Garage Sale Wheeler & Dealer

Written by Texas Tracy on July 14, 2008

Tagged under category: Background on Tracy

A great misconception is that people who shop at garage sales are poor. My family is thankfully financially stable, and I am a certified professional garage saler/second hand shopper. I derive great pleasure from the look of pity that many garage sale hosts give me as I go to pay for my item. Surely, she must be needy, the look says.

For the past eight years I have been a full time mother and part time ebay reseller. I average a respectable part time income each month, selling second hand designer handbags, shoes, and accessories. One of my favorite garage sale stories was when I purchased and authentic Hermes agenda. I was digging around a box of miscellaneous junk when I stumbled upon a small leather daytimer looking notebook, just larger than a deck of cards. I was surprised to see ‘Hermes’ embossed in the interior of the agenda, and not knowing if it was real I inquired as to how much the man wanted. “Oh, how ‘bout a dime?” he replied. Sold!!! The agenda sat on my shelf for about a year when finally I called Hermes to ask if they would authenticate the piece and they very graciously agreed. Seeing as I had only paid a dime for it I mailed the piece off in a white business envelope. About a week later I received a phone call from the boutique manager, effusing that of course, my piece was authentic and they would be returning it to me. It arrived shortly thereafter, at which time I turned around and sold it on ebay for $121. Nice profit margin!

A second story is one where I purchased an authentic Chanel key bag with the price tag of $95 still attached. I bought it for $5 and sold it on ebay for over one hundred dollars. Whenever I tell my garage sale stories I here the same whine from my friends, “but I never find deals like that!”. But anyone can, it is no different than any sales professional will tell you: it is all in the numbers. The more you go to, the better your chances are at finding a deal.

My favorite tips:

Shop in nice neighborhoods. They afford (whether they can or not) nicer stuff and replace it more often than me or you.
Look at the shoes they are selling. If they come from Pay-Less, chances are they scrimp in other areas of their life. If the shoes are expensive, they are name brand shoppers in most areas of their life.
Be a nice and considerate garage sale attendee. When trying to finagle a deal, I always preface my offer with, “Would you consider…$15?” It just sounds nicer as opposed to, “Hey, I’ll give you 15 bucks for this, ok?”
Cash talks, especially these days. People have a hard time turning down real money, especially if they can see it. You are more apt to get the deal if you are nice, speak in complete sentences, and have cold hard cash. Be safe, but this gets people drooling.
Last, people like it when you buy bunches of stuff from their sale. Get you a big pile going and ask what they would take for the whole lot. Generally you will negotiate yourself a good buy.