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The last Twinkie on Earth

These days mark the end of an era for Twinkie lovers across the globe. Hostess has announced that it will be closing its doors, due in part to a baker’s strike. While this may be a sad day for you, I encourage you to look on the bright side: this could be a great money making opportunity!  While this may be hard to believe, I encourage you to set aside your desires for the cream-filled treat and think about the situation that has come into light.

When a company closes down (or in more common fashion, stops production on a certain item/product) that company, and all of its products, are brought into the media spotlight. This creates a frenzy of demand, raising prices.

If you have the opportunity to buy a box or two of Twinkies, you might be able to resell them for a nice profit. If you check eBay, there are currently listings ranging from the standard cost all the way up to $2,500,000 for a 24 count box. And while it’s hard to believe anyone would pay into the millions for a couple of a Twinkies, if you search the completed listings, you’ll see that someone paid $10,000 for nothing more than a two pack of Twinkies and a two pack of Hostess Cupcakes. Shocking!

What’s also shocking is the price increase on Twinkies collectibles. Items such as lunchboxes and figurines tend to sky rocket in value in situations like these; and collectibles might be a better investment since, contrary to popular belief, Twinkies do not actually last forever, but only for a few months after packaging.

Now I must warn you that although this all seems like an unbeatable opportunity, be aware that these cream-filled delights will only be worth this much for a short while. As quickly as the value has risen, it will in turn fall. So if you decide to jump in the game, do so quickly. You don’t want to be the one holding the bag full of Twinkies when the clock runs out!

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Deal Hunting Hiatus

Hello fellow garage sale hunters! I regret to inform you that I’ll be taking the month of October off from blogging. I’ve had a great deal of projects come up – including some rather large collections I intend to sort, research and resell – and unfortunately will not be able to maintain my weekly postings. I recommend that you take this time to put together one last garage sale for the season! October is a great month to clean out your summer clothes and items and get them sold before it’s too cold to showcase them in your driveway for a good price.

Pick a room in your house and go through every drawer and every closet. Make piles of items you don’t use, items that can be easily cleaned up or repaired and items you want to keep. After everything is cleaned out, only put away your pile of “keepers,” which will hopefully be the smallest pile! Remember, if you haven’t used or worn it in a month or two, it probably isn’t worth keeping.

After you’ve gone through every room in the house, take the time to tackle your repair pile. If it just needs a quick dusting or cleaning, it’s probably going to be worth your time to clean it up and get a bit more money for it. If you aren’t sure what something is worth, check the Internet; eBay can be a great pricing guide. Do remember, however, that you’re throwing a garage sale; you won’t necessarily be able to get the same prices you see listed on eBay. Your main goal is to get rid of things you don’t use or need, so use the prices you find as a general guide and make sure to offer a fair deal to your buyers. No one is going to buy a used item at full retail.

Don’t forget to advertise your sale. TagSellIt.com is a great platform to use to reach a wide range of shoppers. Be sure to mention your big ticket items to draw in a crowd. Make sure you put up large, brightly colored signs directing your shoppers to the sale. Be sure to include a date so no one is confused!

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, after you’ve spent the time preparing to be successful, have fun! Garage sales are a great way to meet people in your community. You can even recruit neighbors to add items and help out with the sale. The more the merrier!

I hope to hear all about your garage sale success when I come back in November! And in the meantime, feel free to see what I’m up to on facebook and Twitter!

Good luck and happy hunting!

- Aaron

learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or contact him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.

Trash or treasure? Let the buyer be the judge.

I’m beginning to hear about a new habit that could be a huge detriment to your garage sale profits. Apparently sellers are throwing away items before their sale even begins, assuming that they are worthless. Unless the item is a dirty litter box or a stained food container like a baby bottle, you really should [...]

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A Little Garage Sale Advice from a Friend

I’m excited to announce the release of the revised edition of my book The Garage Sale Millionaire! With garage sale season in full force, now is the perfect time to pick up a copy and read up on the best strategies for becoming a savvy buyer and seller. My book is full of tips on making money from garage sales to storage unit auctions and everything in between.

As a special sneak peek, here’s an excerpt:

“Having a garage sale is a great opportunity for you to go room to room, closet to closet and drawer to drawer throughout your home to identify all the items for which you have no need or use any longer. This includes unwanted gifts…things you may never have liked or needed at all. Have you used, worn or even looked at something you ahve tucked away, collecting dust in the past year? If not, then you more than likely need to get rid of it. You can choose to sell it, give it to charity or just throw it out if it isn’t in good condition. Why have something lying around if you do not use that item?

I truly believe if you can find all the stuff in your house that you don’t use, you can make very good money from it. If, for some reason, you sell something and decide you need it again, go to the store and buy it new again. Or go to another garage sale and buy it!

I usually begin preparing for my garage sales about a month before the actual date of the sale so I can be thorough in my preparations. I want to make sure I’ve gone through my house from top to bottom so I don’t overlook something of value I can sell. The worst thing that can happen is that you discover things that you could have sold after your garage sale is history. After I’ve exhausted the search throughout my own home for salable items, I move on to my office and look for even more items to sell.

Parents, family members, neighbors and friends are fantastic sources for finding more valuable items to sell at any garage sale. Over time, miscellaneous items always seem to get stuck in people’s basements and as a result, all those long-forgotten items just end up gathering dust and cobwebs. Always ask people you know if there’s anything of theirs you can put in your garage sale. You can always arrange to split the money you make on their items with them. It really is a win-win situation for all involved. They give you their old stuff; you do all the work. They make a percentage on the sales! Many times family and friends want to help you out and will even work at your garage sale because these types of events are so much fun.”

As a special bonus, for the first ten people that buy my book on Amazon and leave a review, I will send them a free, signed copy of my pocket tip book! So good luck, and happy hunting!

To learn more about Aaron LaPedis, visit www.thegaragesalemillionaire.com or email him at thegaragesalemillionaire@gmail.com.

Reeling Them In

I just received a fantastic tip from one of my readers in Texas and I’m really excited to share it everyone. When you’re having a garage sale, make a display of “man things” close to the street. When women drive by, they’ll have an easier time convincing their husbands to stop and shop around a [...]

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Things I Don’t Want To Know About Flea Markets

Week Two and an article I ran across in Smart Money “10 Things Flea Markets Won’t Tell You” (Grant, 2012) is vexing me. Not so smart either. As if the “old world” markets and bazaars are going to learn something about getting and spending from today’s consumer reporter. Really, can I find better prices at a yard sale, really? I feel relieved her advice will prevent me from getting fleeced at the fleas, really.

It’s not that I have anything against lists or tip sheets. Heck, I created a Flea Market Check List here for you TSI-ers, but the author writes like there’s a science to the Fleas. Which there probably is, but I don’t want to know about it. Doing the Fleas is a process. Like getting older and wiser. You can’t really rush it. It’s just not authentic. You can act as if you know how to haggle, but it has to be instinctive, in order to be a success, you know?

Still, this scientific understanding of things is fine, really. I do it myself. We all do it. It’s in our genes. Especially the  the ones  rooted in legacy we inherited from Greek civilization. Geographically, Greece is made up of hundreds of little island bits. Cultural anthropologists will tell you that the countries (like the Unites States) with a history marked by European immigration or settlements, have an “atomized” thought process, like those islands. We tend to demonstrate a profound curiosity to break things down, and to discover the “true” nature of a thing, like a flea market for example. Although we inherited this cultural trait honestly, I still don’t like the idea pulling back the curtain on the magic of the Flea market experience.

I rather like the fact that the Fleas are messy, unpredictable (and did I say disorganized?).They’re brining with art, antiques, and objects that can be unfamiliar, but that ultimately teach me something new about the place it originated, about artistry and design. Perhaps that’s just the gypsy in my soul naturally rebelling against grown up rules like being on time and organized. I like that they are none of that. They remind me of living in Europe, where I was comfortable without those boundaries, and every day was a new experience.

When I wander through the aisles, I am practically in a meditative state. Don’t know how I got to this stall, or why I am handling this fabric, before you know it, I can hear myself saying ohverynicehowmuch?

Yep, open-air markets and the Fleas have been around for thousands of years, since the dawn of civilization, and I can’t help but think that we really do know, instinctively, how to shop and bargain and haggle just like we know how to parent, even if it’s for the first time.

I also think that the sudden trending of Flea market mentality has not so much to do with thrift as it does with Facebook. Does anyone know where I am going with this idea?

Does anyone know where I am going with this idea? Post your comments on this page and the first one to “get where I’m going with it” gets a free Flea Market Fanatics tote (a $25 value!) because you gotta have something to put your loot in, right?