cyberdan
Silver Member
- Dec 12, 2006
- 4,596
- 2,220
- Detector(s) used
- XLT & Bigfoot
- Primary Interest:
- All Treasure Hunting
This is an excerpt form my second e-book STOP for GOLD
(blatent plug - available on DVD through ebay)
PLEASE DO NOT COPY THIS TO OTHER PARTS OF THE INTERNET IT IS FOR YOU GUYS & GALS ONLY
===============================================
HOW TO FIND THE YARD SALES
I only use the Internet to find listed yard sales. At the end of this story are the web sites I use. Many people do not think ahead when listing. I have seen very interesting sales advertised with lots of good items but the person forgot to put the address. Or, they try and give turn by turn driving directions and no address. If you don't live local you have no idea where it is located. Also, check out the classified section in your local paper but the Internet is faster. The yard sales will probably only be published once a week on Thursday or Friday.
There are always about 30 to 50, all within a 15-mile drive. But I like to stay within a several-mile radius of my home. The cost of gas is a deciding factor in the distance I will drive when planning my route.
This is how I plan my route:
1) Using your favorite source(s) go through the yard sale listings. Write down the address of the ones you would like to visit and give each a number. If there are any that sound particularly interesting make a note of these.
2) Find some shiney pennies and take a black marker and number these also. So that I do not ruin my map book I copied the pages of my general area and taped them together to form a larger map. Now, using the index from the book, look up each address and put the page and grid number (example 677 E6) next to your address on the list. Some books come with a CD that replaces the index. It is much faster this way. After all locations have their number put penny number one on the map's grid to match address number one. They do not need to rest on the exact address for this step. Do this with all locations even if there are way more addresses than you know you will be able to visit.
3) Look at your map, a pattern will have emerged. Some will be clustered close to each other and you will probably have a few singles way out of the way. Those will burn extra gas just to visit so I eliminate them right away. Most of the time I will plan about twenty to twenty-five stops. But going from one location to the next I will see signs and many times I will follow them to a close-by location not on my original route. Sometimes I may hit more than a dozen unplanned stops. I rarely go to every location on my planned route. But, I always get to more than twenty, or even thirty sales, every Saturday.
Definitely go to the sales clustered in one area. Now is the time to decide your first destination. If you can route out a loop that would be the way to go. My average loop is about 45 miles. What number is on the penny of your first intended stop? Go to your written list and find that number. Write the full address on a different piece of paper. Label it as your first stop. Now do the same for all the others. This will be the order of attack.
4) Get a good night's rest as most yard sales start at 7:00 or 8:00 Saturday morning.
5) Now here is where a good satellite navigator comes in handy. Enter the first address and you are on your way, follow the turn by turn directions. Mine has never been wrong yet. As I mentioned earlier I only plan twenty to twenty-five stops. I know I will not get to all of them because of the many people that only put up signs and don't advertise. So on my way to each destination I usually make many unplanned stops. I know it throws off my schedule but it seems the unplanned stops produce the most gold and silver. If someone advertises they have jewelry a lot of my competition hit those first.
Follow the signs to each destination. If you follow a sign to an unplanned sale don't worry about getting lost or turned around. The navigator knows exactly where your original destination was and will recalculate a new way to get to your next address. Sometimes I think mine actually gets annoyed with me constantly not following "her" directions. She likes to say, "make a U turn when safe" over and over.
6) Look for the signs. There are all types of YARD SALE signs. Some are professionally printed and can be spotted half a block away. Others are so amateurish that I am sure a 5th grader did them with crayons. I apologize to any 5th graders who have good artistic and penmanship skills. I like to drive in the "slow" lane when going to each new location. When I get close to a new side street I take a quick glance, left and right, for anything that could be a sign attached to a post or tree. Of course, if you have to slow down, make sure no one is riding your bumper. Hopefully the sellers just use arrows, with lots of signs to show you the way. Sometimes they will just scribble an address with a different street's name. If I do not know the area I will just pass on that sale. I do not want to reprogram a new address in the navigator because later I will have to bring up the old address before continuing to my chosen destination.
7) After each planned stop enter the next address in your list. If you will be driving a few miles between sales try to use main streets that go through residential areas, more chances of spotting un-advertised yard sales. Your navigator will get you to the right destination.
(blatent plug - available on DVD through ebay)
PLEASE DO NOT COPY THIS TO OTHER PARTS OF THE INTERNET IT IS FOR YOU GUYS & GALS ONLY
===============================================
HOW TO FIND THE YARD SALES
I only use the Internet to find listed yard sales. At the end of this story are the web sites I use. Many people do not think ahead when listing. I have seen very interesting sales advertised with lots of good items but the person forgot to put the address. Or, they try and give turn by turn driving directions and no address. If you don't live local you have no idea where it is located. Also, check out the classified section in your local paper but the Internet is faster. The yard sales will probably only be published once a week on Thursday or Friday.
There are always about 30 to 50, all within a 15-mile drive. But I like to stay within a several-mile radius of my home. The cost of gas is a deciding factor in the distance I will drive when planning my route.
This is how I plan my route:
1) Using your favorite source(s) go through the yard sale listings. Write down the address of the ones you would like to visit and give each a number. If there are any that sound particularly interesting make a note of these.
2) Find some shiney pennies and take a black marker and number these also. So that I do not ruin my map book I copied the pages of my general area and taped them together to form a larger map. Now, using the index from the book, look up each address and put the page and grid number (example 677 E6) next to your address on the list. Some books come with a CD that replaces the index. It is much faster this way. After all locations have their number put penny number one on the map's grid to match address number one. They do not need to rest on the exact address for this step. Do this with all locations even if there are way more addresses than you know you will be able to visit.
3) Look at your map, a pattern will have emerged. Some will be clustered close to each other and you will probably have a few singles way out of the way. Those will burn extra gas just to visit so I eliminate them right away. Most of the time I will plan about twenty to twenty-five stops. But going from one location to the next I will see signs and many times I will follow them to a close-by location not on my original route. Sometimes I may hit more than a dozen unplanned stops. I rarely go to every location on my planned route. But, I always get to more than twenty, or even thirty sales, every Saturday.
Definitely go to the sales clustered in one area. Now is the time to decide your first destination. If you can route out a loop that would be the way to go. My average loop is about 45 miles. What number is on the penny of your first intended stop? Go to your written list and find that number. Write the full address on a different piece of paper. Label it as your first stop. Now do the same for all the others. This will be the order of attack.
4) Get a good night's rest as most yard sales start at 7:00 or 8:00 Saturday morning.
5) Now here is where a good satellite navigator comes in handy. Enter the first address and you are on your way, follow the turn by turn directions. Mine has never been wrong yet. As I mentioned earlier I only plan twenty to twenty-five stops. I know I will not get to all of them because of the many people that only put up signs and don't advertise. So on my way to each destination I usually make many unplanned stops. I know it throws off my schedule but it seems the unplanned stops produce the most gold and silver. If someone advertises they have jewelry a lot of my competition hit those first.
Follow the signs to each destination. If you follow a sign to an unplanned sale don't worry about getting lost or turned around. The navigator knows exactly where your original destination was and will recalculate a new way to get to your next address. Sometimes I think mine actually gets annoyed with me constantly not following "her" directions. She likes to say, "make a U turn when safe" over and over.
6) Look for the signs. There are all types of YARD SALE signs. Some are professionally printed and can be spotted half a block away. Others are so amateurish that I am sure a 5th grader did them with crayons. I apologize to any 5th graders who have good artistic and penmanship skills. I like to drive in the "slow" lane when going to each new location. When I get close to a new side street I take a quick glance, left and right, for anything that could be a sign attached to a post or tree. Of course, if you have to slow down, make sure no one is riding your bumper. Hopefully the sellers just use arrows, with lots of signs to show you the way. Sometimes they will just scribble an address with a different street's name. If I do not know the area I will just pass on that sale. I do not want to reprogram a new address in the navigator because later I will have to bring up the old address before continuing to my chosen destination.
7) After each planned stop enter the next address in your list. If you will be driving a few miles between sales try to use main streets that go through residential areas, more chances of spotting un-advertised yard sales. Your navigator will get you to the right destination.
