There is a holiday for everything and August 11 is National Garage Sale Day! In celebration of one of my favorite past times, here’s some tips to navigate those sales your neighbors hold in their yards.
$ Haggle
Haggling has almost become almost extinct at thrift stores with their strict policies and high prices. But garage sales are a different ballgame! You’re dealing with real, unpaid people, usually at their homes, over stuff they’re eager to get rid of. Haggle a little!
(Read more about my grief with thrift store pricing in this post.)
$ Hand sanitizer
Any time you do any second hand shopping, I highly recommend carrying around hand sanitizer. A few months back I picked up a box that I thought was a little Disney bank and the box was leaking a mysterious liquid. Hand sanitizer to the rescue!
$ Batteries
This might be old hat to some people but it didn’t occur to me until I was at a sale once and they had a Walkman (cassette player) on sale for $9. The price was too steep for me to take a chance on so I asked if I could test it out. 10 minutes and 3 people later, someone finally found batteries. And guess what? It didn’t work! That’s also a big lesson to the seller that she should have tested her products before asking so much. (She didn’t know!)
On the plus side, I happened to be carrying a cassette tape in my purse for some unknown reason which came in handy to test the player. That counts for something, right? #80sGirlProblems
$ Smart phone
Besides safety reasons, carrying a smart phone comes in handy to research item values on the web to make sure you’re getting a good deal, snap pictures and get opinions from others, and use for directions to more sales. Win, win, win!
$ Comfy clothes
Lastly, your outfit should be doing you favors. My favorite garage sale uniform is leggings, a tunic, and flats (like this outfit). This sort of outfit allows for greater movement (like getting down low or reaching up high) as well as being simple enough to try clothes on over the top of since most sales don’t have dressing rooms.
(Though if you ask nicely or know the owner, they may let you use their bathroom!)
You might think thrift stores and garage sales are exactly the same but you definitely need to navigate them a little differently. Hopefully these few tips shed some light on the situation, help you out, and make your next garage sale outing a success!
Feel free to share your finds with me on social media. I’m @hannah_rupp on Instagram!
Did you like this post? Then be sure to Pin it or share it with your garage sale partner-in-crime!
