How much do you typically spend at garage/yard sales?

[Shortbed350]

I was wondering when you go to yard sales on average how much do you spend for the whole day?

I usually go to yard sales every weekend (Saturday) when I go I bring $50-100 dollars, but I usually spend about 5 bucks, tops being $10 the entire day even when I have a good day meaning finding something SO, starrett, plomb, etc. So I was just curious as to how much everyone else usually spends?

 

[jjjrmx5]

Local garage sales (30 min radius) I carry $50

Local flea markets I carry $100

Area car shows/swap meets/car parts/ car goodies shows $200.

I seldom spend half of what I bring unless on a big tool like a vice or specialty things like micrometers or machinists items.

For local garage sales if I spend more than $50 I'll usually give them my drivers licence and hold things and go to the local ATM and get more cash.

Big items and expensive lots fall into the Estate Sales/auctions where you bring a wad of cash and they usually do credit card sales.

What I spend all depends upon what is being sold, how nice it is and at what price.

Bought some vintage and new gas station metal signs last weekend along with a book and a DVD all for cheap. Random stop and she wanted it GONE.

 

[crewchief888]

on the rare occasion i have any "disposable" cash,
i seldom spend more than $10 during a day of garage sale/flea mkt/ pawn shop scrounging.

i rarely even look at an item that has a price tag on it, especially if it's being displayed on a table or shelf
i'm more of the $1 bin/box type of buyer.

i think the most i ever spent in 1 day at a flea mkt was $20, scored a kennedy cantilever box, and large box containing 12 or 15 NOS accordion type radiator hoses

 

[Scout Driver]

Garage sales around here are usually full of kids clothes and plastic wall decor and VHS tapes. If I do find a toolbox, tools or something related, I keep it under $10.

Scott

 

[Filson]

About $15 http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=204475 =P

Honestly though, my wife has got into antiques and such (we're in our 20's, I know it's weird) and we average around $10-15k a year through her garage sale/ebaying during the weekend. We probably spend $60-100 a weekend. Pretty much everything I buy though, is for myself and any time I see outdoors stuff I ask if they have any guns for sale, so every now and then we break that $60-100 range to add to the safe.

 

[zuk123]

Any particular stop I'm usually between $3 and $10. If it's a great stop, then more. I paid $75 for a commercial sewing machine once, but usually I'm buying small stuff.

At estate sales it's a different story. I put a couple hundred in one pocket and a couple hundred more in another. The envelop has my "atm" money, that I wouldn't spend normally but carry in case I finally find the right item. (Rifle, machine tools, etc.) Used it last to buy a kitchen table and chairs.

At estate sales, I usually spend less than $100 on a good sale (leaving out the occasional bigger item) and go home with a couple of boxes of stuff. It's rare for me to have more than one 'good' sale in the same weekend but it can happen. (hence the extra money just in case.)

Any money I make selling ys or estate items goes back into the kitty for the next sale...

zuk

 

[Tim338]

Usually less than $50, although I did once spend $700 when I bought my mill.

 

[bczygan]

As much as I have, in small bills and change. Just in case the big thing I've always wanted, is there.
Don't spend more than $20 at any one sale...but it still adds up!

 

[e30bradley]

I bring whatever I have but rarely find anything good. Usually adjustable wrenches.. They are the only tool I sorta collect. I have tons of them even though I only need a few. I keep one by the oxy/acetylene and 1 on the engine lift, and then one more in my torch/power tool drawer for using on the grinder or the torch. I'd say $10 average is what I spend, every once in a while I find something good/more expensive.

 

[bigcaddy]

On average, about 120 at any typical estate sale. It varies up and down but that seems to be the number most common on receipts

 

[Moosehead905]

with the question being how much do you normally spend?..it all depends on the sale..some i dont spend shiiiit. some i could drop 100+..but i normally carry atleast 200 in various bills..$1's 5-10-20..never carry bigger then a 20. always try to lowball them anyways HAHAH. But lately i have been running into ppl who have WAY over priced tools. and give me the " well thats what they go for on ebay" makes me wanna flip over their table of goods. seems like every body is watching to much american pickers and on ebay to much.

 

[senor fozz]

with the question being how much do you normally spend?..it all depends on the sale..some i dont spend shiiiit. some i could drop 100+..but i normally carry atleast 200 in various bills..$1's 5-10-20..never carry bigger then a 20. always try to lowball them anyways HAHAH. But lately i have been running into ppl who have WAY over priced tools. and give me the " well thats what they go for on ebay" makes me wanna flip over their table of goods. seems like every body is watching to much american pickers and on ebay to much.

Ebay really has killed negotiating. Just tell them I have cash here, and you don't have to worry about buyer feedback, usually shuts them up. But today I offered a guy 2,000 for a SO triple bay. He took it, but my roommate didn't want it.

 

[Outlawmws]

My overall long term average is probably closer to 20-25 a weekend but some big buys the past couple of years, has boosted the acreage for the past couple of years (I do keep a record now...) to just below $35.

I generally carry something close to a hundred in 20's and small bills but also keep anywhere from 150-400 in bigger bills tucked away in case I find a big buy or hot deal. in a situation like that Money talks...

 

[Rickster]

Always have a couple of hundred handy. Most I ever spent was $700.... and I'm still selling stuff from that buy. These sales are always so hit and miss that when you stumble into the guy with all the low priced Snap-on you need to be able to buy as much as you can and you need enough on hand to back it up when you ask him "How much for everything?"

 

[Exceller8]

Garage sale & swap meets combined, probably $50-$75 a week lately. I've been finding some really great stuff.

 

[RatchetMan]

A lot of the stuff I see fellas picking up at garage sales is just random junk to me. I've been to many a sale in my lifetime but sometimes it's better to save the $10 you would have spent at a variety of sales and buy one good tool that's worth having. When you add in the gas you burn bouncing around to all these sales, it's sometimes more advantageous to just hit the snapon website and call it a day.

 

[itsvegas]

whatever i take with me seems to be what i end up spending at the flea market somehow. $100-$150 usually.

 

[byoungblood]

Since I work on Saturday afternoons, and have a two year old at home, I haven't had much time to even go out this year. I think the most I've spent at one in the past couple of years was maybe $100, but that's when I bought my drill press, and came home with 4-5 other items too.

Usually I probably spend no more than about $10-20, if I buy anything at all. I usually end up only going to the ones where they specifically mention selling tools, if I see a few others on the way home I'll stop if it looks interesting.

 

[Outlawmws]

A lot of the stuff I see fellas picking up at garage sales is just random junk to me. I've been to many a sale in my lifetime but sometimes it's better to save the $10 you would have spent at a variety of sales and buy one good tool that's worth having. When you add in the gas you burn bouncing around to all these sales, it's sometimes more advantageous to just hit the snapon website and call it a day.

Well, one less "competitor"! But I have to ask, what "good" tool can you actually buy off a SO truck for $10?

"Random Junk" I guess one mans trash is another man's treasure...

I average just over a buck each for good grade tools, or something that simply look interesting/cool to me. I get a LOT of SO, Proto/Plvmb, SW, Williams, and antique/vintage tools. I guess that's "Just random junk?"

I like my junk, I'll keep it thank you very much. (I'll also keep "wasting my time" in the hunt. It is after all my time to waste (and gas; I average maybe $5 in gas a week doing this.)

My (current) insured replacement value for my tools ranges well over $150K (I have full replacement value coverage) and I'm not nearly done inventorying. It will probably finish near 200K. But it's just junk!

 

[Ovalinaz]

Ussually when I go I spend about 1-3 minutes scanning stuff. If I see Car parts, Tools etc.. its usually like 10-15 minutes.

 

[REDRYDER63]

Not typical for me but had to go home last week to get more money.
Bought a 2006 18 foot plus a 2 foot dovetail car hauler trailer with less than 100 miles on it for 900.00. and a 100 year old stevens single shot 12 gauge for 40.00.

 

[RatchetMan]

Well, one less "competitor"! But I have to ask, what "good" tool can you actually buy off a SO truck for $10?

"Random Junk" I guess one mans trash is another man's treasure...

I average just over a buck each for good grade tools, or something that simply look interesting/cool to me. I get a LOT of SO, Proto/Plvmb, SW, Williams, and antique/vintage tools. I guess that's "Just random junk?"

I like my junk, I'll keep it thank you very much. (I'll also keep "wasting my time" in the hunt. It is after all my time to waste (and gas; I average maybe $5 in gas a week doing this.)

My (current) insured replacement value for my tools ranges well over $150K (I have full replacement value coverage) and I'm not nearly done inventorying. It will probably finish near 200K. But it's just junk!

Struck a nerve, I see. I'll expand. Instead of spending $10 at 20 different sales ($10 x 20 = $200) to buy a bunch of oddball stuff, I am more inclined these days to spend the $200 on a single tool I really need.

Perhaps you vehicle is more fuel efficient than mine but at $3.50/gallon I can spend $10 in gas in no time. We have all scored on a decent tool once in a while but the economics of chasing a deal don't always play out for me.

 

[metaldad]

Nothing.
All the garage sales around here have overpriced junk. Nothing I would ever need.

 

[0.511MeV]

I have tried many times to go to garage sales, swap meets, flea markets, etc in the various cities where I've resided. I've not found anything worth buying. The best things I've found are nameless "made in china" tools and "antique furniture" made from particle board and cheap plastic laminate.

I remember one time I saw a yellow circular saw from the road, stopped, went up preparing to buy it, and found out it was some brand I had never heard of, "tool gear" or something like that.

In my little bit of experience, people buy cheap ****, so they only have cheap **** to sell at a garage sale.

 

[Rickster]

If you are not fist in the door at garage sales and estate sales you will find mostly leftovers. If a sale is posted to start at 9am you need to be there no later than 8:30 and catch them while they're stetting up. If you're on time...you're late! No need to shop after 12 noon, anything good is long gone by then.

 

[RCStocker]

I will give you one of my secrets that I learned years ago form an old friend. Money talks and BS walks. I always keep a couple of grand in the trunk of my car. I spend $100 every time I go to a swap meet and some times more. A month ago one of my friends who deals with tools hat the huge Tough stuff plastic Snap-on case. It had the foam layer and it was full of Snap-on tools. He wanted $1300 He had his son take it to my car and I paid him because I had the cash. By the next Friday I had sold it for $2200.

I have been at garage sales and bought sterling silver for $25 that I sold for 12 grand. Yes I have and if you know anything about antiques you would know that is very possible but rare.

I also have a masters in art. I have bought paintings I paid $100 for and sold them for thousands. I sold one of them for $18,000.

If you only carry $100 you will be sorry some day that you could not pick up the bargain.
Thinking small will get you no where. You can pay for your tool collecting but you need to spend big bucks if you want to make enough to pay for what you keep. You can't do it on nickel and dime items. There is an endless supply of things to make money on but most people don't have a clue.

When I come across fantastic deals I get so excited I forget to dicker but never have been sorry I asked for a lower price.

I have picked up used cars. I picked up a 1978 used Chevy Nova form a 80 year old lady.
It had 1925 miles on it. That was in 1988. I paid 2 grand for it. Had I not had the money in the trunk of my car it would have been sold before I got back to it. My son drove it for years. It was always kept in a garage and even smelled new inside after all those years. She went to the doctor, store and church.

I never go to yard sales anymore because there is nothing ever any good at them. I don't need the tools, items or the money. I buy estates and auction them off. It is better than working. I am retired form the construction business. Old age might be setting in but the money is always there if I find a treasure.

 

[Filson]

If you are not fist in the door at garage sales and estate sales you will find mostly leftovers. If a sale is posted to start at 9am you need to be there no later than 8:30 and catch them while they're stetting up. If you're on time...you're late! No need to shop after 12 noon, anything good is long gone by then.

Yep. If we seen something we like but it's overpriced we'll come back the last day they are open (usually sunday) in the late afternoon and see if they still have it. If it's there, they'll usually be much more willing to accept offers knowing it probably wont sell in the next hour or two before they're done with the yard sale for the weekend.

 

[crewchief888]

Struck a nerve, I see. I'll expand. Instead of spending $10 at 20 different sales ($10 x 20 = $200) to buy a bunch of oddball stuff, I am more inclined these days to spend the $200 on a single tool I really need.

Perhaps you vehicle is more fuel efficient than mine but at $3.50/gallon I can spend $10 in gas in no time. We have all scored on a decent tool once in a while but the economics of chasing a deal don't always play out for me.

^^^

this is the reason i dont chase many garage sales, they gotta be really close to home.
around here mostly what you find at garage sales are baby clothes and kids toys, tool wise, it's usally beat up HF stuff , for near retail price.
it's not worth my time, effort, or gas. if i'm really looking for something, i look when i'm in a pawn shop.
with the right person behind the counter, and cash in hand, i've gotten a couple good deals on power tools that i was "needing" for a couple of projects.

 

[bobcatdan]

All thou I like going to sales and flea markets, I rarly go. I generally have better stuff to do and never thing of it when I don't. When I do go, it is a baby clothes and the what not. I never see anything at flea markets that I don't already have four of or it simply price way more then I would pay. Last year the only things I bought at any type of sale was two rigid pipe wrenchs, a 24" iron and 18" alum for a grand total of $25.

 

[Davefr]

Perhaps you vehicle is more fuel efficient than mine but at $3.50/gallon I can spend $10 in gas in no time. We have all scored on a decent tool once in a while but the economics of chasing a deal don't always play out for me.

You're missing the point. G-Sailing is entertainment. If you place a high value on your leasure time and don't enjoy sailing then you're probably better off buying from SO at MSRP.

For me it's the thrill of the hunt. Somedays I hit a gold mine other times I go bust. ("The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat").

If you go sailing in the hopes of quickly finding specific items you'll likely be disappointed real quick.

 

[Too_Many_Tools]

You're missing the point. G-Sailing is entertainment. If you place a high value on your leasure time and don't enjoy sailing then you're probably better off buying from SO at MSRP.

For me it's the thrill of the hunt. Somedays I hit a gold mine other times I go bust. ("The thrill of victory, the agony of defeat").

If you go sailing in the hopes of quickly finding specific items you'll likely be disappointed real quick.

No he is not missing the point.

His time is worth money, his resources are worth something..and he recognizes that it is a foolish to waste time and money chasing junk.

Buying retail he is likely ahead versus wasting resources.

Those that I know who cruise sales NEVER are honest or "don't know" about how much it actually cost in time and money for them to find that "score"...its like those who brag about winning a $1000 lottery ticket while not admitting they spent $10,000 getting it.

 

[Too_Many_Tools]

If you are not fist in the door at garage sales and estate sales you will find mostly leftovers. If a sale is posted to start at 9am you need to be there no later than 8:30 and catch them while they're stetting up. If you're on time...you're late! No need to shop after 12 noon, anything good is long gone by then.

More and more sellers are waiting until an hour after opening to bring out the good stuff.

That way the early morning vultures have left and they get real money for the stuff.

 

[Danglerb]

I like to dig through junk, typically spend less than $10, but tend to fill a container with what I think is $20 and hold out a 20 when I go to pay, most of the time they take the 20 and we are both happy. If not I ask them what in the container looks like its worth more to them and take it out.

Its rare that I need it, but I like to have between $200 and $300 in cash.

 

[Too_Many_Tools]

Yep. If we seen something we like but it's overpriced we'll come back the last day they are open (usually sunday) in the late afternoon and see if they still have it. If it's there, they'll usually be much more willing to accept offers knowing it probably wont sell in the next hour or two before they're done with the yard sale for the weekend.

Or what they really do is then put it on CL and Ebay.

 

[Shortbed350]

No he is not missing the point.

His time is worth money, his resources are worth something..and he recognizes that it is a foolish to waste time and money chasing junk.

Junk?? Maybe you should check out it's 2013 garage sale season!...

 

[bobcatdan]

No he is not missing the point.

His time is worth money, his resources are worth something..and he recognizes that it is a foolish to waste time and money chasing junk.

Buying retail he is likely ahead versus wasting resources.

Those that I know who cruise sales NEVER are honest or "don't know" about how much it actually cost in time and money for them to find that "score"...its like those who brag about winning a $1000 lottery ticket while not admitting they spent $10,000 getting it.

All hobbies are expensive if you count every penny. Some guys like to spend $100 a day drving around the countryside buying $35 worth of stuff. Other spend $10,000 on a new snowmoblie, a $100 in gas to haul it somewhere to ride and another $100 in gas for the snowmoblie. To each his own.

 

[Davefr]

No he is not missing the point.

His time is worth money, his resources are worth something..and he recognizes that it is a foolish to waste time and money chasing junk.

My time and resources are also worth something.

I could make the point that it's "foolish" to waste time and $'s playing golf, going to a casino, or a sports game/concert/movie.

Or it's "foolish" to go out to dinner when you could eat at home cheaper.

If his criteria is strictly ROI factoring in the value of his time then he should not sale.

 

[jeffmoss26]

Usually between 20-50 bucks.

 

[Jim C.]

I usually don't hit too many garage sales because most of what I find are baby clothes, beat up toys and odds and ends housewares. I don't see too many tools that are worth buying. Still, having read all the posts to date in this thread, I do believe that garage sales and/or flea markets are really for fun. I don't really consider time spent, gas, etc. I go for fun because I enjoy looking, the hunt, haggling, and occasionally coming home with something I usually don't need but like adding to my box. Very recently I went to a Mid-West Tool Collectors Association meet in Michigan City, Indiana. I spent about four hours driving round trip, fifty bucks in gas, forty bucks to attend the meet, and I stopped for lunch. I ended up buying a user quality Stanley hand plane, and a small Starrett square for a total of fifty eight bucks. Between gas, meet fees, and my time, etc., coming home with only fifty eight bucks worth of tools might seem like a losing venture. Hardly! I had a great time looking at, and talking about, old tools. I did a little haggling and caught up with a few old friends. In my opinion, it was time, and non tool buying money well spent. As for the tools I bought, I could have saved a lot of time and some money just getting them off Ebay. I really enjoyed going to that meet. Maybe not exactly the same, but kind of like spending an afternoon going to garage sales.

Jim C.

 

[lwlobo]

My (current) insured replacement value for my tools ranges well over $150K (I have full replacement value coverage) and I'm not nearly done inventorying. It will probably finish near 200K. But it's just junk!

Outlaw, I want to come by and see your collection (hoard? ) sometime. Can I add your shop to our destinations on our family summer road trip?