Yard Sale Treasures
My amazing deals using my patent-pending yard sale system
I have a theory that the best time for yard sales is after Labour Day. this is because most yard "sailors" have already packed up for the year but there are still people desperate to get rid of their crap before the cold weather really sets in.
Of course, Saturday morning is yard sale morning. I try to get out of the house without Patti and the kids. That's hard since they usually want to come along. Their presence reduces my "yard sale efficiency co-efficient" by a factor of at least fifty, but even with them along I can still have a successful day. I always hit church sales first; because they are big and because the people there have already resigned themselves to the fact that all the money is going to god, so because they know they won't be seeing any of the money, they don't really care what I offer for an item.
Next I hit the street sales where an entire neighbourhood can actually coordinate a sale together on the same day, which I always find amazing. And on the way to church/street sales I might have little individual/ family garage sales marked on my map - if they are on the way.
And I don't usually discriminate by area or town, but I usually don't spend any time in really scummy areas.
Family yard sales hosted by people my age are usually lucrative, while those hosted by raisins (old folk) can be a crap shoot. Buddy, your blunted, rusty, 50-year-old screwdriver isn't worth $5 bucks! The absolute best family yard sales are the ones where the raisin's kids are having the garage sale for the raisin because the raisin doesn't need any of his stuff at all anymore - if you know what I mean. In Peterborough, Ontario there are A LOT of raisin-kids sales...
Here's the results of yesterday's voyage around town with Patti and the kids in tow. Let's see how we did.
- (from left) Adidas handbag plus various Ty Beanie babies and a coupleof toys for Ellie - ~$5?
- A garage creeper for me, dusty but in perfect condition. Especially needed because of a moment's inattention on my part caused by Patti recently that made me run over my existing creeper with the mini-van...$0.50
- A closet organizer system. New in sealed box. For Patti's bedroom closet. We've wanted one of these for a while but have been putting off buy one because of the installation time. $5
- Eight paperback novels - ~$4
- A bi-level wooden tray with a built-in ceramic trivet (for hot coffee) a slot for magazines or newspapers, and a cut out for flowers. Homemade but nicely done - $1
- Two disposable BBQs and two large citronella bucket candles (for camping trips.) All sealed and new. - $3.50
- A set of stainless-steel BBQ tools. New in sealed box. We needed these because our cheap 10-year-old steel tools have rusted. $5
- (in the cardboard box) A candle set - each candle sits in a miniature tea cup - free.
- Black halogen floor lamp. - $1.00
- Two Lego Technics sets plus various Bionicles, Beanie Babies, and misc toys for Nik - ~$4?
- For Patti, two painted tins buckets in odd shapes, plus some wicker globe thing (obscured by blue cooler) that holds a candle - $5?
- For me, small blue cooler/ lunch box and a wooden photo-cube - $3.
Our grand total was less than $35. (We actually spent more than that on Timmies and McDonalds for breakfast) Of the things I was going to buy anyway, I figure the creeper would have cost me $50, the organizer $80, and the BBQ tools - $40. The rest is gravy.
This wasn't our best yard sale day by a long shot, but it was up there.
