Now that spring is in the air, there’s only one thing on my mind and that thing is garage sales. I am constantly on the hunt for old board games but this year I will expand my search to vintage LPs to build up my classic rock collection.
Does anyone have any tips on buying used vinyl? Should I be looking for big scratches? I don’t know what to look for as my experience with playing vinyl has been limited.
I have been talking with some co-workers and they have never really gone to many garage sales…maybe two or three. I find this incredible considering the amount of time Dad dragged me to a garage sale in the morning. You would see the look in his eye when he noticed it was a beautiful morning and he had the itch to get out there and do something on a Saturday morning. Lo and behold he would decree it ‘a garage sale morning’ and I would be forced to go to dig through (in my opinion) trash as all they ever had was kids toys or really crappy furniture or (the mother lode for Dad) tools.
Dad would never really have anything in mind when going to a garage sale but you never know if you would stumble upon ‘the deal’. I stumbled upon ‘the deal’ last year when I found a wiener cooker which I gave to Trish for her birthday. That was a gem.
I like to have something in mind when I head out to garage sales. I think I will enjoy going out a lot more with the idea of vinyl records in mind as there are usually TONS of them.
On a sad note, I have realized that the Great Glebe Garage Sale will be on Saturday May 24, 2008 this year which is the same day that I am supposed to be in Toronto for a birthday party. Perhaps I can swing both and head to Toronto in the afternoon.
What’s your favourite items to look for at a garage sale?
14 replies on “Garage Sales”
I love love LOVE Garage Sales!! I find it funny that I am impossible to wake up during the week but I could go to bed at 3am and be up at 7 for garage saleing.
I like to go out with an open mind and not have specific goals because if you are too focused you might miss a gem. In general I look for vintage stuff to add to the “Retro Chick” look we have going on. Sadly, Kap is not really old enough to have real vintage stuff which is why I was pumped to go to the Glebe garage sale this year but alas it is the weekend before we take possession of our new house. I think there is another HUGE garage sale in Landsdown Park (April 19th maybe.)
I find Vinyl is a pain in the behind to look for because there is always like 10 milk crates under the table and you have to sift through all the misguided musical mistakes from the past to find one keeper.
Sammy, thanks for the heads up on the Lansdowne Park garage sale (on this weekend!). You should come down for it and outfit your new house with some retro items.
From what I’ve seen from the vinyl scene around here, they are pretty good at organizing their vinyl but I will let you know if I fall into the same trap you have!
Connie is religious about her garage sales. It’s like a military manouver…she starts the day very early with the newspaper checking out the potential garage sales. She then proceeds to pull a map out of the city London. With different colour highlighters she “maps out” the best route to hit as many garage sales in as little time as she can to cut down on wasted travel time. The odd time I go out with her and ask to stop at Tim Horton’s the repsonse from her isn’t favorable as she believes I throw the whole plan off track. In the end she does pretty well, and most of the time comes home with something.
I personally look for odd vintage items, or beer signs to hang in the garage. As far as finding any quality vintage vinyl, the pickings are slim. Collectors seem to have already depleted the city. Which reminds me, on another note when you visit London in June remind me to take you to The Village Idiot. It’s a store in Wortley Village not far from my place that only sells vinyl.
Oh my goodness, I love the yard sale. I have newspapers and road maps, highlighters, two-way radios, water, granola bars all ready to go every Saturday morning. Most importantly, small bills and coins. You can’t get a great deal if they can see that you have a $20 bill. I have rules of course, I never buy from a yardsale where the items are not priced…..it is just annoying. I never ask for a lesser price from anyone elderly….I just can’t do it. I like to do the drive by first, I can pretty much judge the quality of the goods. I try to leave my husband at home, he insists on stopping at Timmies during the yardsale….Troy doesn’t get it…there is NO time for coffee as it ruins my plans. I try to be out at 7:30am and I never yardsale past 9:00am as the good stuff is gone. I do have a focus, I am looking for garden items…sometimes I stumble upon a fellow gardener selling plants or someone moving from a home to a condo and selling all of their outdoor stuff. I have had to go back later in the day to pick up some of my bigger purchases and I am not ashamed to admit it. I have found many gems over the years. I think that Troy should buy me a trailer to hook to the truck so I can haul my own goods home. Sometimes I am able to hit the yard sales, get back home, put away my purchases in the shed and he is still sleeping and doesn’t have a clue that I have been out and about. About 4 weeks later he will notice something in the yard and say “is that new?” Ryan, enjoy the yard sale season, it isn’t long enough for my liking.
The other thing about vinyl is that most people know which albums have value and which don’t so the valuable ones are not sitting in a milk crate with 30 years of dust on top.
About mapping out a route… garage saleing in the city is whole different ball game. I just live in a very small town so you don’t really have to have a plan of attack you just puts around. We went once in Orleans and it was weird just driving up and down the various streets looking for sales.
As for filling my new house I already have TOO MUCH STUFF. I need to get ride of the old stuff and stop bringing it in.
Where is Connie’s comment? She sent one and saw that it was posted, now it’s gone. Hahaha…hey Connie, maybe Ryan blocked you or deleted it!
Connie, I think you need to offer courses on this subject matter! At the very least, when you come up to visit in Ottawa, you can show me the ropes!
As for the inability to see comments, I shall address in a post.
The legend of iBenoit is already made when it comes to garage sales. I love them… and always seem to find cool things too.
I guess my luck is partly due to the variety of things i am into: games, books, video games, music, movies, old toys, comics, cool art, nice things for the house, spors stuff, etc.
One never knows what he’s going to find before he dives in.
As for LPs, i wouldn’t worry too much about selection as there always seems to be a few new households a year that finally decide to let go of the crates of vinyls. You generally find something and since it’s real cheap, you can experiment a little.
Question is: do you own a turntable? I never saw one at your place.
It’s nice to see that there are a lot of garage sale addicts out there
You can usually bargain them down.
Speaking of bartering… Mike L. is an old pro
Sam: Hey Mike isn’t this crystal shot poorer thing awesome?
Mike: Yeah sweet! Do you think I should pick it up?
Sam: Yeah totally!
Mike: *turns to lady with fanny pack “How much?”
Lady with fanny pack: 5 bucks?
Mike: *thinking*
Lady with fanny pack: 3 bucks?
Mike: NO NO NO I’ll give you five
HAHAHAHA CLASSIC
Ryan doesn’t own a turn table, he thinks he can use mine,,,mouahhaha
I like vintage stuff but I also like to pick up random stuff for friends.
The first time we went to the Glebe Garage sale (it was actually our first date!), we fund awesome stuff: an Elvis fan book, a recorder, a voodoo doll, a VHS cassette… Heck, it makes good joke-presents! Right Trish?
Anyone who still owns a VCR and who wants buns of steel is welcome to borrow the fabulous work out tape I acquired grace à Véro et Ryan. It’s hard core. :o)
Ha! Funny how I now have the privilege to have the name for my comments… sweet! I wonder what other things it would let me do…