Tips for Buying Antiques at Garage and Yard Sales

The ordinary garage/yard sale is an American institution. Every Saturday morning there’s one or more going on somewhere in the country. Collectors find it hard to pass them up since they’re the entry-level market for antiques and collectibles.

Most people who cruise the yard sales every weekend are casual shoppers, driving from one to another. If you’re a serious collector, you know how to find antiques and collectibles hidden among the plastic kitchenware and cheap florist vases, but you need a plan.

Generally, garage/yard sale ads appear in local papers on Thursday and Friday evenings. Mark those that mention antiques or collectibles. Don’t waste your time noting those that don’t advertise antiques. After all, you must complete your rounds in just a few hours, at least by 12 Noon.  

As you read the addresses, map a route starting with the sales closest to your home or those with the earliest starting times, then move on to more distant ones. The purpose is to get to the good sales before someone else snaps up the antiques.

Every town is different when it comes to finding antiques at good prices at these sales. You’ll usually find more antiques and collectibles at the lowest prices in older, middle-class neighborhoods. In many cases owners of these homes have lived there for years and years and have stored a mass of castoffs in their attics and basements. These people are usually not trying to get top dollar for their things. They just want to get rid of them.

By contrast, the owners of homes in upper-class neighborhoods are usually quite knowledgeable about antiques values. At their sales they set close to retail prices on any antique or collectible, so you’ll seldom find much to buy at such sales. Remember the cardinal rule of collecting: Buy low, sell high.

As many sellers get more savvy with the Internet, they look up their items on eBay to see what they’re going for. But they don’t take into account that this is an auction, as well as entertainment, so prices can be higher than they should be.

At these sales possession is nine-tenths of the law, so to speak. The unwritten code of the yard sale is that whoever has his or her hands on an item first has dibs on it. You need to be able to pick things up quickly and hold on to them. Take along a large sturdy plastic tote bag or a box, into which you can drop anything that interests you. This way, you can pick up and carry much more than you could in your arms alone. Then examine your finds carefully, put anything that isn’t promising back on the tables, pay for the items you do want, and move quickly to the next sale.

To be honest, you probably won’t find an antique or collectible of outstanding value at a garage or yard sale. You’ll find china, glassware, pottery, and kitchen collectibles, all of modest value. Every once in a while, you’ll come upon a piece of furniture—a bed, small table, brass bridge lamp, framed mirror, or whatever. Inevitably, these finds must be refinished, polished, or rewired.

Every collector has at least one story of a spectacular discovery, a real treasure bought for a pittance. To make sure you buy the real thing, take at least one of the current antiques and collectibles price guides with you—you can leave it in your car. Otherwise, unless you have a phenomenal memory, you’ll have a hard time remembering the thousands of ever changing retail values of items you’ll run across.

Some collectors learn this lesson the hard way. Many novice collectors go to yard sales without taking any price guides along. You might find an item you think is priced well, but you don’t know for sure. If you had brought along a general antiques and collectibles price guide, you’d have been able to decide if the price were too high or if you should make the purchase. If you left the sale to check on the price back home, you might return and find that the item had been sold. 

Clean Out and Clean Up

Garage and yard sale season officially starts today, April 1. No, it’s no April Fool’s joke. As the weather gets warmer, people start thinking about doing some Spring cleaning and getting rid of a lot of junk that’s piled up. I thought I’d take a break from the usual question-and-answer format to offer some tips on setting up and selling at a garage or yard sale.

It’s time to get rid of that old waffle iron, those old copies of National Geographic, your teenager's baby clothes, grandma’s costume jewelry. But before you do, you should do a bit of planning.

From now until the end of October, depending on the weather in your region, Americans will hold more than 10 million yard and garage sales. These sales are the bottom rung of the antiques and collectibles market. It’s the entry-level position where items, long hidden in attics and basements, see the light of day and join the thousands of others in the giant stream to flea markets and antique shops and coops.

Since garage and yard sales began in the mid-1960s, they have become an estimated $1.5 to $2-billion -a-year business. For some buyers its entertainment on a Saturday morning, for others it’s serious business finding inventory for their booths and shops.

Sellers get rid of a lot of junk they don't need and in the process make a few bucks. The average garage sale takes in about $150 to $200. And it's all free. These sales are one of the great unregulated sectors of the U.S. economy. No one cares about child labor laws, sales tax, or product guarantees. And generally, everyone has a good time.

Of all the items sold, dressers, beds, tables, especially smaller ones, are always in demand. More buyers are looking for antiques and collectibles, many of which end up on eBay. Antique mirrors, furniture, art, rugs, pottery, and glassware often sell at garage sales for a fraction of the price they’d sell for in a dealer's shop.

Fabrics—curtains, blankets, quilts, and tablecovers, all expensive in stores, sell well, especially if they’re  custom-made.

Household items are another favorite. Everything from a salad spinner to a potato peeler, new or old, sells, especially if priced under a dollar.

While the majority of buyers at these outdoor sales are women, men like to poke around, too. Tools of all sorts are popular with them. Antique tool collectors scour the sales far and wide looking for that piece to fill out their collection.

There’s even a market for old sports equipment—ice skates, tennis rackets, old baseball gloves— anything from the early days of a sport, especially if they’re in good shape.

To make sure a garage or yard sale is profitable, the seller must plan carefully. It’s a good idea to go to a few sales in the neighborhood to see what others are selling. And it’s just as important to watch the crowd since many of them are regulars who will end up at future sales.

It’s important to check local ordinances. Some municipalities don't care. Others have restrictions on sales. Many require a permit which is often free. Some restrict the number of sales per year.

Good weather is important. While the seven-day forecast can’t always be trusted, it’s a start. But plan for any contingency. Setting up a backyard canopy is good in any case as it will draw visual attention to the sale.

Ads for the sale need to be specific. While a seller doesn’t have to list every item, listing groups of items is a good idea. But don’t say ‘Antiques” if there’s only one or two pieces. And unless the ad states "No early binds," eager shoppers will show up way ahead of time. And don’t fall for some sad story on a Thursday evening about how the person has to work on Saturday and can’t come to the sale. Could they just have a peek? The answer is no. Being fair to all buyers is the mark of a good seller. A telephone number in the ad is helpful for directions and for people to see if you have what they want.

Attract buyers with  easy-to-read street signs, balloons, or streamers. Make all signs legible and the lettering dark enough to read while driving by.

Prepare everything ahead of time. Most of the action occurs in the first hour or two. Price all items. No buyer should have to guess how much an item is. Ask friends to help out and make sure to have plenty of dollar bills and coins on hand for change. Many buyers stop at an ATM machine before setting out and come armed with $20 bills.

Offer several boxes of smaller items that buyers can rummage through. Perhaps group these items by price from low to high in separate boxes. This stimulates buying. Also, a table of giveaways keeps people lingering. Some sellers serve coffee, always good at the beginning and end of the garage and yard sale season..

For those selling antiques, it’s important to know how much they’re worth before selling at some ridiculous price. But remember, this is the lowest place in the antiques market, so even valuable items can only go for a fraction of their value. A good rule of thumb is to send valuable pieces to auction. 

Be flexible on pricing; especially at day's end. Sometimes, it's better to get rid of an item than make money on it. One seller smashed an old crock against a tree rather than sell it for $1.

Next week: Tips on buying at garage and yard sales.