I went to some yard sales today. Got some awesome deals!
Bought all these clothes for $8. Three of them are from Ann Taylor. The dress, which fits me perfect and looks SO cute, was over $100 at Dillards (I looked it up). The Green wool coat is adorable! Ok, enough from me.
Rillz really wanted this sushi stuff. He loves going to yard sales with me! When he finds something he wants he will just hand it to me and say "Mindy, I want this" Ha! Makes me laugh. But, my purchasing technique at a yard sale is amazing if I do say so myself! So here is everything I bought for $15. All those yellow/blue things are chopsticks with a napkin and placemats (can you say... SUSHI PARTY!!). We now have a ton of bamboo sushi rolls and paddles. We also got those brita filters that are SPENDY (still a price tag on it that says $25)! And that yellow bottle thing is a dog water bottle. There is also a really nice sushi platter (not pictured) that is currently in my dishwasher . Oh and the best is the dog collar I picked up for Malu. I brought it home and looked at it to see if it fit and the collar is a COACH collar. Haha. My dog owns something coach and I don't. So funny.
Ok, so my yard sale technique...
Rule #1: Always ignore the price tag (if there is one)
Rule #2: Don't ask "how much is this" or "what is the lowest you will take" or "will you go lower"
Rule #3: You say the price first and ALWAYS low ball! May seem like a crazy offer, but you never know! Once you offer a price you can't go lower so start low.
Rule #4: Pile up all your great finds and approach a barter for the price of it ALL. Not individual items. For instance the clothes I bought today... I gathered them all in one pile and asked the lady, "Would you take $5 for these". She hesitated big time and said "I will take $8". Sounded great to me. I am not dumb, I know how much those clothes are REALLY worth. If I would have approached with individual items or asked ahead of time she would have wanted more for the dress and coat. Piles fluster people so they typically just say yes to the price and therefore you are more likely to get a better bargain.
Rule #5: Never bring your purse with you to a yard sale. Leave it in the car. Stash your money in your pockets.
Rule #6: Before approaching the person running the sale, split out your bills. Put in your hand your starting offer price and put the rest of your money away. When bartering hold the money out for the person to take. More likely to say ok!
Rule #7: Always be ok with walking away from an item. A small select of people won't budge. Unless it is something you really wanted and willing to pay asking price, just put it down and say thanks and walk away.
These approaches are very intimidating and take time to get used to. But you will most likely get better bargains out of people. And sometimes, the price tag on the item is already SUPER low and there is no reason to negotiate. Like, if there is a VitaMix for $35. Right, Kristi?!? Haha.
I think bartering is a lot of fun and now I do it for everything, not just yard sales. Good luck!
4 comments:
Ahhh, so jealous, I don't go very often now. I need to get it in gear and get up and go before Cami wakes up on Saturdays. Great tips on the bargaining -- it's totally how you need to do it!
I think Heidi and I should go deal hunting one of these saturdays soon. Oh man you meanie! You are not going to let me down and if yard sales ever come up you are going to bring that up huh. All of those tips totally work.I am usually pretty good at doing all of those things but there are a few things that I look at and realize that I probably could have gotten them cheaper if I had bargained better. totally should have offered $10 for that pack now that I look back on it. It helps so much to ask them to accept a certain price then have them come up with something and to totally have small bills all strategically placed in my pockets. I don't want them to know that I have much more. My friend today mentioned that she might stop at a gas station to exchange her $20 for something smaller just in case we needed to wheel and deal. We didn't have to and she ended up breaking it later and things that were already really low ($.25 clothes-can't really get any lower than that) Anyway, one of my favorite things to do and you found some great things. I love that coat!
Thanks for the tips! I don't do all those things! I went garage saleing awhile back and slowly but surely I got more ballsy. And then I picked up a friend and she was so scared to do those things- but it's so true! You have to do them to score big. And you did. Especially with the clothes! Wow! That is so many sushi roller pads! We just have one.
Wow I just read your black tea/sunbrun trick! Never heard of that! I hope I remember. Crazy. I think aloe vera sucks too. Why is it supposed to help? It doesn't seem too. As for price tag stickies, I get Goo Be Gone at the dollar store. Works like a charm.
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