Yard Sales: What's Your Philosophy?

To me, there is nothing like coming out of a cold winter into warmer weather. Flowers start popping up and so do the yard sale signs.

Before I became an antique dealer, I rarely ever went to a yard sale. But for the past 8 or 9 years, I've really enjoyed them. My hubby can't AVOID them. He's driven to them like a moth to a flame. Lately it is getting harder and harder to find antique items at sales. The competition is fierce! That's why I rely on auctions to find the good stuff. But, sometimes a yard sale can be a great place for a treasure.

Here are some of the things I've learned about them if you're really interested in finding neat stuff:

1) Have your sales mapped out the night before.

2) Get up early. Get up early. Get up early.

3) Learn how to scan the tables quickly.

4) Don't be afraid to pick something up before you're

sure you actually want it. If you don't, someone else will.

5) Don't be shy about looking through boxes. I've found some of the

greatest items inside a box. If it's out there, it's waiting to be found.

6) Move on quickly to the next sale.

One year my husband and I were on vacation (yes, we even do this on vacation!) in a very rural part of Maine and went to sales even though we had no idea where we were going. It was a very interesting experience. You had to go to the local supermarket, look on their bulletin board, find the sales tacked on to it and then jump in the car and go hunting them down. Since we were not from the area we followed some of the other locals who had come to see what was tacked on the board. It was kind of like "The Amazing Race" for yard sales. They caught on pretty quickly that we were serious yard salers and they split themselves up into two groups so they could beat us to the next sale! It was very funny when we heard one of the ladies remark "Oh, we've got some outta stata's!" (out of staters.)


My husband and I have different philosophy's on how to yard sale. If I can't have fun then I don't want to do it. He feels if he can't get to them as fast as possible then why bother. So, we try to compromise and get a little of both in. Sometimes his way works better and sometimes my way works better. With a little patience, you can find a real gem you may not have noticed because you didn't stay long enough.

What's your favorite way to yard sale?