Garage Sale Supply

[Highsmith]

I have been collecting stuff for a Fundraiser Garage Sale for a cancer survivor. But I have been having such good luck finding stuff, I think I will turn this into a little money maker for myself after this one garage sale is complete.

1. I have used Freecycle to get things - for free. Freecycle is a community based Yahoo! Group where members post things they want or things they are giving away. Their should be a Freecycle group in every large community. The point of Freecycle is to keep things out of the landfill. Anything I can't sell, I will just put back on Freecycle.
2. Craigslist.org has a Free section. I have gotten many things from there. Again, Craigslist.org is community based and just about every city has their own Craigslist group. Note: the .com is porn, so make sure you go to .org.
3. Just watching the curb. Last night I got a working vaccuum cleaner, 12 speed bicycle (just needs air), Christmas decorations, toys, a large kid-sized toy ATV, toddler bed, crutches, fishing gear, lawn chairs, and a few other things. All of this was at the curb with the regular trash. Incredible what people will throw away. I have previously picked up other bicycles, scooters, wheelbarrow, bowling balls (4 of them so far), keg of skunky beer, etc.

So after my fundraiser garage sale, I will continue to keep an eye out and have my own garage sales a few times a year just to raise a few extra dollars. And I will find a few things along the way I want to keep also. It keeps things out of the landfills and helps people who need some quality merchandise. Everyone wins.

Not going to make a living doing this, but it is fun and every little bit helps.

[RichZ]

Actually, there are people who make a living doing that, and if they're good at it they can do really well. My wife and I used to own an antiques shop, and there were people, called pickers, who went to yard sales, but mostly drove around every community on trash day, and would pick things up off of the curb. I got some of my best merchandise from them, and they knew what they had, and charged appropriately. They weren't cheap to buy from, but they often had great stuff, and considering all they paid was their gas and time riding around, some of them made a very nice living doing that.

[Bird]

You want to be sure and check with city hall first. I know many, if not most, cities require a permit now to have a garage/yard sale, limit when and where signs can be posted, limit the number of sales a year that you're allowed to have, etc.

Another thing you might want to consider are the weekend flea markets. Even my 19 year old grandson buys stuff at garage sales, then turns around and sells it at a big flea market for a profit.

[allmuxedup]

I know several full time RVers who do this. They have a trailer in which they carry a car & store their finds. They sell on ebay. It pays them pretty well.

[pinkie]

Wow, I didn't think it was really "right" to get things from people on freecycle and then sell them. Someone else might want that to use, but you have it and are going to sell it. Sounds kinds of bad to me.
We have garage sales from the items we no longer want or need anymore. I don't go looking for other people's things to use in a yard sale. Good luck though!

[simplegal]

I have to agree with Pinkie on this one it seems a bit dishonest to go get things for free and then sell them. I know there are a lot of families that use freecycle for things that they need and it seems rather unfair for someone else to take the items away from them so that they can turn around and make a profit.