Making Money through Garage or Estate Sales

We got some feedback about the article I wrote regarding how to attend live auctions to make money, so I decided to expand on the series and write an article about how to make money by purchasing items at garage or estate sales and later reselling those items on places like eBay.

There are several similarities between garage/estate sales and live auctions:

1. Research is key – You want to find out as much as possible before hand and make decisions about which sales to attend and what to look for when you arrive.

2. You don’t want to overpay – Believe it or not, you can overpay at an estate sale or garage sale. Most people have a much higher opinion of their stuff than the average person, and their job is to get as much as possible when they sell it at something like this.

3. You won’t always walk out with merchandise – It can be frustrating, especially in the beginning, when you take the time to go to a garage sale or estate sale and get there, look around, and find nothing worthwhile to purchase. In some places, all the good deals are gone (or were never there to begin with) but in other places, you’ll be loading up your car. The key is volume and steadiness. Once you spend some regular time doing this, you should have some success when spread out over multiple sales.

GARAGE VS ESTATE SALE

The basic difference between a garage sale and an estate sale is this: In an estate sale, typically, *everything* in the house is for sale, from the furniture to the knick-knacks to the items on the mantle. In a garage sale, the owners choose what to put on sale by taking it to the garage or driveway. What should you aim for? It depends on what you’re buying. Obviously, you have more variety with an estate sale, mainly because the expensive items will probably be available for sale, whereas a lot of garage sales may only put out their less expensive items. Then again, some garage sales will have pricey or expensive items for sale, or have low-priced items that are high value items unbeknownst to the owner. When you do your research, you will figure out where to go, regardless of whether it’s a garage sale or estate sale.

DO YOUR RESEARCH

So, first, do your research. It helps to know what areas you plan to specialize in, like furniture, electronics, collectibles, books, china/silverware, and so on. Most people still advertise their sale in one of the following places:

• Your local newspaper
• Craigslist
• Pennysaver/Recycler/local free magazine with classified ads

When you look at ads, pay attention to these things:

1. Location – As clichéd as it sounds, the more expensive the neighborhood, *odds are* the stuff for sale will be nicer. Is it a guarantee? No. But when you attend a number of sales to find items for resale, you have to start playing the odds. Can you find hidden treasures in not-so-nice neighborhoods? Absolutely. I’ve been amazed at the stuff worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars that are stored in places not so nice. However, houses in nicer neighborhoods typically have nicer things for resale.
2. Keywords – When reading through the ads, look at the items they chose to put in their ad. If you specialize in crystal for example, you should first circle any ads that have the word crystal. Then look for similar items, like china, dinnerware, glassware, etc. Sites like Craigslist allow for unlimited word usage, but most people will want to mention the highlights or the biggest ticket items for sale to attract people to their sale. If most of the keywords don’t appeal to you, that sale should be lower on the list.
3. Days and hours – There are some sales, especially the estate sales, that run Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Most garage sales are either Saturday and Sunday, or one of those days. Pick the sales where you can be there on the 1^st (or only) day of the sale, where everything is still available. If they say “No early birds,” do not show up before the time listed.
4. Proximity to other sales – You should plan to hit multiple sales in one morning or day, since you may not find worthy purchases on your first or second visit. You should plan a route, by starting at the most promising sale (based on the 1^st three criteria above) and then hitting other sales in those neighborhoods.

Tip: Google Maps allows you to plan multiple points of interest, so you can map out 10 different addresses for example, and then plan your route of attack. Plan this out the night before you go, so you can print it out and have it ready when you wake up and go!

Beyond mapping out your plan of attack, here’s a couple of other things to prepare:

• Cash. Cash is king at these sales, and the best way to get a deal is to be ready to pay cash for everything. Unless a professional company is running an estate sale, you will not be able to use a credit card, and most people don’t want to accept a check.
• Space in your vehicle. If you find a great load of stuff, you’ll need to transport it home. Better to clear out the car BEFOREHAND so you’re not struggling or making multiple trips. If you can borrow a friend’s mini-van or truck, even better!

HITTING THE SALES

Ok, you’ve mapped out your plan of attack, you’ve got the cash and the space, and you arrive at one of your sales. Here’s the five most “profitable” areas of the house I like to aim for at any generic sale:

1. Kitchen/china cabinet: China and flatware are pretty easy to resell, and good brand names are always in style (Wedgwood, Noritake, Royal Daulton, etc.) A great website for research on potential values is Replacements.com. When you are at the sale, ask for their nicest set of china or dishes, which will usually have one price for the whole set. People are always buying small quantities of nice china to complete their sets when one of their items gets broken, so you can easily buy a nice set of china, and sell it place serving by place serving. The most expensive items are the bigger items (serving dishes, tureens, platters, etc) When it comes to flatware, you are looking for sterling silver flatware, or at least, stainless steel with a familiar brand name. If you don’t see it, ask the owners if any china or flatware is for sale.
2. Hall Closets: You’re looking for things like sports equipment (golf clubs, tennis racquets, skis, etc), musical instruments (guitars, amplifiers, brass pieces, etc) and other large items with good resale values that the owners don’t want or use much anymore. Why buy tons of $1 knick-knacks when you can buy a set of Callaway golf clubs for $100 and resell each driver to make $300 for the set?
3. Garage: Tools have an excellent resale value, especially if they are in good or working condition. I look for brand names like Craftsman, Snap-On, DeWalt, and Black and Decker. Ask to plug in any power tools and turn them on, just to make sure they function. Power drills, workbenches, tool sets, and other expensive or complicated tools can have a great resale value on eBay, Craigslist, or other websites. Once again, as clichéd or sexist as this may sound, if you want a great deal on tools, ask the Missus of the household for a final price, as she is probably less attached to the items.
4. Office/Den: Books can be a great find, but you have to be careful not to overpay on something with no resale value. A lot of the old bound books, like encyclopedias or reprints of classic stories, may look impressive, and you may get a great deal “per book” when you buy a big set, but you may be stuck with a lot of pounds of paper. Textbooks, big expensive coffee table books, and old first editions of popular authors do have some resale value. The latest John Grisham novel, even in hardcover, does not have a lot of resale value. Also, anything old, vintage or antique in the office, like a 1970’s HP scientific calculator, vintage electronics items, or a used computer could have some value.
5. Bedroom closets – Designer label clothing can be resold on eBay for a decent margin, since most clothing at these sales are sold for next to nothing. I recently purchased a Tommy Bahama silk shirt for $3 that was already dry-cleaned and looks to be in “Like New” condition. This could sell for $25-50 on eBay.

BY THE NUMBERS

So, how does this break down in terms of dollars and cents? Unfortunately, your experience will vary, so let me detail several recent buys I found at estate or garage sales:

a. Swarovski crystal – I waited until the last day of the estate sale, inspected the pieces, went home to do research, stopped at the ATM, and went back to buy 4 pieces for a total of $600 (originally marked $1200, many estate sales cut the price in half on the last day) and resold ALL four pieces in 1 week’s time for a total of $1,050.

Profit = (1050-600)/600 or $450, 75% return on my money in 1 week

b. China set: I bought a full 8 piece set of Noritake china for $400 at a garage sale months ago. I sold a few place settings (1 dinner plate, 1 salad plate, 1 cup and saucer) for $160 each, several dinner plates at $49.99 each, several salad plates at $19.99 each, and several cups and saucers at $24.99 each.

Total revenue so far: $160*3 + $50*2 + $20*4 + $25*4 = $760

Profit = (760-400)/400 = $360 or 90% return in 2 months, *PLUS* I have the potential to get an extra $200 if the other pieces sell, which would take the profit up to 140%.

c. Simpsons t-shirts: I bought 2 themed Simpsons t-shirts (Pin Pals bowling shirt and Duff beer shirt) for $3 each. One sold for $41, the other sold for $24.50.

Profit = ($65.50-6)/6 = $59.50 or almost 1000% return on my money in 2 weeks.

FINAL WORDS

The key to pursuing this line of income is persistence. Plan to spend 2-3 hours each weekend to visit the different sales, plus several hours a week to put the items up for sale. You can add to this by visiting various thrift stores, but that might turn into another post. When you do this, always ask the owners if they have additional merchandise not out for display. Usually, the items “held back” are among the most valuable of the group, and because most people don’t ask, you could be the first or only person to see it even if you’re not the first person to their house. Good luck and happy hunting!