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10 tips: How to hit the jackpot at yard sales

Whether you're a devotee of yard sales or the kind of person who simply gets dragged along to them, you can greatly improve the experiences you have at these events with a little bit of advance planning.

By Laura T. Coffey, Times Correspondent
Published June 24, 2007

Whether you're a devotee of yard sales or the kind of person who simply gets dragged along to them, you can greatly improve the experiences you have at these events with a little bit of advance planning:

1 Map out your route. Check your newspaper's classified section and look for geographical concentrations of good sales. You can do the same thing online at this Craigslist link for the Tampa Bay area tampa.craigslist.org/gms/. Decide where you want to go before you leave home so you don't get lost or waste time and gasoline.

2 Know the drill. Neighborhood or streetwide sales and sales at churches, schools and nonprofit organizations tend to offer the biggest and best variety. Sales in affluent neighborhoods typically have higher-quality items, although they may be overpriced. It usually isn't practical to shop for baby clothes in a retirement community or antiques in a neighborhood with jungle gyms in every backyard.

3 Strategize about when and how to shop. If you go early in the day, you'll get the best selection; if you go late in the day, you'll get the best prices. Always try to get the seller to name a price before blurting out what you'd be willing to spend.

4 Remember, you're after bargains. Be aware of how much it would cost to buy an item new, and pay 10 percent or less for it. Pay up to 25 percent for something you really want. Bring plenty of small bills and change.

5 Haggle. It might not be nice to haggle over some purchases - say, items in the $1-and-less bin - but don't be afraid to haggle over items you care about. Leave your phone number with the seller if you can't agree on a price.

6 Take items on a test drive. Examine the condition of any item. Open the drawers, plug in appliances, check clothing and books for mildew and hold vinyl record albums flat to see whether they're warped. Look inside boxes.

7 Expect great deals on clothes. You can find plenty of inexpensive clothes because they're generally poor sellers. When buying for kids, don't put complete confidence in the size on the label. The garment has likely been washed many times, so it may have shrunk.

8 Know when to say no. The Consumer Product Safety Commission recommends you do not buy certain items at yard sales, including: soft bedding for babies, car seats, cribs, accordion-style baby gates, zippered bean-bag chairs and hair dryers with plain plugs. If you have a question about a specific item, call the commission's hot line tollf-free at 1-800-638-2772.

9 Care for potential purchases. Pick up any items you may want and carry them around with you until you make a final decision. If you don't, chances are someone else will snatch them up. Drive around with a bag or bags and some extra newspapers so you can wrap up breakables and prevent purchases from rolling around inside your vehicle.

10 See the big picture. Examine items not only for their primary uses but for their potential uses. Imagine how an item could look in the future with a little TLC. But if you know you'll never restore an item that needs some help, don't buy it.

Laura T. Coffey (laura@tentips.org)

Sources: YardSaleQueen.com (www.yardsalequeen.com); Frugal Fun Tips (www.frugalfun.com); Consumer Product Safety Commission (www.cpsc.gov).

[Last modified June 22, 2007, 22:19:34]