Blog Archives

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Garage Sale Memories

Today is National Garage Sale Day, 2012! To celebrate this fun day, we’re sharing some amazing finds and fun memories from garage sale enthusiasts!

“My amazing find was a new $1,700 computer projector for $20. The box was open but the projector hadn’t even been taken out of the box. I asked the owner how much and she said $75. I asked her if she would take $20 and she did.”
- John G.

“My favorite story incorporates a great lesson learned: If you don’t see what you’re looking for, ASK! I asked the woman at one sale if she had any comic books. She called out her son, who was just home from college. Ten minutes later, I walked out with a bunch of 1960s gems for $5.00 (including a SPIDER-MAN #8)!”
- Mike P.

“About 10 years ago, when my parents and I were selling all our belongings with a garage sale in Virginia because we were moving abroad, a foreign family approached us about my mom’s car. They were $500 short in cash from my mom’s calling price, so they offered her blocks of gold that were worth $1,000. At the time, my mom didn’t know what you really did with a block of gold and seeing the desperation of need for a car in the family’s eyes, she gave the car to them at a discount price of $500. However, it was a pretty unusual and funny experience for our family to be offered blocks of gold as payments.”
- Robin S.

“My best garage sale find was a vintage singer sewing machine with case. I bought it for $5 and turned around and sold it on Ebay for $90. Best find ever!”
- Jeanine B.

“My favorite garage sale experience has nothing to do with something I bought, but rather a conversation I overheard. While shopping at a garage sale in Huntington Beach, CA, I overheard two elderly ladies discussing the sex appeal of Andy Garcia. Both ladies, probably in their late 60s, agreed that his sexy days are long gone and that he has now “hit the wall.” As you can see, garage sale treasures come in all forms.”
- David W.

“One Saturday, I had a babysitter and four dollars to blow so I went on a hunt for the “Weirdest thing I could find, for a dollar.” After several stops, I happened upon this amazing sculpture that looked like it was made of old train parts. It was spectacular, but they wanted $5 for it (which was definitely a good price) so I told her my quest and she decided to sell it to me for $1. Fifteen years later, it has become a “WiSH Portal” and the pinnacle attraction of my Traveling Faery Realm Museum.”
- Valerie P.

“My best find was an impulse stop at a sale in a very small nearby town.I bought a sculpture thinking it was of a musical composer and I would give it to my son.Turns out it was made in Germany,was very rare and worth over $150.00.I paid fifty cents.”
- Jim C.

“My 30 year-old daughter and I spend Saturday mornings together looking through piles of other people’s stuff, we talk, we laugh, and most days we come home with a car full of unique and/or useful items. It’s a long Maine winter awaiting those first spring days of the yard sale season!”
- Jeanne F.

A special thanks to all those who contributed for this fun piece today! Have an awesome Garage Sale Day!

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Celebrating Garage Sales all over the Country

This Saturday is a very special day in my life. No, it’s not my birthday or my anniversary, it’s National Garage Sale Day! For myself and any other Garage Sale Millionaires out there, this could be the most important day of the year. If you’ve never been to a garage sale or at least thrown your own, you should seriously consider visiting one this weekend. You might not have enough time to put your own together, but you could always plan something for next weekend! Once you learn the proper steps to take, it’s surprisingly easy to put together a great garage sale. All you need is to clean out your house and sell the items you no longer need. You’ll want to put up 15 to 20 big signs, recruit some friends to contribute items and lend a hand, and have the kids throw a lemonade stand in front yard. Then all that’s left is to sit back, have some fun, and let the money roll in.

If visiting garage sales is what you prefer to do, this weekend is a must. I guarantee there will be an uptick in the amount of sales you see for several reasons: not only do people tend to take a lot of time off work in August, but they start to clean out their summer items to make room for bulkier fall and winter supplies. Odds are they will come across a lot of items they don’t really need to bother packing up.

So go ahead and make a map of the sales in your area using TagSellIt’s Apps, then head to bed early tonight – you’re going to want to get up at the crack of dawn on Saturday to get an early start. Most of the good stuff will go quickly, but there will be plenty of bargains to be had at the end of the day, so bring some snacks! Bring the whole family or a group of friends and make sure you have some fun.

As you’re shopping around, remember once of my favorite tips: If you don’t see the item or type of item you’re looking for, ask! You never know what they might have hidden away. I’ve found some of my best items by asking about items that weren’t there!

Happy hunting!

Aaron