Save money - Shop at estate sales

[disneysteve]

I'm sure most folks are familiar with yard sales and may go to them occasionally to see what you can find, but at those, people are only selling stuff they want to get rid of. With my online reselling business, I mainly source my merchandise from estate sales. Those are different from yard sales because typically everything in the house is being sold, right down to food, toiletries, light bulbs, etc.

Although I go mainly to buy items to resell, it can also be a great way to save money on things you need. For example, the other day my daughter mentioned that we were almost out of Windex, so I made a mental note to look for it at sales this week. The first sale I went to this morning had a couple of bottles but both were nearly empty. The next sale had a bottle that was just about full. I bought it for $1. The same bottle at Walmart is $3.50.

Also today, one sale had a basket with packs of Duracell batteries. I didn't look closely as I didn't need any but the pack on top was a 24 pack of AA. A couple were missing but the pack was marked $5. The same pack at Walmart is over $20.

The sales almost always have a wide selection of household products. Laundry supplies, cleaning supplies, spray paint, auto care products, light bulbs, batteries, tools, lawn care stuff, almost anything that you can think of that you use in your daily life. If you care for older family members, you can always find things like adult diapers, wheelchairs, walkers, shower chairs, canes, and other such items. That stuff is almost always pretty cheap because the companies focus on getting their money out of the more valuable items and collectibles. They sell the other stuff cheap to unload it. Why buy no name dollar store products when you can get the better brand name stuff for a dollar at these sales?

If you want to check out estate sales in your area, download the estatesales.net app. They have a website too but I find the app easier to use, plus you can click on the address to open your map app and get directions. Especially if you're looking for household products, it can be good to go later in the sale rather than when they first open and all the resellers like me are there.

[QuarterMillionMan]

It's like you could read my mind. I was going to ask you how do you find out where/when these estate sales occur. Walla.

[disneysteve]

Walla.

Your French lesson for today. It's actually "voila".

Around here at least, there are estate sales pretty much every week. They run anywhere from 1 to 4 days, typically starting on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday. There is the occasional one that runs into Sunday and on rare occasions, they'll be one earlier in the week, like a Tuesday evening or something odd like that. Tomorrow, 4/15, there are 5 in my immediate area (I've already been to 4 of them as they started yesterday or today). If I expand my search from 10 miles to 20 miles, I can choose from 9 tomorrow.

There's definitely a learning curve with these sales. Different companies do things differently so it's good to check out a few sales from each company in your area.

[QuarterMillionMan]

Good catch with the voila.

[QuarterMillionMan]

The app has pics of the items for sale. This one has 352 pics, pretty neat.

[disneysteve]

The app has pics of the items for sale. This one has 352 pics, pretty neat.

The photos are very helpful. They give you a decent idea of what sort of house you'll be going to. Is it filled with high end artwork and furnishings or is it more modest stuff? Do things look well cared for or is the place a mess?

Keep in mind that the photos never show everything that is being sold. They photograph the "good" stuff that they want to highlight, the things that attract most of the buyers. Invariably, the stuff I leave with didn't appear in any of the photos because I tend to buy the mundane and unusual stuff, not the common collectibles. I never rule out going to a sale just because of what I see in the pictures.

As a reseller, one great thing about all the pictures is I can use them to research values of items in advance. The app lets you mark photos as favorites and add notes to them so I will flag photos and enter the resale value of the items pictured.

[disneysteve]

Another tip is that prices generally decrease as the sale goes on. If it's a one-day sale, you'll get more bargains late in the day. If it's a multi-day sale, it's common for everything to be 50% off on the last day, and that's always negotiable too especially if you make a pile of stuff. Sometimes they'll do bag sales at the end like $20 for whatever you can get in a shopping bag.

I went to a sale that was ending today (I was also there at opening on Thursday). The home owner was a psychologist and professor and had a TON of books. I'm not sure how much they were charging on Thursday but today, books were $1 for a 12-inch stack. So you could buy as many as you wanted and they'd charge based on the height of your pile, $1/foot. Pretty cheap way to pick up books. Everything else was at least 50% off.

[ua_guy]

It shouldn't matter, but I can't do estate sales. Picking through someone's stuff after they're gone. I don't think there's anything morally wrong with it, the stuff should go to good use, or else it's wasted. But when the sale is held in the home? Sad. The downer feelings I get aren't worth anything I'd save there. I realize the term "Estate sale" is sometimes loosely used, but when someone actually died...no thank you.

[bjl584]

I've gotten a few things at estate sales.
I never intended to resell anything, but I did get some decent furniture that I ended up refinishing.

[disneysteve]

It shouldn't matter, but I can't do estate sales. Picking through someone's stuff after they're gone. I don't think there's anything morally wrong with it, the stuff should go to good use, or else it's wasted. But when the sale is held in the home? Sad. The downer feelings I get aren't worth anything I'd save there. I realize the term "Estate sale" is sometimes loosely used, but when someone actually died...no thank you.

I kind of get that, but try to look at it differently. By shopping the estate sale, you're helping the family greatly. If not for those sales, they'd be stuck having to pack and dispose of everything themselves, and they'd get nothing for it. They may even have to pay someone to clean out the house. This way, they make thousands of dollars which is often critically important if they have funeral expenses or assisted living costs or outstanding bills. Many times these are "living estate sales" where the home occupant is moving and downsizing or going into assisted living and the money is a huge help to them, as is quickly getting rid of everything. You can't just pull up to your local Goodwill with a truck loaded with a house full of goods. They won't accept it all. Most would likely end up in the landfill. I think these sales provide a great service. They help the family having the sale and they provide a great source of items for everyone who shops there. Ultimately, it's really no different than going to a thrift shop as they get a lot of their merchandise when people move or die and the family is emptying out the home.