Rules of Engagement: Navigating Your Way Through Yard Sales for Maximum Profit (and Fun!)

Spring, and a woman's fancy turns to romance, to daffodils, to the thrill of the hunt at the yard sales blossoming all over your community! As a veteran yard sale "addict" whose habit may never truly be fulfilled, I'd like to share some thoughts with gentle readers out there in cyberspace that I've learned from personal experience. These thoughts and suggestions are born not just by scouting down yard sales, but by also having hosted several of them myself in the recent past. Get your popcorn ready!

1. Be prepared. It works for the Scouts, it will work for you. The more effective you are in planning your yard sale ventures, the more successful you'll be. Read your local newspapers' classified sections starting on Wednesday of the upcoming weekend, in their "Garage and Yard Sales" sections. You can check this information not only by purchasing the paper, if you wish, but also by checking the online classifieds. Also check out Craigs List for yard sales being held in that area as well. Your town may also have an online web site that offers free space for residents wishing to publicize their yard sales, too. Another obvious source will be those ubiquitous big signs that folks like to plaster in the immediate vicinity of their sale. While the sign screams "YARD SALE", the pertinent details are all too often too small to read. Pull your car over safely on the side of the road and get out and read the sign, up close and personal. There's nothing worse than driving around like a crazed person trying to follow a set of blurry signs early on a Saturday morning. Take the time to actually read the darned thing in advance.

Once you've collected the dates, times and locations of yard sales in areas that are convenient for you, do some hard-nosed scheduling. You may want to hone in on sales in more affluent areas first. You may want to hit the largest sales first, or the ones that specify in their ads that they're offering something in which you're particularly interested (kitchenware, clothing in a specific size, furniture, "everything must go!"). Also check to see if any sales are starting on Friday of the weekend! Those are generally very rewarding, as you get first crack at merchandise that the rest of the civilized world must wait to see 24 hours later.

Now that you've sorted out the yard sales you'd like to visit by those categories - location, start time, merchandise offered, pricey neighborhoods - write them down in the order that you intend to follow. You can either carefully write down all of the information on your computer or take the ads themselves and sort them in a folder. If you have any questions about locations, that's why God invented Map Quest. Map out the exact location on your computer so you're not wandering down East Pearl Street at 7:30 A.M. on a Saturday morning, when you should be strolling down West Pearl Street instead. Print out a copy of the directions for locations that will be hard to find for you.

You can even Map Quest out a route for you to follow for the entire morning/day, if you'd like. Of course, that's hardly ever worked well for me because I get distracted too easily. I may see a sign for a (previously unadvertised) yard sale that neighbors a block away decided to have at the last minute, and toddled my way over there, throwing myself off of a (probably too rigid in the first place) schedule. If you do Map Quest out your route, be sure to look it over to make sure that you UNDERSTAND it before relying too heavily on following directions.

2. Have your cash in hand by Friday afternoon. Determine how much you're both willing and able to spend, based upon what you're looking for and what' s been advertised for sale. Stick by this rule! Otherwise, you'll end up at an ATM machine at 8:00 A.M. on a Saturday, paying $1.50 or more in ATM fees when you coulda/shoulda had the cash in hand the day before. Make sure that you have LOTS of dollar bills. If you're taking $100 cash with you, have $50 in larger bills ($20's and $10's), and the rest in dollars. Of those dollars, you may even want to have $5 or $10 in quarters, if you're able to haul that much in coinage around with you. Have one of those God-awful fanny packs or small nylon bags/totes in which to carry your money. It doesn't make any sense to keep it in your 'main' or good purse, which you'll only be weighing down. Put the bills in order: all dollar bills in one stack with a rubber band holding them together in $10 increments, all quarters in a plastic bag, etc. Be as organized as possible with your cash! Use letter-sized envelopes, rubber bands, whatever works, to keep denominations together and secure.

Also, clean out your car before you head out to yard sales! You don't want to have to cram stuff you've purchased into a car that you can already comfortably live in for at least a week. This is especially true if you're looking to purchase furniture, art work or other large items that must be hauled away by the buyer. Suppose you find a great framed painting or end tables, but you CAN'T FIT THEM INTO YOUR CAR because your purchases from LAST WEEK'S yard sale are still in there! AAAAAGH!

3. Frankly, you can get your best 'work' done if you're working alone! Of course, it's more fun if you go with a friend or even a group, but if you do, make sure that you're all on the same page: are you doing 'serious' shopping here, or just out for a morning of 'Hey, let's see what we can find!' If you're a person on a mission here, looking for something specific or to meet a specific goal, you're best equipped to meet that mission flying solo. A number of my friends hit yard sales looking for items for specific charities: children's clothing, toys or books, and buy in bulk, often getting the best prices that way (particularly if they tell the seller that the items are really intended for a charity). Other friends, like myself, are looking for specific items: certain types of collectibles or jewelry. If you are heading out with one or more friends, make sure everything knows ahead of time what the details and expectations will be. If you think you might get separated during the course of the morning, you might want to make sure that everyone knows each other's cell phone numbers. ("Joan, I'm beat, and Jerry just called and said he needs me home RIGHT NOW. The twins have thrown the cat into the sink to give it a bath, and I don't think Jerry can take on the two of them.")

4. Don't look like a slob when you hit yard sales. You don't need to wear your best jewelry or outfits, but you also don't want to look like someone whom the yard sale 'hosts' may consider calling local police about ('Is someone looking for a woman who may have wandered away from a nursing home over in Chester County?') Wear decent, clean clothing, put on a dash or two of makeup (lipstick, mascara will do nicely), do pull a brush through your hair, and do brush your teeth before you leave the house! Sellers are more apt to deal favorably with a well-groomed person than someone who looks like they've shown up to do their lawn.

5. Be polite but firm! If there's something that you'd like to see but can't reach (it's too high on a shelf, it's located on a table in the back of the garage), ask nicely if the seller will oblige. If you have questions about an article, ask. If you want to make an offer on an item, don't be afraid of doing this. Many yard sale sellers price items with the expectation that people will ask for a lower price anyway. You have literally nothing to lose but false pride by NOT asking, and you can save a ton of money by politely inquiring. This IS a yard sale, not a Sotheby's auction. The idea is for a) the sellers to have little, if anything, to clean up after the sale is over, and b) buyers to go home happy with bargains that they can actually use. Sellers will also look more favorably on your offer if you want to purchase a grouping of items (a box of books, a box of toys, a pile of linens, etc.) at a discounted price.

6. Look for items that are brand new! You'd be surprised how many people stash stuff that they've bought, or received as a gift, and never opened up or used. Hone in on those items first! You may not be able to use the item yourself, but perhaps there's someone else in your circle of family or friends who can. Who knows, you may even be able to re-sell the item yourself (since it's brand new with tags!) on Ebay for perhaps a tidy profit.

7. When you first get to the yard sale and spy something that looks like you might want it/looks like a good deal/definitely has your name written all over it, PICK IT UP and carry it around with you as you continue to browse. Don't put it in your purse or a bag, unless you want the seller to briskly escort you to your car. That smacks of thievery. Hanging on to items that you might/really want as you continue to check out the merchandise guarantees that it's yours until you set it back down. You might even want to ask the seller if you could "start a little pile" and graciously put your (potential) purchases in a secure part of the garage or yard. After you've browsed everything available for sale, go over your "prospective" purchases carefully. If the copper wall plate that looked so appealing 10 minutes earlier now, upon closer inspection, has too many tarnished areas, gently put it back with the rest of the stuff still for sale. The key here is: grab it before someone else does!

8. Don't automatically turn your nose up at articles of clothing. Just because someone else has worn it or carried it doesn't mean that it's no longer fit for human wear. Things can be washed/dry cleaned, you know. Check the labels, and know which designers are worth a second look, and which ones aren't. Don't waste money on chain store/discount store clothing (Kohl's, Old Navy, Target, K Mart); those items were cheap enough to begin with and probably won't last one more spin through the washer, though. While handbags are perfectly acceptable to purchase, really, really re-think purchasing someone else's shoes. There's just something plain wrong about putting your bare little tootsies where someone else's have already tread.

9. Other articles to steer clear from include pillows, opened bottles of perfume and cosmetics, panty hose (this should go without saying!), socks, underwear, hair brushes and products, and, quite often, sheets and blankets. Buying sheets and blankets as bedding for your pets or for other uses (i.e., those in which they won't come in direct contact with your body) are okay, and can be quite good buys. Quilts are often very good buys, too, particularly if you consider using them as wall hangings or decorative art.

10. If you do find something and do ask for a better price, suppose that the seller refuses your offer - what next? Well, actually - nothing. Do not get dramatic or overly emotional. Do not take it personally (unless, of course, you did not brush your teeth and hair before leaving the house, your clothing reeks of cigarette smoke, and you're wearing your oldest son's dirty sweatshirt over ripped jeans). There's no rhyme or reason as to how people price things for yard sales, although the underlying rule of thumb is that they should be "bargains": the seller wants/needs to dispose of this stuff at pretty much any cost. Don't be embarrassed; nothing ventured, nothing gained. Continue looking around to see if there's anything else that you'd like to do; there's no need to go storming down the driveway, wadded-up cash in hand because the seller wouldn't come down in price. Feel free to either meet the seller's price or, if you're feeling especially feisty, counter-offer your own price. Again, nothing ventured, ...

The most important thing to know about venturing out to yard sales? Are you having fun yet, are you?! It's really all about snagging a few - or more - amazing bargains and feeling good about yourself while doing it!