My Strange hobby Thrift Shopping and Yard sales- do you yard sale or Not?

Do you like to go to yard sales or flea markets or second hand shops?

This weekend is the kick off of summers fun activity of yard sailing-I could buy things in stores but I don't normally like current styles-I tend to like things for several years before I buy new.  I like to see what people have used for house decorations or ideas of gardens. I guess I pay attention too  much to other details about peoples yards etc. I enjoy driving down the back roads and seeing whatever is there. Sometimes we discover property for sale that we didn't know was down there.

And sometimes we get to pet a kitty or a doggy or chirp at a bird and most people are happy to brag about their fur children.

So do you guys have certain things you look for?

Me-books- surprise-clothing-pants in particular- and always looking for clothing made out of 100% linen-its my go to for hot steamy days-cooler than cotton.

And then we often find some hole in the wall place to eat. .

Not so much, but we will stop if a sale looks interesting.

I'm usually looking for cookbooks or something for outside in the yard that's not real tacky. As a rule, I don't buy kitchen items or anything like that. I can't really say what I'm looking for because I don't know.....until I see it! 

My sister found a really neat concrete gargoyle at a yard sale one time and it was almost a steal. The worst part was trying to get it home on my BIL's truck. But they managed and said gargoyle is "guarding" their pool now.

I love looking at consignment shops and thrift stores for furniture.  And Books and stuff at yard sales and thrift stores.  Unfortunately my house is too full of furniture right now.

I like to go to yard sales.. you never know what you'd find!

Things I typically look for:

Vintage My Little Pony (From the 80s)

Other 80's toys

Fish tanks/aquariums (currently on the hunt for a 75 gal one)

Pre-War Lionel Toy Trains for my dad

Unique cat-related trinkets

I like yard sales and thrift stores. I generally don't have certain things in mind when I go. I just like to look. I don't buy a lot of clothing there. When I do, I bring it home and go ahead and launder it.
I buy books and bring home free magazines. Sometimes I find kitchen things I like. I am looking now for an apple baker saucer. They are expensive to buy them on Ebay

I don't yard sale now, but only because I don't have a car.  I do go to thrift shops whenever my neighbor wants to go, which is regularly.  I'm amazed at some of the stuff I find there for next to nothing! 

Back when I had a car, the best haul I ever got from a yard sale was a antique iron cauldron, fully 3 feet in diameter.  I bought a round glass tabletop and it was my coffee table for years.

When my Aunt was alive we used to go to garage sales quite a bit.  I don't drive anymore so I don't typically go now. Plus I have a lot of back pain so I can't walk or stand for very long, which makes going to flea markets and second hand stores nearly impossible for me.  I do miss it though.  I've gotten some pretty good deals.  I bought a complete aquarium for my nephew once.  It was a fair size and it was new.  The people bought it but decided against it in the end.

When I did go to garage sales I found that you had to get there really early to get good things, because there are professional yard salers who go around buying up stuff and reselling it for a higher price either in other garage sales, or on eBay. 

Where I live you are only allowed to have a certain number of garage sales per year, otherwise you are considered a "business" and need to have a permit.  I'm not sure how the city monitors how many garage sales a person has though.

I prefer to sleep in on Saturdays and then putter around the house.  

My husband has a talent for finding good outdoor kids toys though.  Our kids Cozy Coupe, Little Tikes basketball hoop, a plastic tricycle and the toy box for the shed (holds things like balls, Frisbees, etc) all came from roadside sales.  Oh yes; he found a toddler size picnic table too.  A couple things were free even.  

I don't go to many yard sales, but I stopped by Goodwill today to stock up on books.  I love to browse through thrift stores, and antique shops.  I love carnival glass and once I rode past a yard sale and saw a ton of it. Unfortunately, I was on my way a doctor's appointment and couldn't stop.  Of course, by the time the appointment was over, the carnival glass was gone.  

nurseangel said:

 
 I love carnival glass and once I rode past a yard sale and saw a ton of it. Unfortunately, I was on my way a doctor's appointment and couldn't stop.  Of course, by the time the appointment was over, the carnival glass was gone.  

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I would have stopped anyway.  Chances of a doctor being on time for their appointments is usually slim.  So I have no problem being a little late for my appointments. I have waited hours to see a doctor, so they can wait on me

I used to have a really nice carnival glass bowl, in golden tones.   One of my friends came over with her kids and they ended up breaking it.  I was super ticked off, but of course I said the polite thing "Oh, that's ok. What's important is that they weren't hurt!"  And when they left I cursed loudly.

Natalie_ca said:

 
When my Aunt was alive we used to go to garage sales quite a bit.  I don't drive anymore so I don't typically go now. Plus I have a lot of back pain so I can't walk or stand for very long, which makes going to flea markets and second hand stores nearly impossible for me.  I do miss it though.  I've gotten some pretty good deals.  I bought a complete aquarium for my nephew once.  It was a fair size and it was new.  The people bought it but decided against it in the end.

When I did go to garage sales I found that you had to get there really early to get good things, because there are professional yard salers who go around buying up stuff and reselling it for a higher price either in other garage sales, or on eBay. 

Where I live you are only allowed to have a certain number of garage sales per year, otherwise you are considered a "business" and need to have a permit.  I'm not sure how the city monitors how many garage sales a person has though.

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We had a couple yard sales, one to get rid of some of my late Aunt's things and then one when my parents' downsized. We specifically advertised an 8:00 a.m. start, only to walk out the front door at 6:00 to work on getting things ready....and found 3 cars in the driveway and people walking around! I told them to leave, that we had said 8:00 and we weren't ready for them. One woman asked me to take the sheets off the tables, so she could "take a quick peek". I told her again to please leave. She got really huffy said she wouldn't be back, but we saw her again right around 9:30 or so. 

My co-worker was at a yard sale and he bought a Le Creuset set of 3 Dutch ovens! For $25! Now that was a great find! I can never find anything like that! I'd have snapped those puppies up in a heartbeat!   

In our area, you are allowed 3 yard sales a year. You need to get a zoning permit to have your sale, but I don't think you have to pay for the permit; that's how we keep track of them. There are people who would have yard sales every weekend if allowed and, in some neighborhoods, it can create real traffic problems and safety problems. People will park on others' property if they can't find a parking space; they'll walk on other people's yards, they don't care. We had to stop a family from doing too many yard sales.....it can really get ridiculous after a while. Signs are regulated; you have to take your signs down every night and put them back up in the morning. I used to hate being a zoning officer in the summer because of all the yard sales.

I used to have a lot of yard sales when we lived on a major highway. I sold a car once in a yard sale there. Since we moved and we live in such an isolated area, I got in the habit of donating thing to the thrift stores.

Back about 20 years ago, my mom, a couple friends of hers and I used to do what we called "g'ragin'" every Saturday. It started with just going around to a few garage and yard sales, then going to lunch. Then we started checking out the paper and eventually we'd have a whole route planned every Saturday. Some folks thought it beneath them until they saw all the cool stuff we'd bring home. Yes, some of it was pure and utter crap, but sometimes there were some really neat things! And every now and then we had a few other folks join us. Was loads of fun. I miss it.

The CRAZIEST thing we ever bought at a garage sale? A dog. Yes, a dog. There was a couple that had a Shih-Tzu they were selling, wanted $300 for her. She was 8 years old they said, and apparently their toddler wasn't being nice to her, so instead of educating the toddler, they opted to sell the garage at the garage sale. Mom said she'd give them $30.00 and that no one in their right mind would pay $300 for an 8 year old dog, and they took it. We had her for a good 5-6 years (the vet thought she was more like 10-12 when we got her), but to this day still can't believe someone had done that.

I got married, moved to MD, bought a house and had a kid within a year.  Since we weren't really sure how much it would cost to have a kid, we bought all the gear; crib, high chair, stroller and some other stuff at yard sales.  We did buy a new car seat though.  Most of our big kid toys came from yard sales too.

The best thing I found was a lawn swing for $35 ten years ago. I still have it but the canvas is stripped. The cover broke because one of the cata thought it would be funny to jump onto it from the roof. So that was six years ago. This cat learned how to climb a ladder and hung out on the roof. That was Flash. She must have thought it would make a nice bed and then I saw a hole in it with claw marks. Cats!

I have found tons of linen shirts for a $1 whoch I need because I burn in the sun. Red/blonde hair. Burn first then tan.

I used to do the flea market but only books. I used to sell clothes at $2-$4 each after paying $.25 but I washed and pressed it. Probably didn't make much money but I sold a ton of jeans for almost ten years in salem nh to those who ised to ship them overseas. I found them for $.50 at salvation army then sold em $4 or 3/$10 and filled my truck up every sat night. It was hard work but I got to the point where I could size you up and figure out your style based on what you were wearing.

So that all started from a yard sale I had at 19 yrs old at my exs. I stuffed the leftovers in my hatchback and sunday hit the flea. Made $60 on stuff I was going to throw away. After that I bought clothes to resell.

Once the cheap proces dried up I switched to paperbacks in hollis nh. Five years of that.bacl breaking work. I quit in 2010. I don't miss it.

I've always been a wheeler dealer but I try not to be rude. I would never step on a lawn unless someone was there. I hated those early wprm rude people. I always asked if they had books and only one woman said to get lost. I npticed the men were friendlier and I got better prices from them. So I generally hit up conversation with the men instead of the women because they just want it gone.

Today I found a floor jack that came in its carrying case for $20. I've been looking for one. Last time I got a flat tire I couldn't get the jack to work. This one will come in handy. You can get a cheap one for $25 on sale but not with a case.

Jon was looking for a large vice. I told him to build one. We gave up around Noon. It was 90 by then. Got a big headache. We haven't put the ac in yet. Only a few hours to go until it cools off. Surprising that the house wasn't too hot. Now that the sun is on this side its warm but I put the fan on.

I found some newer paperback novels that are within the past two years for a cheap price. And some more books from catherine anderson who I used to read a decade ago. Jon found a couple of movies. I didn't have any energy to look at movies but if it was cooler I would have.

If you have never gone then you should try yardsales in the suburbia area especially for kids clothes and equipment. You can't beat the prices of stuff a bag for $3! I saw some cute boys baby outfits but I don't have kids.

I found a cage at the first one we stopped at for what I call a taming cage. Hopefully someone snagged it. Then we used to drive around at six to see what's left for free. I know we Americans have more stuff than ever but I just like to look.

My ex-MIL was a huge garage sale fan.  She would get out the paper that had the garage sales for the weekend and plan out her route.  She would go with a good friend of hers and they would start early Saturday morning.  She wasn't looking for particular things just good deals.  I remember she had a garage sale, my FIL said it was because she needed to get rid of some of the junk that she had bought at garage sales.

I'm not a huge fan of carnival glass but I do like depression glass.  The funny thing about depression glass is that it was cheap glassware for people who couldn't afford the good stuff.  Now it's collected and some of it is moderately valuable.

I bought a wonderfully ugly wing back chair from Salvation Army about 8 years ago.  A big, honking old-fashioned over-stuffed one.  I named it "The WUC..." the World's Ugliest Chair.  It has horrible upholstery, but until recently, sitting in it was like a hug from a loved one.  The springs have gone now, and it will take $500 that I DO NOT HAVE to repair and reupholster it.  SIGH...if my disability goes through, the back pay would cover it, and I just might.  The frame is solid oak, and just as tight and sturdy as the day it was made.  Best $20 I ever spent!

Natalie_ca said:

 
I would have stopped anyway.  Chances of a doctor being on time for their appointments is usually slim.  So I have no problem being a little late for my appointments. I have waited hours to see a doctor, so they can wait on me

I used to have a really nice carnival glass bowl, in golden tones.   One of my friends came over with her kids and they ended up breaking it.  I was super ticked off, but of course I said the polite thing "Oh, that's ok. What's important is that they weren't hurt!"  And when they left I cursed loudly.

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I regret not stopping.  I like all colors of carnival glass.  Though I only have orange/golden tones, they had a lot of blue, the kind that usually has a peacock pattern.  See, it's been over 20 years ago and I still remember what color the glass was!       

Winchester said:

 
We had a couple yard sales, one to get rid of some of my late Aunt's things and then one when my parents' downsized. We specifically advertised an 8:00 a.m. start, only to walk out the front door at 6:00 to work on getting things ready....and found 3 cars in the driveway and people walking around! I told them to leave, that we had said 8:00 and we weren't ready for them. One woman asked me to take the sheets off the tables, so she could "take a quick peek". I told her again to please leave. She got really huffy said she wouldn't be back, but we saw her again right around 9:30 or so. 

My co-worker was at a yard sale and he bought a Le Creuset set of 3 Dutch ovens! For $25! Now that was a great find! I can never find anything like that! I'd have snapped those puppies up in a heartbeat! 

 

In our area, you are allowed 3 yard sales a year. You need to get a zoning permit to have your sale, but I don't think you have to pay for the permit; that's how we keep track of them. There are people who would have yard sales every weekend if allowed and, in some neighborhoods, it can create real traffic problems and safety problems. People will park on others' property if they can't find a parking space; they'll walk on other people's yards, they don't care. We had to stop a family from doing too many yard sales.....it can really get ridiculous after a while. Signs are regulated; you have to take your signs down every night and put them back up in the morning. I used to hate being a zoning officer in the summer because of all the yard sales.

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I would have grabbed those dutch ovens too!  LOL

We had to incorporate bylaws about garage sales because people were making it a business and having garage sales every single weekend.

Several years ago when I was still living at my Brother's we had a yard sale. It was to start at 10 am, and people were actually ringing our doorbell at 6 am.  And we had books for 25 cents and people were bargaining to get them for 5 cents.  Ridiculous!   LOL

I really want to have access to a car again.  I live in Havelock, NC, not even 2 miles from Cherry Point Marine Air Base.  There are so many yard sales here with base personnel transferring in and out that you could make a career of yard saling.  There have been a few that are within decent walking distance, and I've hit those, bringing home whatever would fit in my walker seat or balance over the handles!