Blog Archives

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My first time

Well not mine …. But I was lucky enough to take a friend of mine to his very first garage sale a week ago. It was an amazing experience.

My friend would never have gone to a garage sale if he wasn’t filming me for a TV segment. Typically, camera men don’t play a role in the footage they’re shooting, but instead just record it for others to watch. And while his experience will probably never be shown, it definitely made the trip for me.

We were in the Park Hill neighborhood of Denver, and there was a community-wide garage sale going on. Multiple houses had filled up their lawns and tables with bargain items. For me, it was my happy place, but for my friend, not quite. He never understood the appeal of a garage sale and was a bit overwhelmed by the assortment of items.

Throughout the morning we went from garage sale to garage sale, combing through items in search of hidden treasures. I wasn’t having much luck finding a good bargain buy, but then we came to a sale that changed my friend’s image of garage sales.

He was setting up  his camera for a shot when he happened to look down. Out of nowhere, he screamed out like a little girl “I found one! I can’t believe I found one!” It was the moment of all moments; when a person catches the garage sale bug. My friend was referring to a mandolin slicer. It was brand new, still in the box, and was sitting amongst an array of kitchen gadgets. He scooped it up and charged right over to the woman in charge.

Without asking for any advice, he asked the woman how much it was and proceed to hand over the $7 she requested before I could say a word. He then proudly smiled at me, his newly purchased item in hand. I looked straight at him and calmly said “You know you’re with the garage sale millionaire, right? Did you even think to ask me for advice? You probably could have saved a few dollars, if not at least some advice on negotiating.”

He didn’t even seemed phased by my question. He was simply so excited to have found a brand new mandolin for a mere fraction of the retail price. “Now I know what my wife and I will be doing every weekend from now on,” he said.

At that point I wasn’t sure if I should call up his wife to apologize or to congratulate her on a newest. Either way, when you finally find that one item you’ve been searching for, it just doesn’t get any better.

Good luck, and happy hunting!

-Aaron

 

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

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Tag, you’re it

I went garage sale shopping last week, and as I was looking around at my fellow buyers, scrambling and rushing about, I realized that I had the best tool possible at my disposal; I was using the Tag Sell It app. I always mention using your smart phone to research items on the spot, but I don’t typically mention one of the most valuable things it can do for you: it can tell you where the good deals are. The Tag Sell It app can assist you with a great number of things, but one of my favorite features is the sale search tool. You can actually map out the sales in your area and plan your garage sale route the day before, saving you valuable time. While everyone else is driving around with a newspaper and a map, or worse yet, driving around randomly, hoping to spot an garage sale sign, you’ll be zipping along, snatching up the best deals before everyone else even know about the sale.

I like to plan out my route the night before so that I’m all ready to go in the morning. I have everything ready to leave my house at about 7am, so that I can be at the first sale right when it opens. Most of the great items will be gone by 11am, so you need to plan out where you want to go first.

How do I decide which sale to visit first? Again, I turn to the app. You can check the sale listings to see what types of items will be at the sale and decide which ones sound the most promising. Hit those locations first, saving the more ambiguous sales for later in the morning.

Do keep in mind, however, that you can always swing by a sale around 3pm or so to pick up any items you’ve had second thoughts about. Odds are, if they’re still available, you’ll be able to get them at a much lower price. You might even get lucky enough to snag the items for free.

So my best advice to all you garage sale junkies is to save yourself some time and effort. Use the Tag Sell It app to plan your day, and have fun the next time you head out!

Good luck, and happy hunting!

-Aaron

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

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Who wants to throw the garage sale of a lifetime?

If you answered “me,” and you happen to be in the New York City area, I’ve got a great opportunity for you! May 17th and 18th I will in working with Yahoo! Finance, helping one lucky family throw the garage sale of a lifetime! If you’re within 1 hour of Manhattan and you are looking to throw a garage sale, send us an email (garagesale518@yahoo.com). Not only will you get personalized assistance with your garage sale, but you’ll get to appear on Yahoo.com (and who doesn’t want their fifteen minutes of fame?!?) I’ve worked with the Yahoo! Finance team before and can attest to the fact that they are fantastic, and between their assistance and my expertise, the selected family will be sure to throw a fantastic – and profitable – garage sale. If you’re interested, send us an email (garagesale518@yahoo.com) with your location, a family photo, description of family dynamic, why you want to throw a garage sale, list of items you hope to clear out, how much money you’d like to make, what you’d like to spend the money on. I would love the chance to meet you and your family and help you throw a successful garage sale!  If you aren’t in the New York area but know someone who is, help us spread the word!

If you’re on the fence, check out my last feature with Yahoo!

Secrets from the Garage Sale Millionaire

I hope to see you in New York!

-Aaron

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

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Don’t be “that guy”

As many of you may know, I own a well known art gallery, Fascination St. Fine Art, in Denver, Colorado. The story I’d like to share is from an experience I had dealing with a buyer at the gallery. I want to share this story because I think it demonstrates a really important situation that all buyers should be aware of; especially when you’re out there trying to be the Donald Trump of wheelers and dealers.

About two weeks ago, this person, we’ll call him Steve, called one of my staff members inquiring about a few artworks by one of our artists, Charles Fazzino. We spent a great deal of time explaining options and combinations and after over a week of negotiating, we finally reached an agreement. Steve paid for the artwork and all appeared to be fine.

The next day, however, Steve called us claiming that he had received a better offer from another gallery. Essentially he wanted us to compete for the sale even though he had already paid. Negotiating between galleries does happen in the art world, but it needs to be done during the beginning stages of an art deal, not after it’s completed. In addition to this mistake, it turned out that Steve was actually lying about the other offer he had received. He was trying to play our gallery off of the other - hoping that one of us would actually beat his “made up” price offer. I quickly realized his game, and after all of his dirty dealing, I decided that it wasn’t worth the hassle of his dishonesty. I told him I would cancel his deal so he could take the supposedly lower offer he had received.

This is one of the artworks that Steve was trying to wheel and deal.

After I told him I would cancel his deal, Steve called back to say he wanted to give me another chance to offer him a lower price. It turns out that the other gallery wasn’t willing to match my offer, but as I said, at this point I wasn’t interested in working with him anymore. Now Steve has two galleries that dislike him as a client, and instead of getting a good deal on artwork, he’s paying for his greed with a more expensive deal through the other gallery.

 

In the end, there are a number of things you can learn from Steve’s mistakes:

1. It’s never a good deal unless you make the deal happen. What I mean by that is, when you walk away from a deal over a few dollars, you wind up the loser. There are too many occasions when people feel that they have to get the absolute best deal ever or else they won’t do it. Even though they could still make a great deal of money off an item, they weren’t willing to buy unless they felt as though they had practically stolen the item from the seller.

2. When you’re conducting a deal with someone, keep in mind that you’re starting a relationship with that person. If you’re doing the buying, there’s no reason to not make the seller feel good about the deal. You want to respect them as a seller because he could have other items that you’re looking for. He could also be a future resource for information on things you collect. If you’re able to complete a deal in which both parties are happy, it will benefit both of you in the moment and in the future.

3. Steve did not actually read the invoice or credit card receipt that was sent to him from the gallery. If he had, he would know that the gallery does not offer cash refunds after 48 hours. We do this to protect ourselves in instances just like this one. We had to order the artwork Steve wanted, and if we aren’t able to cancel the order in time, we are still on the hook for buying the artwork whether Steve wants it or not. So now Steve is legally on the hook. Typically we would offer him a gallery credit for the return; however, I don’t actually want to deal with Steve again, so I’m going to give him a refund, minus the costs of running his credit card. While he could be on the hook for a lot more, he’s still going to be losing money in the end.

4. When you’re doing a deal, whether at a garage sale, estate sale, gallery or antique store – know it is a small world, and people talk. Trying to dishonestly pit other establishments against each other is never a good idea. You never know who knows whom, like in this story. We know almost all of the galleries carrying Fazzino artwork, and we know how to get in touch with them to find out the truth of the situation. As I said earlier, when you’re negotiating on an item that you really want, it is always possible for everyone to feel like they’ve won. Don’t be a Steve and ruin the deal, but instead, be you, and complete an honest and beneficial deal.

 

Good luck, and happy hunting!

-Aaron

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

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A deal is never done until the money’s in the bank

Don’t count your chickens before they hatch.

That old proverb rings particularly true when it comes to selling in the second hand market. If you’ve ever sold something and gotten all excited only to wind up not getting paid, you know what I’m talking about. These situations not only leave you hanging, but they often cause you to lose other potential buyers as well, almost doubling the sting of disappointment.

I find that at least once a month I’m reminded that people are not always as honest as they claim to be. I am constantly asked to hold an item for a week or a month because the buyer claims they can’t buy it now, but they will definitely be able to buy it at said future date. No matter the sob story they present or the number of promises they make, you can never be sure they will come through – and in my experience, they almost always leave you hanging.

I am constantly asked to hold WDCC pieces. I was once asked to hold this particular piece for three months with no deposit. I refused, but miraculously the item was still available three months later. As you can imagine, I contacted the buyer, but they still did not have the funds to buy the item.

The only way to protect yourself from this kind of disappointment is to require a non-refundable deposit. This immediately weeds out a good percentage of the flakey buyers. I recommend that you require at least 15% of the total price. This way if they don’t pay by the agreed upon date, you at least have something to cover your loss of selling time.

I do understand that we all want to be kind and help out our fellow man when we can, but I guarantee you that if a buyer can’t pay you for at least 15% of the item now, they aren’t going to be able to pay you the full amount in two to three weeks.

One more thing to note for these types of situations is that you want to make sure you put everything in writing. Draft some sort of document for both of you to sign stating that both parties agree to the time frame and the total amount due, and don’t forget to include that the deposit is non-refundable. A lot of my friends like to call this tactic ”having skin the game.” It really is the only way to protect yourself as a seller. Words are worthless if they’re not backed up with action.

Good luck on all your selling adventures.

Happy hunting!

-Aaron

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

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How garage sale millionaires are made

Last week I had someone come into my art gallery to offer me a Disney animation cel. For those of you who aren’t familiar, animation cels are prints that come from the production of an animated show, ie. Disney, Warner Brothers, etc. These cels can range in value anywhere between a few hundred to several thousand dollars depending on the rarity and condition of the piece.

The cel this man was looking to sell is titled “The Mighty Duck” and depicts a scene from Disney’s The Hockey Champ (1939). It was already framed and both the piece itself and the frame were in excellent condition. The man also had the original certificate of authenticity to go with the cel – a major plus.

 

So I asked the man what he was looking to sell the piece for and he replied with a flat “$200.” I was familiar with the piece and new he was offering a great price, so I bought it. After paying the man, I asked where he had acquired the piece, and it turns out he bought it at a garage sale that was selling a large collection of cels. I asked him if he would mind sharing how much he paid for it. The man was afraid to answer me, fearing I would be upset at how much I had paid, so he simply said he got the piece at a “dirt cheap garage sale price.” The true retail value of this piece is over $1,000, so no matter what he made off of my purchase, I still got a great deal.

This story leads me to two main points:

1. The question I get asked most often: Are there still good deals at garage sales? Absolutely. It doesn’t matter what state, city or county you’re in, there will always be good deals if you’re looking in the right places.

2. Almost as important as #1, the people who originally sold this cel and others for dirt cheap were most likely given or inherited these cels from a family member. Odds are pretty good that they were simply downsizing and had no idea what this particular cel, or any others, were truly worth. So my advice goes as follows:

When you have valuable items in your home that aren’t commonly known for their value, you should keep an active list of your inventory. Be sure to include their appraised value, the appraisal itself and even a record of what you paid for them. This will help you ensure you are properly insuring your items in case of a theft of tragedy. An inventory list will also come in handy for any future owners of your possessions (think family inheritance or gifts). The last thing you would want is for a friend or family member to stick your items in the cheap section of their garage sale because they didn’t know how much they were truly worth.

 

With that, I’ll leave you with just one final thought:

A true garage sale millionaire always understands what his/her items are worth before they sell them.

The person that doesn’t know what they’re selling is the one that creates wealth for other garage sale millionaires.

Which person are you?

 

Good luck, and happy hunting!

-Aaron

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

 

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Reliving your childhood through toys from the past

With the holidays fast approaching, I’ve begun looking through my items and different collections for things I can part with. I plan to use my downsizing efforts to fund the presents I will buy for family friends (a great idea if you’re strapped for cash this year!). When I was looking through my items this past weekend, I came across an antique wind up race car tucked away in a cupboard. I took the key, wound it up and let the toy shoot across my desk. I was instantly reminded of all of my favorite childhood toys.

No, I’m not quite old enough to have played with tin toys as a child, but I did have a few great toys when I was a child, and that race car reminded me of all of them. That’s the beauty of a these kinds of antiques. Not only are they rare, and thus collectible, but they also carry a nostalgic quality that we all enjoy, making them even more desirable. The joy of receiving a quality toy that provides countless hours of entertainment and happiness can’t be rivaled.

Continue reading →

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Rusty Treasures

Last weekend I had the pleasure of travelling to Hartland, Ohio to the Hartville Marketplace and Flea Market. Together with Hartville Marketplace, we threw a “Rusty Treasures” event, inviting people from the area to bring in any items or collectibles they might want appraised. It was essentially an Antiques Road Show event, but in this case, I was the appraising expert.

Watching everyone come in with their different items, I realized that no matter how much you make or where you come from, there’s a very good chance that you have something in your own home, or even in your parents home, that has an unexpectedly high value.

 

Some of the highlights of my recent trip was seeing a signed, original photo of Orville Wright flying his first plane ever. I also saw an authentic Confederate Officer’s sword, a collection art deco, Warhol-esque paper dresses and a tin toy plane that I estimated to be worth about $2,500. Everyone had their own unique and interesting story of how they came into their item – most of them not paying a dime. Imagine finding out that a vase or statue you’ve had sitting in the corner is actually worth several hundred, or even several thousand dollars. Your reaction would most likely match the one I received most often this weekend: “I can’t believe how much this is worth!”

Experiences like this weekend do nothing but reinforce my mantra to never give up looking in your home, your parent’s home, garage sales or any other great treasure-hunting venue to find that one item that could be worth a great deal of money. If you would like to have a similar event, please feel free to contact me. Whether you have a church, a marketplace, or would like to put on a fun fundraiser, I’d love to help you put on a successful treasure-hunting event.

Good luck and happy hunting!

Aaron

 

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

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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.

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Being more tech savvy than your three-year-old

Have you ever felt that you’re behind the times in technology? I certainly do every time I see my three-year-old play with my wife’s iPad. He understands how to download new apps and play games…he uses it like he was born with it – which is more than I can say for myself!

There is a lot of technology available that can help a garage sale junky in their quest for the next best find. The trick is knowing how to use it.

Have you ever seen someone pull out their smart phone and wave it across a book or some other boxed item? They’re most likely using a smart phone app that reads the barcodes. A number of these apps can tell you what that particlar item is selling for on either eBay, Amazon or a range of other competitive websites.

This is a fantastic way to decide if it’s cheaper to buy the item online. It can also help a shopper decide if they can turn around and re-sell the item for a significant profit. Smartphone Apps prevent you from having to be an expert on every single item you come across. All you need is to be an expert on the up and coming technology.

So the next time you go to a garage sale, take a minute to download one of the many free barcode scanner apps and you too can be a high tech garage sale millionaire that’s grasped the technology of the 21st century.

Good luck and happy hunting!

- Aaron

 

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