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Garage sale vs Store?

I prefer to just purchase from a store. I know I may sound ungrateful, but there’s only certain things I’ll purchase from a garage sale, due to me not knowing how a person live and the possibility of bringing something like bedbugs or something into my home.

EmeraldJewel 7 Sep 29
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24 comments

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1

It definitely depends on what the item is.
Soft items, no chance. Too easy to bring someone else's critters to a new home.
Hard items, like tables, etc, if they're in decent shape, and a good deal, hell yeah.
No electronics, ever. No small appliances.
Generally, I'm not in the habit of buying other people's trash.

Agreed!

I buy electronics because for 20 years I was a repairman in HVAC and small electronics. That's how I know what to look for and what I'm doing at garage or thrift store sales. If you know these things you can also see quickly if they have bugs. Most of my electronic sales are people who have no idea what they have so they sell it cheap.

One of my best sales over the summer was in a town 5 miles away. The man moved out of his rental house and owed rent so the owners were selling all of his stuff. I got there late and they let me call the pricing. I bought needed computer cables and 2 solid state hard drives new and working for $4. One drive was a terrabyte and the other almost 2 terrabyte. This is an almost unheard of bargain. It works for me because I still have desktop and laptop computers while others today just have this all on their phones. That was $4 for everything!

0

I quibble about garage sales, goodwill, and salvation army sales because of many things.

I have got bargains at these places but not often. Too many of them price things way too high. At Goodwill one time I found a pair of jeans that had the pockets cut out of them and pocket area was sewed up. WTF is this crap, I asked? One electronic bargain I got at Goodwill was because it was wired wrong. Some people are a "genius" at these places and they often get left over stuff in the stores.

@DenoPenno Goodwill, is no longer my go to place! The prices in Las Cruces, are so high I would prefer to buy it new!

1

Love garage sales, gives me a chance to meet my neighbors and i might find some stuff you can't get at a store.

gater Level 7 Sep 29, 2018

indeed! old stuff is sometimes, even often, better made than new stuff. stores don't sell out of print books, either.

g

1

Garage sale. Might think different after watching this video.

The video is right but in my area many people try to recycle throw away items by running shops that re-build them and re-sell them. Computers and TV's are some of these items. A friend of mine makes lots of extra money with laptops this way and works out of his home.

2

Most stuff I buy at stores. The best yard sale advice that I ever got was never go to a yard sale in your own ZIP code. Go to yard sales in a Rich zip code. your ZIP code has the same cheap shit that you do.

Ha ha ha! Good point!

0

When I feel like bringing something foreign into my apartment, I will usually isolate it in a trash bag. I will typically fill the bag with CO², and this is easily done by mixing sodium carbonate with hydrochloric acid. I have a welder, so luckily I have CO² gas in a bottle; but it's not a bad idea to keep the chemicals on hand for other reactions. I let the bag sit for several days, and everything is dead

2

i love garage sales. i know my money is going to an individual. bookcases don't have bedbugs. cds don't have bedbugs. there are very few items you could buy from a garage sale that would bring nasty things into your house; if you buy clothing, just wash it before wearing it.

g

2

Smart lady!

1

I'm with you. Garage sale shopping is a "thing" and I know a lot of people like treasure hunting there. I'd rather just get what I need at the store. Online shopping for used items is a little different. I think I got the deal of the century recently when I bought a used elliptical trainer through OfferUp for $200. When I Googled this particular brand/model, refurbished ones were selling for over $2K! This is a gym quality unit and so far it's working great.

3

It's good to be safe on those things but just to let you know, bedbugs can come on new things too. It's best to be careful about any purchases made both new and old.

4

I prefer getting a bargain on many things. Adore thrift stores and estate sales! However, certain items such as a bed would need to be new.

2

I can agree with you but I do my share of garage sales. What I mostly get at a garage sale is electronic and computer junk that is important to me, and you have to know how to buy this. Any old junk won't do and I find bargains when the seller really has no idea what they have or how to use it. My current computer speaker system cost me a dollar. That's right. A whole dollar. That was the 3.1 tweeter part that they had no idea about and I got my 2 speakers free off a junker stereo at a sale. Now my favorite computer sounds like a jukebox.

Living alone I find that I do not need matching pots and pan sets. Often you find that lonely little pot or pan hardly if ever used at a garage sale and it's just right for you. There are often bargains in tools as well. You have to know what to look for and what really is junk, and I know if I'm buying anything in just 5 minutes.

0

Makes perfect sense.

3

Well, one must be selected at ‘garage sales!’ But to my knowledge I have never come down with anything over the many years...I just realize that I always clean every thing when I bring it home! I just always thought my dirt was cleaner, than other people’s dirt! Lol

2

I once walked up to a yard sale & it was just people shampooing their carpets!

Della Level 6 Sep 30, 2018
1

I'm not a very good consumer. I just can't get excited about shopping of any kind.

1

It all depends on the item. Some things are definitely to be bought at a store. Others can only be found at a garage sale or flea market.

0

I love garage sales!!! If it were possible I would only shop at garage sales. The prices are always cheaper than stores. If you buy cloth materials wash them before using them and you won't have to worry about bed bugs. The amount of money I have saved from shopping at garage sales is astronomical. You never know what you are going to find at a sale. Just the other day I purchased 30 cans of spray paint for $1 most of them had never been used. I bought a tower fan with remote and built in ionizer for $5 (works great). My garage is decked out sports memorabilia and bar items. I picked up 6 collectable beer steins for $5 as well. I've found antique glassware and vases from earlier time periods that you won't find in stores. I guess it's just a style thing if you like yard/moving/garage sales or not. I love finding old items and could care less how new something is.

0

Not garage sales but some thrift stores around here are amazing.

Not the GW Boutique or Salivation Arms but the local ones.

And some very upper income in area so there is good stuff.

0

I see where your coming from some items, but you can get quite a deal on other stuff. As long as it is in good condition and the sale is in a good part of your town.

0

I used to go to estate sales with my Mother in law. I bought some high end antique furniture and mirrors. Clothing has to come from stores.

0

Depends on the items

0

Also Thrift shops..and consignment shops are also great places to save..I have a local consignment shop that sells most clothes( all are clean and most are designer brands..some new with tags) for $3.00 bucks..I have jeans and work slacks that sell for $50 or more retail..and I bought them for $3.00 bucks

0

I would always clean things purchased at a garage sale myself sometimes paying $5 as opposed to $50 for something makes that worth while. But there is certainly nothing wrong with buying stuff in stores.

OCJoe Level 6 Oct 1, 2018
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