Where to find yard sales {How to shop yard sale series}

We are back for part 2 in our “How to yard sale” series today and are going to talk about where and how to find yard sales.  Hopefully you are inspired after reading the first post on WHY you should yard sale and have some ideas of some of the treasures you can find.  So now let’s discuss where to find yard sales.

1. Check your local newspaper or Craigslist browsing for yard sales in your area.  Whenever I have a yard sale I advertise on Craigslist and any online yard sale groups and get quite a few visits from those listings.    Depending on your area, some yard sales will even begin on Thursday and there will be lots of yard sales that are Friday and Saturday sales.  So browse your paper in the days leading up to the weekend and make a plan based on what you find advertised.

2.  Watch for signs for other yard sales as you are headed to yard sales you found online (or are just out and about doing errands). You will find many yard sale and signs leading to yard sales as you are out and about.  I especially love it when I see multiple signs at the front of a neighborhood as I know I will have more than one sale to choose from.

3. Look for neighborhood sales, estate sales, multi-family yard sales, parking lot yard sales, church rummage sales and more.  These sales are my favorite!  ONE stop, LOTS of stuff, and multiple sellers.

4. Use an online yard sale listing site.  These sites have popped up everywhere.  I haven’t used them a lot but I do love the concept.  In fact I think some of them even have apps you can download if you own a smart phone.  I think the problem with these sites is not many people list their yard sale on these listings.  If everyone would list their sales on one of these sites and you could visualize them all on a map, it would be amazing!

• YardSaleSearch.com
• GarageSaleFinder.com
• GarageSalesTracker.com
• YardSaleTreasureMap.com – I really like the concept of this site.  First it has an app for your phone.  You put in addresses of sales you find on craigslist, newspapers, or other sources and it maps out a trail for you to follow.  Pretty neat!

5.  Know your area!  Your town and area are different than others.  Some areas are known for Thursday  – Friday sales, I rarely see Thursday sales here.  Also know if you are is a popular shopped yard sale area – if so you need to shop yard sales EARLY!   Also, you will want to shop some of the nicer neighborhoods in your area.  Nice/expensive homes = NICE stuff (not junk) for sale. 

Now, I will probably surprise you when I say I am not a typical yard sale shopper.  I don’t browse the newspaper or Craigslist on Thursday or Friday searching for yard sale listings.  I have never had much luck with that.  And honestly I don’t shop MANY yard sales at individual homes.  I do as I come across them but I don’t necessarily go looking for them.   I am impatient, don’t have a ton of time on Saturdays to devote to yard sale, and I have found what works for me.  I do 90% of my yard sale shopping at one parking lot yard sale and at a local flea market.

Every Saturday, all year long, a local antique mall opens their parking lot and rents out spaces for $10 each.  There are usually anywhere from 20-50 sellers at this sale every Saturday.  So I park once, and walk the aisles and find my treasures.  It is a very popular shopped sale so I try to go early – everyone is usually set up by 8 am so I try to get there at some point after that.

I also love my local flea market.  I have said before but it is not your typical flea market.  Someday I will have to take pictures and do a tour   It is more like what flea markets used to be -  yard sales in buildings – not As Seen on TV junk or Avon booths like you find in most flea markets nowadays.   Lots of furniture, clothes, knick-knacks, and antiques at great prices!  You just have to be willing to dig and look past the dirt and grime sometimes.

So there are my tips for finding yard sales.  I would love to hear yours – leave them in the comments!  And come back next week for the next part in this series – How to yard sale.

{cj}