Are You Planning Your Route Right Now?

It's Friday night and if you have read our book, you know it's time to be planning tomorrow morning's garage sale route RIGHT NOW, before you get tired and settle into that recliner.

What to do? Check your local paper, Craigslist and other sources from the book to be sure you know of all the sales in your area. List them and prioritize them by type of sale and geographically. Map them out if you aren't familiar with the addresses. Be prepared to have something ready for a quick bite in the morning before you leave. Have the coffee on timer, ready to go when you get up. Be sure the car is gassed up and ready to go.

Don't wait till morning. If you do, the pros will be out there an hour before you've had your coffee. C'mon, people, lets' go! Happy shopping!

Free Garage Sale Shopping? Yes, You Can!

In a clever new post on the moneysavingmom.com site, garage sale shopper Crystal shares her approach to garage sales. Be sure to read her article and find out how she is able to shop and buy what she needs at garage sales for absolutely free, and even making a profit.

Resellers do this already, but her "rules" are great for the average garage sale shopper, enabling her to get whatever she is looking for at no cost. Be sure to check it out!

http://moneysavingmom.com/2013/06/how-to-shop-yard-sales-for-free.html

April Free Kindle Download

It's freebie time again! Download our book for free, today and tomorrow only.

Already have the book? Let us know how you liked it. Which parts helped you or taught you something new?

Vintage China - Use It for Everyday

I love beautiful, old vintage china sets and there are plenty to be found at garage and estate sales. Operating a couple of booths at an antique mall, we find that fine china moves very slowly these days. Most young couples don't have any interest in "fancy" china sets they feel they will never use.

I say use the good china every day! Go ahead and get a gorgeous set, but don't tuck it away, only to be pulled out for holiday dinners. It is such a shame to see these treasures discarded. Much better to break or chip a piece of fine china using it every day than to see them stuffed away in a closet or garage.

You can get full china sets for unheard of prices at garage and estate sales, sometimes as low as $20 for a full set. We recently bought a small set of the Staffordshire "Dickens Coaching Stages" by Grindley pattern (shown above) for $25. Unusual scenes from Dickens are in brown with hand painted accents in yellows and reds. You can't get a set of plain stoneware for that, and how much more character and history this has!

Don't be afraid. Buy that china set, use it every day, put it in the dishwasher, whatever. It deserves to see the light of day.

FREE Kindle Download Starts at Midnight!

Starting at midnight tonight, The Complete Money Saver's Guide to Garage Sale Shopping will be a FREE download for 24 hours only! Expires at midnight tomorrow, March 20th.

This is the perfect time to brush up on your best garage sale bargain techniques as we move into the busy garage sale months. Grab this one for free and tell your friends. Enjoy!

About Those Hard Working Antique Dealers

If you have already read our book, "The Complete Money Saver's Guide to Garage Sale Shopping,"  then you know what incredible bargains are out there for the dedicated garage sale shopper. These can include some of those rare, vintage and retro items you may be seeing at your local antique store.

So, if the antique dealers are finding things like you are, at garage and estate sales, and maybe for bargain prices, why would they cost so much more in the antique stores? Are the dealers ripping us off?

We'd have to give you an absolute "no" on this one, and here are some of the reasons why:

- Dealers have spent a lot of time, sometimes many years, learning what sells, researching what things are worth and are certainly not out of line for pricing accordingly.

- For every treasure a dealer may be selling in their store, there may be many items that didn't move that they have lost money on. It is always a gamble for them.

- Dealers are spending many, many hours hunting for these items wherever they may be. If they actually added in their time, the prices would be much higher than they are.

- Many dealers pay a monthly storage fee somewhere for storing their inventory that is not yet in the store.

- Dealers are paying for rental space in an antique mall or paying for the building itself if they are the owner. Often, they are working some days in the store as well. They often pay the building owner a percentage of every sale on top of that. There is a lot of overhead that might not be visible to the shopper.

The next time you are browsing through your favorite antique shop, we hope you'll have a greater understanding of what goes on behind the scenes. When you think about it, maybe that dealer price is a pretty good deal after all!

We Appreciate You!

Wow! Sales are up, two new reviews and all good things after our last FREE book days last week. We want our readers to know how much we appreciate you. It's so nice to hear that you picked up some new ideas or got motivated to try garage sales for the first time.

Any writer would tell you how personal it is to write and publish a book, even a basic self-help or money saving guide. When we hear that our writing has benefited someone, it's just such a rewarding feeling.

A big thanks to all of our readers!