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 [email protected]
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