I was taught the art of “Garage Saling” by the late great Pat Kelley and my BFF Crissy. From interesting art to everyday necessities the garage sales, yard sales, rummage sales or whatever you call them in your neck of the woods are a great way to find treasures for your life at a fraction of retail costs and are a great way to make a little money and pass along items that you may not need but still have a lot of life left in them! I have tried to use the opportunity to also teach my kids about money by giving them a set price and letting them find things they want and need –developing their math and life skills. They don’t always have a lot of patience for my “shopping” but I love when they find something they really love!
What has always bothered me about going out to garage sale is the lack of a plan for direction and the wasting of gas and time that can go along with it. Most garage sales in our area are not listed in the newspaper because a 2 day ad is over $ 40 and that leaves us to wander neighborhoods looking for signs.
When I host a garage sale, I also forgo the ad because of cost and try and get as much signage up as possible, sometimes adding a balloon or two to attract attention to my hot pink signs. When I was asked to check out Garage Sale Tracker.com I was intrigued.
Garage Sale Tracker.com is FREE for both buyers AND sellers!! Check out the advantages…
Seller Features :
* Save money!!! FREE YARD SALE LISTINGS FOR A LIMITED TIME ONLY.
* More time. Get up to two months exposure for your garage sale. More time means more potential buyers.
* Add images to your listing for FREE.
* Increased visibility for your yard sale
Buyer Features:
* FREE to use. Find garage sales using either the search or browse sales tools.
* Filter results. Use the “Items for sale” tool to find yard sales selling exactly what you want.
* Imbedded driving directions. Driving directions to the garage sale are provided on the site. No more copying and pasting address to get driving directions.
* Automated driving directions. Create an account and get automated routing instructions to all garage sales.
* Contact the seller. Have a question about an item on a garage sale listing? Call the seller (*if they list a phone number) or use the contact form at the bottom of each listing to contact the seller via email.
All of these features are fabulous and will make planning time and trips for garage sales easy peasy for sure! I have already mentioned Garage Sale Tracker.com to a few friends to use and I hope that people who are hosting garage sales all over will sign up with this great tool so I can find them on Saturday morning!!!
I am far from a seasoned garage sale’r so if you have any great tips I hope you will share them with me in the comments! What was your best find and what are your secrets to geting the great deals??
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My tip is to check for sales on Fridays and head out as close to 8pm as possible. You will find the best selection and up your chance for finding things you are looking for.