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Garage sale addict

                                                                                                                           pinterest.com 

Saturday morning‚ I was up at four am‚ on Craigslist‚ writing down all the addresses of the garages sales around our area. My husband wakes up to get a glass of milk and gives me the “why are you up at four am on the internet look?” He then realizes what I am doing. A deal is thrown out on the table. He will go with me if I wake him up in two hours‚ make him hot coffee‚ in to go cup. I am on it. I am like a drug addict when it comes to garage sales‚ and I need my fix. I know I have a short window with my husband and I try and not push it. Whatever I can do to keep him in the game will help me.

We head out on our garage sale extravaganza at 6:45 am. According to my husband‚ this is a good time to get to the treasures first. We drove to the houses that I found on craigslist. However‚ those garage sales did not have anything worth re-selling.  We did get paid anyway because it led us on a goose hunt to find more sales. As we kept driving off the grid‚ we found more. We live in Tempe and we drove all the way to the edge of Chandler. Basically‚ all one can see are mountains and grass. We were hungry for the chase and we put all our chips in.

                                                                                                                          monkeyland.com

We saw a roadrunner bird run across the street. For some reason‚ we thought these were myths. Apparently‚ they are alive and living in Chandler‚ Arizona. We see a sign for a garage sale and we follow it. Seemingly‚ we had to work for the money. We drove five minutes deep into the suburbs to find the house. However‚ there is profit in confusion. As I pull up to to the man’s house‚ I see a look of “I mean business” on his face. He is wearing a tool belt to put his money in. I spot the Star wars figurines and tell my husband to run over there and see if they are worth anything. I knew my husband would know if they are worth anything. He loves Star wars movies.  They are worth ten to fifteen dollars on Amazon. I am excited that we got a little payday and they only cost two dollars apiece.

                                                                                                                                     ebay.com

We still had some juice in us left. However‚ we thought that lightening does not strike twice. At this rate in the game‚ we had been to ten garage sales‚ and It took that many to find a deal. So we drive deeper into the suburbs and find another garage sale. These people have tons of stuff and all their neighbors are there chatting it up. I knew they were just trying to get rid of their stuff and didn’t care about the money. My team mate and I separate to find the gold. My husband has found something and signals me over.

                                                                                           He finds seventeen of the Stampin up‚ sets.

 ebay.com

Some of these go for forty dollars online. The guy is running the sale and I tell my husband I will negotiate this one. I ask him how much for the stamp sets. He says‚ “five dollars apiece.” I knew I was not paying that. However‚ I knew if I took them all and tried to a give a price that way‚ I would have a better chance of coming out ahead. I start off low and offer him ten dollars for all of them. He gives the look‚ “yea right‚ try again.” I then say “fifteen dollars.” He is breaking but still holding on for more money. I then say “twenty dollars” and he says “no.” However‚ the garage addict in me has to get the deal. I then look at him and say‚ “no one else is going to give you this deal‚ and I am taking all of these off your hands.” He gives up and we walk away with seventeen stamp sets. We are giddy like little children because we made out. We got in the car and calculated that we paid a dollar thirty three apiece for the stamp sets.  There was a sweet little payday for us.

What I learned is that it takes at least ten garage sales to find a deal. Also‚ lightening can strike twice if one is in it to win it. In addition‚ Craigslist is not always a safe bet to find lucrative sales. Sometimes‚ it is just driving around aimlessly. Furthermore‚ also giving the suburbs out in the middle of nowhere‚ a shot.

What have been your experience’s with garage sales? Are you a fellow‚ garage sale‚ addict like me?