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Friday, May 23, 2008
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SALE-ING Spring means its time to get out and start fishing for bargains at garage sales Staff Writers For many, springtime in the lakes area means fishing or opening the cabin. For others, like us, it's time to bargain shop. The garage sale season has officially begun.
The fishing opener/Mother's Day weekend typically kicks off the garage sale season, according to our co-workers in the Dispatch Classified Advertising Department. However, because of the chilly temperatures this spring, Memorial Day weekend is supposed to be a busy weekend for sales.
After the sale
Your garage sale is over and now you're stuck with all the leftovers. Here's a list of places to donate your gently used items. Because these places often run out of room, call before dropping off your things to make sure they're accepting donations at the time. There also are consignments shops in the Brainerd lakes area to consider.
→ The Salvation Army. Phone: 822-3559. What they won't accept: large kitchen appliances, children's toys, cribs, strollers and mattresses.
→ Goodwill. Phone: 829-8493. What they won't accept: furniture, baby furniture, electrical items (toasters, lamps, etc.), large appliances.
→ Dorcas. Phone: 828-2811. What they won't accept: TVs, microwaves, electronics, any items from large group sales (church rummage sales, Boy Scouts sales, etc.). Will only take furniture that's in good condition.
→ Habitat For Humanity's ReStore. Phone: 454-8517. What they won't accept: household items, clothes, toys, damaged appliances, appliances more than 10 years old. They will accept: construction materials, doors, windows, light fixtures, cabinets, furniture in good condition. See the ReStore's Web site, www.lakesareahabitat.org/salvage_sales.htm, for the entire list of what they will and won't accept.
→ Salem WEST. Phone: (218) 534-4962. What they accept: Anything that's in good, usable condition, including mattresses.
→ Women's Center of Mid-Minnesota. Phone: 828-1216. Be sure to call first to make sure they have room for your donation. What they won't accept: furniture. What they will accept: small household items (dishes, pots and pans), clothing that's in season.
→ Lakes Area Pregnancy Support Center. Phone: 825-0793. What they accept: maternity clothes of all types and sizes, clean baby clothes (sizes preemie to 2T), all baby-related supplies except mattresses, toys and car seats.
→ Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota. Phone: (320) 529-0000. What they won't accept: microwaves, mattresses and box springs, major appliances, children's car seats, cribs or strollers, personal care items, food, lawn or garden care items. Depending on your location, the Epilepsy Foundation will pick up donations from your driveway. Call or visit www.efmn.org to schedule a pickup.
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Our sources tell us there are nearly 100 garage sales planned this weekend - and these are only the advertised sales in the Dispatch. So grab your wallet, your walking shoes, a Brainerd lakes area map, a newspaper and a friend and hit the road with us.
We've been anxious all winter for this time to come. Diehard shoppers will understand this. There is an adrenaline rush that comes with finding something useful, something that was needed, for only 50 cents at your neighbor's sale. For parents, garage sales are essential. Babies sometimes only wear outfits a few times and buying like-new clothing and toys at garage sales can save new parents a lot of money.
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Finding creative ways to display clothes and other garage sale items is key to having a successful sale. Here an ironing board is used to hang children's clothes while the top of the board showcases smaller items, like children's shoes. Brainerd Dispatch/Heidi Lake
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You can find almost anything at a garage sale, including household items, collector's items, antiques, home decor or furniture - it's all there, you just have to have the patience to find it. Finding hidden treasures is part of the fun.
For us, it's not all about collecting useless stuff. We both have garage sales ourselves every summer. It's the ultimate form of recycling. Instead of filling a landfill with our unwanted stuff, we're offering it to others at rock-bottom prices. It gives us a chance to make a little money, too.
Since we've both become experienced at the art of garage sale-ing, we thought we'd offer some tips we've learned through the years.
Finding the deals
• Don't be intimidated. It can be awkward walking into a stranger's front yard at 7 a.m. on a Saturday. Be friendly, smile, say something about the weather. The more sales you go to the less awkward it becomes. Don't feel you have to buy something at every sale.
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Joanna Roeschlein and her daughter, Charleigh, tried out a foosball table for sale at a garage sale Thursday on Forest Drive in Baxter. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
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• Make a game plan. With gas prices inching toward $4 a gallon, don't criss-cross the lakes area wasting valuable gas. It's not necessary. Sales usually are Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Double-check the newspaper the night before, circling the sales you're most interested in. We typically head straight to the sale that captures our interest the most and then hit the sales around it, also numbering the sales in order of location. It helps if you use a map. We consult the phone book to use the local maps to find unfamiliar street names.
• Go on the first day of the sale and be there early - but not too early. A co-worker of ours woke up the day of her sale to find shoppers sitting in her patio furniture, waiting for the garage door to open. DON'T BE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE! Be respectful to the homeowners and other shoppers. Another friend of ours got shoved by a woman while reaching for something on a table. Also, if it's 6 p.m., the signs are gone and the garage door is closed, don't knock on the front door. The sale is obviously over. This, too, happened to a friend.
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Amy Knooihuizen carried her purchase Thursday from a garage sale on Inglewood Drive in Baxter. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
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• Don't be afraid to haggle. Be reasonable with your offers. Don't offer a quarter for something marked 50 cents and pay with a $20 bill. Keep in mind sellers will be more likely to accept deals later in the day or on the second day of the sale rather than the first few minutes they're open for business.
• Bring cash. Checks are frowned upon in the garage sale world so bring cash, preferably in smaller denominations, including dollar bills and change. It makes transactions easier for all parties involved. Figure out how much you're spending before heading to the checkout table. We've found that many people, like us, just aren't great at math. Pay attention to whether you're getting the correct change back.
• Buyer beware. Look for stains, holes or missing buttons on clothing before you buy them. Ask to plug in electrical items to make sure they work. If you're buying baby furniture or toys, try to make sure they haven't been recalled. Call the Consumer Product Safety Commission at (800) 638-2772 or visit their Web site, www.cpsc.gov.
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Knickknacks and other home decor items typically sell at garage sales, especially when organized and easily accessible to shoppers. Brainerd Dispatch/Heidi Lake
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Hosting a sale
• If you haven't used or worn it in the past year, it's time to get rid of it. A garage sale is a good way to declutter your home. Even if you're unsure about whether it will sell, just put it on the sale. One of us - and we're not naming names - has even sold used underwear and two sticks of deodorant, only slightly used, for 25 cents each. People will buy anything. But use your best discretion and be truthful about things that don't work. Make sure everything is clean, even your garage.
• Mark items clearly. We've found masking tape and a marker work just fine. We've tried the pre-marked stickers but found they aren't sticky enough. Make sure everything on the sale has a price tag and keep prices low, especially on adult clothing which doesn't seem to sell very well. Remember, you're running a garage sale, not managing a department store. Also, it's faster and easier to add up items and give back change at the checkout table if everything is marked in 25-cent increments.
• Be organized. Separate men's from women's clothes. Hang clothes whenever possible to make shopping easier. We've found an uncovered ironing board works well for hanging children's clothes and hanging a ladder horizontally from the garage rafters is great for hanging adult clothes. Don't make people dig through piles of clothing. If it's too messy, they may just skip over it and not bother to look. Try to make each table its own department, separate tables for kitchenware, clothing, "guy stuff," etc.
• Advertise, advertise, advertise. Even if we didn't work at the Dispatch, we would highly recommend advertising your sale in the newspaper. To save money on your ad, check with your neighbors about having a neighborhood sale and split the cost for advertising. Multi-family sales usually attract more shoppers, anyway.
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With more than 100 garage sales planned in the Brainerd lakes area this weekend, Memorial Day weekend is the kickoff to the garage sale season this year. While garage sales are a way to declutter your house, they also are a way to make some extra cash. This sale netted more than $800. Brainerd Dispatch/Heidi Lake
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• Signage is important. The more signs the better. If you live near a busy intersection, post a sign there, as well as on your street corner and in front of your house. It's helpful if your signs are all the same so shoppers know they're heading to the right sale. Signs need to be big enough to spot from a car and sturdy enough to withstand the wind and rain.
• Don't do it alone. Be prepared to be bombarded at the checkout table the morning of your sale. You'll need help straightening up the tables and more than one person should be working the checkout table to allow anxious shoppers to get to their next sale.
• When the sale ends, don't bring the remaining stuff back into the house. Remember the reason why you had the sale in the first place - to declutter your house. Put it on a friend's upcoming sale or donate it to your church's annual rummage sale, a local charity or a consignment shop.
HEIDI LAKE may be reached at heidi.lake@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5879.
JODIE TWEED may be reached at jodie.tweed@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5858.
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