Vegaman_Dan
Well-known member
Everybody loves a good deal. Garage sales are wonderful places to shop for tools, but you never know what you’re going to find until you stumble across them.
Estate sales are another beast entirely. These are targeted towards the very people that go out of their way looking for those items. Tools from a deceased gear head or woodworker go back into the hands of fellow garage enthusiasts whom will put those tools to work, not hidden away and forgotten.
Thanks to the internet, you can get listings of estate sales in your area, along with email notices for particular ones of interest that match your preference criteria. I use Estatesales.net as it list the sale, location, whom is running it (important because some groups are better run than others), payment methods, and best of all, PHOTOS of the sale items.
By seeing photos of the sale, you can quickly determine if it is worth going to or not. If you see a bunch of dishes, kids toys, and some appliances, then probably not something you’re going to be interested in. But if you see in the photos a garage wall that has tons of coffee cans marked “BOLTS” , miscellaneous tools on benches, drop cords from the ceiling, added second hand cabinets on the walls, power tools, tool maker calendars, etc, then you know there may be something of interest. Usually they’ll do a panorama of the room after they have it laid out for display so you can get a real good feel for the merchandise.
Tips and Tricks:
Estate sales usually start on Friday and go through Sunday. The prices are marked, but if not, make an offer. Depending upon the manner in which the sale is being run, you may get a good deal right on the spot as they quickly try to determine a price. If the item is already marked, you can try to haggle, but don’t expect anything.
Typically prices are full price on Day 1, 25% off on Day 2, and 50% off on Day 3. Your selection drops a lot as items sell out. You chance losing what you saw on Day 1 and really want by waiting too long. Bid like you mean it- consider your time and gas too. If you’re hesitating on a tool because you think you can get it for $5-10 less on Sunday by waiting, consider you may be paying that much in your time and fuel to come back later. And all that only to find that someone else bought it in the mean time. If you wait, you take a chance.
Come back on Sunday or the last day for a last mop-up operation if there is a lot of stuff there. Remember that estate sales are designed to liquidate the product. Due to any number of reasons, an entire household must be sold off. It could be a death, a family moving out of state, someone in the military whom needs to liquidate their goods while on assignment, even a fire sale. They want to sell as much as they can by the end of the weekend to simply make the stuff go away. They know the prices are better on Ebay, or that someone might just take this stuff and sell it themselves elsewhere, but that’s not their issue. They have time constraints, so sell it NOW for the best price they can get.
Bring cash. Cash speaks volumes. Plus you can’t rely on the seller being able to take credit/debit cards on site due to network / signal conditions. They always take cash. Many only take cash in fact, and you don’t want to discover this by accident when you’re there in line to check out.
Parking politely. These sales bring in a bunch of people. The organizers don’t put out much in the way of signage on the streets in the area. Maybe a small sandwich board here or there. You would not notice a sale in the area except for the increased traffic. Parking can be very tricky in tighter narrow residential streets. I recommend parking a block or so away. Neighbors are assaulted by the visitors to the sale and get rather upset about the traffic and parking. No need to add to the problem. Besides, you have your wheeled luggage cart with you, right?
Bring boxes/bags. You are responsible for your own bags and packing. Those plastic grocery bags are find for groceries and clothes, but forget it with tools. Face it, we deal with large, awkwardly shaped sharp objects. A plastic bag won’t do the job. Plus you may want to carry your treasure around while shopping. A box is great, but the reusable cloth grocery bags popular now are even better. They’ll resist most tool damage and make it easier to carry around. Plus you can carry several more in the same bag as needed. A folding luggage cart is a heaven-sent luxury worth taking with you. That, with a box, will carry away most prizes.
Plastic tarp and tape. Use this not so much for protection as you would for identification. As you go through the sale, you’re going to start gathering loot. Once you see the prices, you know you’re going away with a pile, but you can’t carry it all in your hands. If you can, ask one of the organizers if you can place your ‘sale pile’ on a small tarp (5x7 is my favorite, folded over into half that size) where all your purchases can be set aside and covered over. This way you don’t have someone else picking through your pile while you’re still adding to it. I’ve seen this done by the professionals and thought it worth doing as well.
Bring the Significant Other. With an entire house being liquidated, there are plenty of kitchenware, cleaning supplies, knick knacks, bedding, clothing, and more. There’s something for everyone and they should find something of interest.
Don’t ignore the house. I know, I know, we all want to go to the garage and shed, but the house has stuff too. While most of us may not be interested in a 40 year old crocheted blanket (I have several that I love) or someone’s collection of ceramic blue birds, there is plenty of other stuff there that might catch your eye if you think outside of the garage. Kitchenware- lots of sealable plastic containers for projects. Muffin tins- I love these. They are perfect for nuts, bolts, small hardware during a repair. Cookie sheets are also good as temporary surfaces for dirty things like carburators, alternators, or other greasy nasty stuff. You can clean them without getting the mess all over the place. Office chairs / bar stools. That nasty looking thing in the house may actually be a pretty sweet deal for the garage. And it’s cheap.
There is a lot to see, a lot to check out, and the biggest danger is to your wallet as you’ll be coming away with stuff you don’t have room for. And eventually when you do have too much stuff, maybe it will be time for an estate sale of your own someday.
Estate sales are another beast entirely. These are targeted towards the very people that go out of their way looking for those items. Tools from a deceased gear head or woodworker go back into the hands of fellow garage enthusiasts whom will put those tools to work, not hidden away and forgotten.
Thanks to the internet, you can get listings of estate sales in your area, along with email notices for particular ones of interest that match your preference criteria. I use Estatesales.net as it list the sale, location, whom is running it (important because some groups are better run than others), payment methods, and best of all, PHOTOS of the sale items.
By seeing photos of the sale, you can quickly determine if it is worth going to or not. If you see a bunch of dishes, kids toys, and some appliances, then probably not something you’re going to be interested in. But if you see in the photos a garage wall that has tons of coffee cans marked “BOLTS” , miscellaneous tools on benches, drop cords from the ceiling, added second hand cabinets on the walls, power tools, tool maker calendars, etc, then you know there may be something of interest. Usually they’ll do a panorama of the room after they have it laid out for display so you can get a real good feel for the merchandise.
Tips and Tricks:
Estate sales usually start on Friday and go through Sunday. The prices are marked, but if not, make an offer. Depending upon the manner in which the sale is being run, you may get a good deal right on the spot as they quickly try to determine a price. If the item is already marked, you can try to haggle, but don’t expect anything.
Typically prices are full price on Day 1, 25% off on Day 2, and 50% off on Day 3. Your selection drops a lot as items sell out. You chance losing what you saw on Day 1 and really want by waiting too long. Bid like you mean it- consider your time and gas too. If you’re hesitating on a tool because you think you can get it for $5-10 less on Sunday by waiting, consider you may be paying that much in your time and fuel to come back later. And all that only to find that someone else bought it in the mean time. If you wait, you take a chance.
Come back on Sunday or the last day for a last mop-up operation if there is a lot of stuff there. Remember that estate sales are designed to liquidate the product. Due to any number of reasons, an entire household must be sold off. It could be a death, a family moving out of state, someone in the military whom needs to liquidate their goods while on assignment, even a fire sale. They want to sell as much as they can by the end of the weekend to simply make the stuff go away. They know the prices are better on Ebay, or that someone might just take this stuff and sell it themselves elsewhere, but that’s not their issue. They have time constraints, so sell it NOW for the best price they can get.
Bring cash. Cash speaks volumes. Plus you can’t rely on the seller being able to take credit/debit cards on site due to network / signal conditions. They always take cash. Many only take cash in fact, and you don’t want to discover this by accident when you’re there in line to check out.
Parking politely. These sales bring in a bunch of people. The organizers don’t put out much in the way of signage on the streets in the area. Maybe a small sandwich board here or there. You would not notice a sale in the area except for the increased traffic. Parking can be very tricky in tighter narrow residential streets. I recommend parking a block or so away. Neighbors are assaulted by the visitors to the sale and get rather upset about the traffic and parking. No need to add to the problem. Besides, you have your wheeled luggage cart with you, right?
Bring boxes/bags. You are responsible for your own bags and packing. Those plastic grocery bags are find for groceries and clothes, but forget it with tools. Face it, we deal with large, awkwardly shaped sharp objects. A plastic bag won’t do the job. Plus you may want to carry your treasure around while shopping. A box is great, but the reusable cloth grocery bags popular now are even better. They’ll resist most tool damage and make it easier to carry around. Plus you can carry several more in the same bag as needed. A folding luggage cart is a heaven-sent luxury worth taking with you. That, with a box, will carry away most prizes.
Plastic tarp and tape. Use this not so much for protection as you would for identification. As you go through the sale, you’re going to start gathering loot. Once you see the prices, you know you’re going away with a pile, but you can’t carry it all in your hands. If you can, ask one of the organizers if you can place your ‘sale pile’ on a small tarp (5x7 is my favorite, folded over into half that size) where all your purchases can be set aside and covered over. This way you don’t have someone else picking through your pile while you’re still adding to it. I’ve seen this done by the professionals and thought it worth doing as well.
Bring the Significant Other. With an entire house being liquidated, there are plenty of kitchenware, cleaning supplies, knick knacks, bedding, clothing, and more. There’s something for everyone and they should find something of interest.
Don’t ignore the house. I know, I know, we all want to go to the garage and shed, but the house has stuff too. While most of us may not be interested in a 40 year old crocheted blanket (I have several that I love) or someone’s collection of ceramic blue birds, there is plenty of other stuff there that might catch your eye if you think outside of the garage. Kitchenware- lots of sealable plastic containers for projects. Muffin tins- I love these. They are perfect for nuts, bolts, small hardware during a repair. Cookie sheets are also good as temporary surfaces for dirty things like carburators, alternators, or other greasy nasty stuff. You can clean them without getting the mess all over the place. Office chairs / bar stools. That nasty looking thing in the house may actually be a pretty sweet deal for the garage. And it’s cheap.
There is a lot to see, a lot to check out, and the biggest danger is to your wallet as you’ll be coming away with stuff you don’t have room for. And eventually when you do have too much stuff, maybe it will be time for an estate sale of your own someday.
