It's Time To Create A "Database" Of Repeat Garage Sales

[Junk_Puppet]

I am sure you guys know the frustration of the 17 minute drive to the house you have already been to earlier in the season or the season before. I am going to throw a scratch pad in my side door and keep track of these picked and re-picked and picked again sales. I have been burned to many times pulling up to these sales...

 

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[mojjax]

I have a few repeat garage sales that are excellent , and many more that I avoid .

 

[Junk_Puppet]

The repeats I have been lured to stink on ice

 

[cyberdan]

there is an estate sale company that places ads that look just like yard sales ads. after going to my second one I had a few words with one of the workers now I avoid them when I drive up and recognise their "on property" sign. (after wasting my time getting there) But luckily other yardsales are usually close by and I didn't completely waste my gas.

 

[Beans]

Since I limit to how far I will drive to a yard sale I pretty much know which ones are repeat and where they got their stuff. Yard sale on x street not going there..Estate sale hey I see those guys all the time not going there..... Garage sale toys, family stuff, records.... there that is where I am going. Those with out the key words of gold silver antiques etc.

 

[mojjax]

Last Saturday I went to one that was listed in our local newspaper - I saw a big Sign - INDIAN TRAIL ANTIQUES - i turned around and went to other sales , where I found good stuff . I put their address in my data base - I have a folder going on now .

Good post Junk_P

 

[Sam Cobra]

I sincerely hope people don't do this with our own yard sales. I just had a yard sale 3 weeks ago. I just purchased a storage unit & every item I am putting out in my next sale was not in the previous sale. I make it a point to clear the decks so to speak. The only caveat is if someone wants to see something I had out in an earlier sale & I will bring it out if I still have it. I can relate to what you are saying. Your saying certain people have ongoing yard sales & put out the same things out & never lower their prices? I find that even with repeat sales, sellers bring out new items or you may see something you missed earlier. It depends on the seller.

There is an ongoing sale that has had a couple of sales in the past month. The male half decided to bring out his stuff in the later sale & I picked up some really nice 1960's MLB scorecards / yearbooks. If I had bypassed the sale because they had an earlier sale(s), i would have missed out. It only takes a couple of minutes to check it out. If everything looks familiar, you move on.

The only yard sales I despise as a collector / seller, is seeing piles of baby clothes & dollar store junk. Good Luck with your finds.

 

[CladSpends2]

Last Saturday I went to one that was listed in our local newspaper - I saw a big Sign - INDIAN TRAIL ANTIQUES - i turned around and went to other sales , where I found good stuff . I put their address in my data base - I have a folder going on now .

Good post Junk_P

Scott, this is too funny, cuz I actually went there too, but the ys was a house or two above the antique shop. Although, they either lived close enough to the shop to know what their antique items were worth, or were possibly family members.

 

[mojjax]

Scott, this is too funny, cuz I actually went there too, but the ys was a house or two above the antique shop. Although, they either lived close enough to the shop to know what their antique items were worth, or were possibly family members.

Last year I went there , they had very nice stuff , but with Antique shop prices . This year I just used their driveway to turn around and go somewhere else .

 

[OldSowBreath]

Seems like half of our pro estates sales here are listed as "Estate Sale of a Former Antique Dealer". Run. Run away. I did go to one recently because it had two house and outbuildings, "all full". And there was hoardes of stuff. None of it interesting or profitable. Since I made the long drive, I did pick up a baggie of about 30 pair of cufflinks, thinking the chances would be good that there would be some named ones or 10k or 14k ones (wrong). There was a $3.00 price tag on the bag. Checkout girl goes, "That's not the price. We didn't put that on there. That'll be $10.00."

So here they are, estate selling an antique store where nothing sold, and in professional estate sale logic, they increased the prices.

 

[Keith Jackson]

So here they are, estate selling an antique store where nothing sold, and in professional estate sale logic, they increased the prices.

Sounds like my local Goodwill. I always laugh going in there and seeing yard sale "leftovers" with the yard sale price stickers still on them with a higher priced Goodwill sticker, too. They do the same thing with Target store clearance items that are donated. If the item didn't sell for $5 in the store, why would someone now pay $9 for it?

 

[kennedyfan]

Here is what I've been doing: When I collect up a list of addresses to go visit, I type them into a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet has an auto-complete feature so that if I start to type in an address that I've visited before -- even years ago when I started this! -- it will pop up, which warns me to not go visit that address again.

Doesn't work for inexact addresses (e.g. "3200 block of Jackson Ave.") but it has saved me from visiting many houses I've been to already!

 

[AwakenYouthful]

I always check on google maps to see all the houses and streets ahead of time. Usually just seeing an aerial view of the house and street is enough to evoke memories of being there before.

 

[cyberdan]

I sincerely hope people don't do this with our own yard sales.

The ones that do this all the time are usually "estate" sales where grandma is hidden in the background and the prices are high. You can tell by the signs many times. They are made to last and look well used.

It only takes a couple of minutes to check it out. If everything looks familiar, you move on.

Yes, but sometimes 10-15 min to get there.

........is seeing piles of baby clothes & dollar store junk.

I can spot that as I drive up. illegals love these sales. and have no idea how to park. many times they block the street in their uninsured cars. I once got to a yard sale early and the lady had a drive way filled with clothes. everyone neatly folded and in neat rows. I told her that would not last very long and she had no idea what I was talking about.

 

[cyberdan]

Seems like half of our pro estates sales here are listed as "Estate Sale of a Former Antique Dealer". Run. Run away.

never thought about that before. Not more than 10 min ago I deleted an email saying the exact same thing.

 

[thebirdflu]

I have a mental "blacklist" of local addresses that put out the same crap every few months. I live in a small town so it's easy to remember which ones to avoid.

On a related note - do you all remember when and where you bought most of your items? I have only been doing this for a few years but I can generally remember where I got my deals and most of the time how much I paid for them too.

 

[ARC]

My trick is this...

IF on craigslist... after adding to my list... I X the add... It will not come back up.

Blocking an addy or using a # search works as well.

I also avoid any sales with a phone #... they are dead ends.
They have been cold called already mostly.

 

[GarageSaleKing]

I know what you are saying. Although I would not make a list for it. Personally, I will go to someones garage sale once per year. Often, I have good luck with the same houses year after year. The problem I have is with those who have multiple sales per year. Then, I will either recognize their address or just drive by when I see the house.