GARAGE SALE ARTICLES

Working Flea Markets & Yard Sales

by L.C. Dumke

Every Sunday morning when I was a child, my father would awake at sunrise and disappear shortly thereafter for several hours. He would come home with sometimes incredible, often useless things. He'd arrive with used tools, new tube socks, new sneakers, garden junk, and occasionally an honest-to-goodness antique. Dad was a flea market and yard sale devotee and we never knew what he'd come home with after his Sunday morning jaunts. It was his main method of unwinding after a long work week, and sometimes, if I could get up early enough, I'd accompany him.

I used to only shop for new stuff -- furniture, clothing, home furnishings, books. Then I discovered a few fabulous flea markets in my area. I was hooked. Now when I need to fill a corner or a room or when I'm looking for a sturdy kid's desk, I check out all the old or used stuff I can find before ever resorting to finding something new.

But as I learned from my father 30 years ago, you don't just "go" flea market & yard sale shopping. If you just try to wing it with no preparation, you may just end up hot, frustrated, tired and worst of all, with nothing at all to show for your day. So before you head out in search of treasures (in the form of someone else's trash), remember some golden rules:

• Take a list
• Get up and out as early as you can
• Wear comfortable shoes and clothes
• Always try to negotiate a little off the price
• Take along a friend and have fun!

To locate yard sales and flea markets near you, check out: Your Garage Sale Source, and of course, your local newspaper!

L.C. Dumke is the author of How to Decorate & Furnish Your Apartment on a Budget (Prima/Random House, 2001) and editor of ThriftyDecorating.com, a Web site dedicated to budget decorating and frugal living.