult to find great deals like those mentioned above, but i still enjoy looking!
ABSOLUTELY, HERE HERE RACHEL…I RAISED 6 AND HAVE 3 GRANDCHLDREN I AM RAISING. THE DOCTOR SAID THE 18 MONTH OLD IS STILL ON THE BOTTLE? I SAID SHE SURE IS AND I AM NOT TAKING IT AWAY FROM HER UNTIL SHE IS TWO AND UNDERSTANDS SEPARATION BETTER. HE TOTALLY AGREED WITH ME…WE HAVE THE BLANKETS, PILLOWS, AND STUFFED ANIMALS IN OUR CRIBS…GET THIS NEVER HAD A CHILD GET HURT EVER!!! . I THINK SOME PEOPLE ARE OVER PROTECTIVE TO THE POINT OF INSANITY SOMETIMES.I AM KEEPING MY SANITY THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!!!!
Thanks for the tips and websites! I cant wait for this weekend so I can try them out!
Really great video, by the way. Great finds!
this is a very good video. i like the tips about gsalr. i still love rummage sale lady video.
While I am normally a bargain shopper, I bought a purse just like the one in the video on vacation. My husband insisted and I paid full price for my “vaca gift”. I paid $50. I would have loved one for $1! Great video!
Mom got that same purse for $35!
Great video!
thanks for another great video.. always useful information and thank you for the new websites..
Love the purse! Great garage sale tips. I will definately be checking out the web sites.
lol, now I know I’m not the only one who buys stuffed animals at garage sales for my dogs! 😛
I absolutely love yard sales and go just about every Friday and Saturday!!! My daughter is 5 and asked if she was old enough to go now!!! I normally wouldn’t take her but she is so good and she does help me find things! Recently I bought 3 very nice(but old) chandeliers for $1 each and brought them home and cleaned them, painted them to match the rooms and just fixed them up really nice and they are adorable! I actually sold one of them to a lady for $75…didn’t think that was too bad! I have bought my son so many clothes in the past month he will be dressed for the winter…and honestly don’t think I will have to buy anything(unless I just want too)…and everything was gymboree, the children’s place, baby gap etc…and the most I have had to pay was $1…A friend is going with me this weekend because she wants me to show her what I do to get such great deals…honestly around here its just hit or miss! Sometimes you don’t find a thing but most of the time you get great deals on stuff!!! Can’t wait until this weekend!!!
Thanks Sarah for the great video! I am a yard sale diva myself!! Love to have them and shop them!!
I noticed all of your Southern Living at HOME products in the background at your home in your video. If you are not a rep and need one email me at heayou30@att.net. I am in TN, but would love to have you as a customer! Have a great day! Thanks for the tips!!
I actually used to be a SLAH Rep. 🙂 I didn’t renew last year after having Lyla.
Thanks for the awesome tip of the gsalr.com website!!
I am a yardsale Queen, this past weekend I bought a wrought iron lounger, table & 4 chairs for $25.00, I bought a Rothschild coat for .25cents, a white christmas tree for $2. It’s addictive, fun and a great way to save some money. Thanks for the post & video.
Hey everyone! I have my own blog now and will be featuring more yard sale tips as well as sharing my finds this season! Check it out: http://www.pootsandpans.com