You can get some great deals shopping at yard sales. However, you can save even more money when you go yard sale shopping if you plan your yard sale shopping journey in advance.
Yard sale shopping tip to get more bargains: Bring dollar bills and coins!
Scenario 1 – The Foolish Way to Shop at a Yard Sale: You are looking around a yard sale and you spot a cute little chair that would be perfect for your child. It’s in good shape and it has a sticker on it for $5.00. You think $5.00 is a great price and you just happen to have a five dollar bill in your pocket. You grab the chair and you run over to the person collecting money and you willingly hand over your five dollar bill.
The person selling the chair almost looks sad, like they feel they may have under priced that chair. They think maybe they should have put a $10.00 sticker on the chair instead of a measly $5.00. Then you find a great t-shirt in good shape. It has a sticker on it for $3.00 but you feel it’s over priced. You are willing to pay $1.00. You run over to the sales person and make a $1.00 offer. Since they feel like you got a bargain on the chair, they say no to your offer.
You end up paying $3.00 for the t-shirt and you leave the yard sale somewhat happy, but not thrilled. You just paid $8.00 for two items, a chair your child doesn’t really need and a t-shirt you will probably never wear.
Scenario 2 – The Smart Way to Shop at a Yard Sale: You are looking around a yard sale and you spot a cute little chair that would be perfect for your child. It’s in good shape and it has a sticker on it for $5.00. You think $5.00 is a great price, but you think you might be able to get it for less. And you just happen to have a bunch of dollar bills in your pocket.
Without letting anyone see, you take three dollar bills out of your pocket. You grab the chair and you run over to the person collecting money and you offer them $3.00 for the chair, telling them that’s all you have on hand. The person selling the chair almost looks sad, like they feel sorry for you. Their daughter loved that chair when she was little and they want the chair to go to a good home. They really want you to have the chair and they gladly accept your $3.00 offer.
Then you find a great t-shirt in good shape. It has a sticker on it for $3.00 and you are willing to pay it. You run over to the sales person and tell them you would love to have that t-shirt and you start looking through the bottom of your purse to see in you have some loose change. You dig out one quarter, then two.
You manage to also come up with two dimes and a nickel. You keep digging and you jump for joy because you found another whole quarter. You are up to $1.00 and even though you are willing to dig for change all day, the person collecting the money tells you to stop. They tell you the change you dug up is enough and they are thrilled that the t-shirt also found a good home. After all, you just spent your last $3.00 on that chair, so they would not dream of taking more than $1.00 on the t-shirt! You just paid $4.00 for two items, a chair your child will just adore and a t-shirt you will proudly wear.
Lesson Learned: The lesson in this tip is never look too anxious to buy something at a yard sale. Don’t show that you have a bunch on money on you. Always offer less and always dig for change, even if it means putting junk in your purse to make it look like you are struggling to find money. And do not carry a fanny pack. A fanny pack screams out that you have yard sale money on you.
A messy purse makes it look like you just happened to stop at the yard sale and you do not have money to shop. If you are a man, keep loose change in your pocket and make sure you only have a few dollars in your wallet. Then keep your real yard sale money locked in the car. Then just put more dollar bills and loose change in your purse or pocket before you hit the next yard sale!