A couple of weeks ago I talked about the yard sale list. It's very important for me and I keep it in my purse or glovebox all the time. I also have it stored on my multi-use cell phone for those times when I don't drive or take a purse (those times are getting more and more frequent).
At any rate, once you have your list created or updated, you're ready to go. There are a couple of ways to handle going to sales. I tend to be more spontaneous than I used to be and if I have a little extra time and see a sign in a neighborhood I like, I check it out, especially when it says, "Neighborhood Sale." These are fabulous because you can park in one place and visit anywhere from three to a dozen yard sales in the same couple of blocks. It's yard sale heaven.
Another way to handle it is to check the yard sales in your local newspaper and look them up on a map. You can choose which ones look best for you and plan a route that takes you as few miles as possible. With the high cost of gas right now, this way of yard saling is economical only if you can work it in with other shopping you would have done anyway, carpool, stay within a certain radius of home, or any combination thereof.
The neighborhoods I pick are important, too. No, I don't worry about safety, I worry about quality of goods and the expectation of the best prices. As with any generalities, these have proven themselves to be wrong on a few occasions but they tend to be accurate more often than they're not.
I choose mid-to-upper class neighborhoods. I pick areas where I believe the quality of merchandise going out the door is at least as high as the stuff I buy brand new--frequently better. I also base it on neighborhoods where people really just want to get rid of stuff and still feel they're doing their bit to save money. For the most part this works well. Every once in a while you run across someone like the woman who asked for my help at her yard sale and insisted on trying to charge antique and second hand store prices. That doesn't work at yard sales. She had a dress she purchased for over $100 marked for $50. I wouldn't have even looked at it for more than $15, possibly $10. She sold very little and complained bitterly about how yard sales don't work. For the most part, though, prices are below what you will find in the less affluent neighborhoods. The more economically challenged the neighborhood, the greater the possibility that they want to make as much money as they can, as fast as they can. Again, I happened to drop in on one because it had something that caught my eye and the prices were below just about anything I had ever seen. The goal was to get rid of everything, every single thing. It looked like it was working.
Speaking of what you should pay for items, the rule of thumb for me has always been approximately 10% of the original price of the item, assuming it's in good condition. There are a ton of exceptions to that rule but if you're looking for a wicker basket and you've seen them in the stores for $25, you should expect a price between $2 and $3.
As I say, there are tons of exceptions. I would never pay $2.50 for a hardcover book with an original sale price of $25. I would go as high as $1.50 but the going price for hard cover books is $1 and paperbacks are $0.50. There are times when technical books are priced higher. For example, I would pay $5 for a photography book that had originally cost $50.
Furniture can be a bit different as well. I've never seen a pat rule of thumb for how that is priced. Basically, for me, I'm willing to pay what I'm willing to pay, regardless of the original selling price. If they have a rather nice bookcase in pretty good condition, let's say about 30 or 40 years old, with a price tag of $75, I'm not going to get it. I can get a new one (lacking some of the character, of course) for $50. Unless I'm specifically looking for a period piece, that's going to play a big part in my decisions.
The most important things to consider when thinking about prices are, (1) know what this stuff costs when it's new--new today, not when it was manufactured and (2) know what the general yard sale prices are in your town. They'll vary from one city, state, province, etc., to the next.
Darn! I still have a bunch of stuff to talk about and I have to get a report done for work. I guess you can look forward to a part three--maybe even part four at the rate this is going.
Do you have any yard sale expertise to share? I'd love to hear about it. I'm always more than happy to give credit and link to your site or blog if I use something you don't mind me sharing. Just be sure to let me know when you send it and I'll do just as you wish.
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