Garage sales can be a great way to find the things that you need at a frugal price. But, with the rise in gas prices, we all have to wonder if driving around to yard sales is even worth it. After all, if you spend $10 in gas and find very little in terms of bargains, then garage sales are just not worth it.
I have a hard time thinking about giving these sales up, though, because although garage sales can be hit or miss, they usually do pay off in the long run. So how do you minimize the cost when gas prices are so high? Here are some strategies.
Avoid the perpetual yard sales
Perpetual yards sales are those sales that appear week after week and resemble more of a business than an actual yard sale. The folks who put these sales on go and shop at other sales or go dumpster diving and curb shopping to collect items for free or for as little cost as possible. Then they turn around and sell the items in a “garage sale.” You’ll learn to spot these types of sales because they appear over and over again, are usually held in a garage or a barn instead of on the lawn, and contain a lot of rusty stuff. These sales charge more to make a profit, and are already picked over.
Watch out for multi-family sales
You might think that multifamily sales are a good thing, right? The more families the more stuff. But I have found that multifamily sales can be deceiving. Usually it is a sale of two friends who don’t have enough stuff to hold a sale alone, or it is a mother-in-law and her family or two roommates. Skip the multifamily sales and look for community sales instead, where there are multiple houses offering yard sales, and you can walk down a block or two that are laden with sales.
Mary Ann Romans writes about everything related to saving money in the Frugal Blog, technology in the Computing Blog, and creating a home in the Home Blog. Starting June 1st, don’t miss her articles in the Baby Blog. You can read more of her articles by clicking here.
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3 Ways to Save Money at a Garage Sale