Yard Sale Shopping Myth: Arriving Earlyby Mary Ann Romans | More from this Blogger 21 May 2007 04:28 AM Do you know the best way to get the best deals at a yard sale? I'll be writing a series of articles that are packed with easy guidelines to follow the next time you go yard sale shopping. Whether you call them yard sales, garage sales, tag sales or something else, there is no doubt that buying other people's stuff, when it is laid out in front of their house, is a very frugal thing to do. I love shopping at yard sales. Not only can I get some great bargains, but browsing a yard sale for hidden treasures can be a lot of fun. It is a frugal way to entertain ourselves on a Saturday morning. I've found so many great items. The other day, a woman was selling a child's dress for $1. It was one of those dresses from a fancy boutique with an original price tag of more than $300! Yikes. It was too small for my little girl, but hopefully someone else got this good deal. I still walked away with some great bargains. You can read all about it in my earlier article by clicking here. Plan your arrival time. Arriving at a yard sale a few minutes before it is scheduled to begin is a great strategy for getting the best selection. However, if you aren't an early bird don't despair. Sometimes the time it takes in getting the kids dressed, fed and out the door can ruin the best early bird plans. People often worry that if they aren't out the door early enough in the morning that there is no point in going to yard sales. That simply isn't true. That designer dress I mentioned? It was available at the end of the sale. perhaps the seller had a more expensive price on it, or it was simply missed by the "professional" early birds. I don't know, but the point was that this was a great bargain at the very end of the day. There is a lot to be said about arriving near the end of a sale. You will generally have a lot more bargaining power, since no one really wants to haul all of their stuff back into their house. In a community sale, neighbors can get competitive about who sold the most. This is the time when sellers will simply throw stuff at you and say, "Here, take this, too." Sometimes sellers will simply give everything that is left away for free. I witnessed this happen at my last yard sale visit. A woman was debating over a box of books when the seller told her to take them all absolutely free. And you can't beat free when being frugal! Related Articles: Frugal Lessons from the Amish: Going Goodwilling Creative Uses for Thrift Store Finds And for hosting your own yard sale, check out some of Nicole's recent blogs: Garage Sales: Where To Keep The Cash What Not To Sell at a Garage Sale Part One Learn more about Mary Ann Romans  Mary Ann Romans is a freelance writer, wife and mother of three children. She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband, the kids and a 16-pound cat. Relevantfrugal tags User Comments No comments on this article yet. Be the first to comment! Community Tags garage sales, tag sales, tips & tricks, yard sales Discuss this article
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