Garage Sale Gold

It’s all over the news. After years of crazy rising gold prices, the gold market has tanked. But, don’t worry, there may be real gold ahead for you in your own garage, attic, basement or barn.  Garage Sale Gold!

I created www.garagesalegold.com a few years back to help folks understand how to put together a garage sale, moving sale, yard sale or any other type of sale to maximize their profits and make the most money by selling stuff they no longer need or want.

My book, Ava’s Guide To Garage Sale Gold, is a step by step, easy to read guide to sorting, identifying, pricing, displaying and marketing your wares so that you can make that extra money that you’ve been wanting to take that trip, buy that new stuff, re-model that room, or even just to make a mortgage payment.

So, don’t let gold prices, the stock market, or anything else get the best of you. Fight back by making money garage sale style.

Learn more at www.garagesalegold.com

Happy Saling!

Hello, salers! It has been some time since I have updated you. That is because it has been a long, hard and cruel winter. But, Spring has sprung and it is officially garage sale season! The cold early Spring has put a bit of a damper on some garage sale selling, but I have been out there seeing some activity, which is picking up as the weather improves.

As you know, www.garagesalegold.com, which is a web site I created that is devoted to all things garage sale, yard sale, moving sale, estate sale, etc. has been a place that I can help to educate, inform and excite folks about the idea of having their own garage sale, but also about going to other people’s garage sale in order to stretch their dollars, become frugalistas, make new friends, but also, be kind to the environment.

It is a crime against the Earth to understand how much is thrown away and therefore thrown into landfills in the typical American home. A garage sale is the ultimate form of recycling and protecting our resources, it is very green….in both ways!!!!

Earth Day 2013 is on Monday, April 22nd. So, what better way to celebrate than to go to a garage sale, moving sale, estate sale, flea market or even a consignment shop this weekend.  Or, if you are super industrious, it’s not even too late to have your own sale this weekend.

My book, Ava’s Guide to Garage Sale Gold, is the ultimate resource to learn all about how to do it right. It is available on my website www.garagesalegold.com and also on Amazon.  In addition, I have created signs, money aprons, labels, tags, all you ever need to have a successful garage sale. So, even if you don’t feel ambitious enough to host your own sale, celebrate Earth Day by shopping used. You might just be surprised at what great shopping it really is! Happy Saling!

As a yard sale enthusiast, and as someone who has scraped together extra money from yard sales, garage sales, flea markets and consignment shops to pay for necessities, I am outraged at the pending U.S. Supreme Court case which could ban reselling both in person and on websites.

So, Church bazaars, nonprofits who raise funds through flea markets for great causes, families down on their luck due to incompetence in the goverment may now be banned by the same government for trying to help themselves any way they can to make some extra money in these terrible times of high unemployment and lack of good jobs!

And what on earth will become of landfills? Garage sales and other forms of re-selling is not just great financially, but it is going green by not throwing away useful items as junk.

And what are Americans to do if this ruling goes through? Set up trading posts and barter facilities like in the 1600s?  The U.S. Government has already decimated our economy, and now they want to completely destroy the last shreds of hope for thousands and thousands of businesses and consumers?

This is beyond an outrage!!!! They really do seem to want to stifle the American spirit and create a country of dependents.

This goes way beyond garage sales. This threatens our very freedom.

I wrote a garage sale book. If other people sell it after they buy it from me, that is fine with me. That is the American way. Let them sell my book at their garage sale, on eBay, Amazon, wherever they like.

I have spent the past couple of years trying to empower people to fight the system and make money selling their things so people have options besides shopping retail and it’s win win for all.  And so many have been helped by having garage sales: the people having the sale, the shoppers, the charities that have been contributed to.

It is not just eBay and Craig’s list and Amazon that will be affected by this ruling, it is hundreds of thousands of families accross America. DON’T DO THIS TO THEM, PLEASE!!!!!!!!!

I never considered myself particularly creative. But when I started becoming a garage sale fanatic, I discovered that I did have talents to take items and reuse them in creative and artistic ways. I am no Martha Stewart, but I am a frugalista, looking to stretch every dollar and beautify my life in high garage sale style.

One achievement that I discovered quite by accent resulted in a wonderful enjoyment of one of my most favorite flowers – peonies. I have a wonderful garden of peonies and like to clip the fresh flowers and bring inside in vases.  However, I noticed that the peonies seem to last only a day or two before they start to droop.

One day I took a nice grouping of peonies and cut the stems short. I then took a basket that I got at a garage sale for 25 cents and took a recycled typperware container and filled it with water and placed the container inside the basket. I then stuck the peonies in there. Well, those peonies are still surviving almost two weeks later! I have to say that these simple garage sale pleasures really do make my day!

Below is a photo of my master achievement.  Happy Saling!

Being the garage sale maniac that I am, I was fortunate to make an appearance on a TV station in California (HUGE garage sale territory) giving some tips to folks who wanted to have a garage sale, but didn’t know how. Hope you will get some good nuggets from my tips.  Get more tips on garagesalegold.com Happy Saling!

Click here to see video:

http://www.news10.net/video/default.aspx?bctid=928190484001

In honor of my first year anniversary of starting GarageSaleGold.com, a site devoted to all things garage sale, I am offering an insider discount on all of my garage sale products if you like me on Facebook. Just go to garagesalegold.com and click on the facebook like and you will be able to use a discount code which applies to all of my products.

I started with my book, Ava’s Guide to Garage Sale Gold, and then created an organizer, money aprons, signs, tags, everything you need in one place to have the best garage sale ever!

I used to run from Home Depot to Staples to Michael’s and on and on to find stuff for a garage sale and often came up empty handed. I have created everything in one place to showcase your goodies.

Garage sale season is just starting to be in full bloom, so take advantage of this great offer while I am still able to extend the discount.

See you at garagesalegold.com

You can also follow me on twitter @garagesaleava

Happy saling!

Holidays are a great time to go shopping at yard sales.  As the retailers are screaming about their great discounts and web sites free shipping, yard sales sell items (often looking brand new) at steep, steep discounts.   Don’t be fooled by thinking there is just junk at yard sales or just antiques. More and more I find every day household items for kitchen, living room, bed room, even pet items.  Trust me, Fluffy would never care that her Christmas toy was once owned by another dog.  And gift items like jewelry are great finds at yard sales.  Buy jewelry as a gift, wrap it in pretty paper and who the heck would know where it came from? And don’t even get me started on Christmas decorations. I see tons of it at yard sells, all in perfect condition. I don’t know about you, but I like being in the holiday spirit, but when funds are low, it is hard to splurge on things like holiday decorations.  But, at yard sale prices, every house could glitter inside and out with a happy holiday glow.

How can you feel guilty buying a little something for yourself at a yard sale? At those prices, I say, treat yourself.  I work very hard and money is really tight now, but to get myself a wonderful treat for $2 or $3, I don’t beat myself up.  Holidays are a great time for yard sale shopping.  So take advantage of the ads you might find in your paper and online, and get out your bargaining Santa Cap and have some yard sale holiday cheer.

And if you are thinking of having a sale soon, get great tips in my book Ava’s Guide to Garage Sale Gold on my site www.garagesalegold.com or on a kindle through Amazon.com.

Happy Saling!

Brrrr! It’s getting chilly outside in some parts of the country. But, guess what? The fall is one of the absolute best times to have a yard sale. Yard sale season is in its height in October and November. Many folks are out looking for something to do besides picking apples. And what better way to shop guilt free than at a yard sale?   A Yard sale can take place in a yard, but can also include indoor areas such as barns, garages, etc.  So, while you might have some items outside, it certainly does not preclude you from having inside items as well.  In fact, the colder it gets, the less competition that you will have for your yard sale and therefore the more people might show up at yours.

This summer, there were weekends in my local paper that advertised 30 different yard sales on one day. That is competition! In the colder months, your yard sale may only be one of three 0r four advertised. Therefore, with less to pick from, chances are you could get MORE people on colder days than in warmer months, just due to the lack of competition.

Remember, a yard sale does not have to be in a yard any more than a garage sale has to be in a garage.  The term yard sale connotes a slightly higher level of merchandise than a garage sale so you may even be able to charge more for your items.

Please also remember that at www.garagesalegold.com, we always promote giving a percentage of your haul to your favorite charity. Or at least donating your left over items to a charity.  Times are tough and charities really need our help, so make that extra money and save alittle for the causes that pull at your heart strings.

Happy saling!

The Occupy Wall Street movement is sweeping the country. I say, Occupy Yard Sale! I would like to see people camping out to get their hands on the greatest deals at their neighborhood yard sale. I would like to see people having a yard sale and making some quick cash so that they can pocket some quick cash to help pay the bills.

Of course I am upset that large corporations don’t pay their fair share of taxes, but instead of camping out and getting arrested, I would rather fight back by selling great things to people at great discounts.

I went to a yard sale last weekend and got an outrageously great 10 speed bike in perfect condition for $10. Now that is something to camp out for. I also got at a Yard Sale a book that I had really wanted to read for a long time for $1.  I got lots of other items as well for fantastic prices. In fact, I have furnished all of my homes with yard sale goodies and no one would ever know!

It’s time for Occupy Yard Sale. So the big corporations got bailouts. Time to bail each other out and buy each other’s stuff.

For fantastic tips on making the most money at your yardsale, go to garagesalegold.com or pick up a copy of Ava’s Guide to Garage Sale Gold. Available on Amazon kindle RIGHT NOW!!!!

Haping saling!

Thinking of trying to sell some things online?  You might just make more money faster by having  yard sales. I know. It sounds old fashioned. We are all so glued to the internet, but in these tough times, the human interaction can oftentimes be more profitable. And you don’t have to photograph it, ship it, and wonder if it will break or get rejected.

Selling on eBay, etsy, craig’s list or other sites was all the rage a few years back. And, of course, you can still sell items there……and be one of thousands competing for the same people for less and less money.  The thing about selling things at a yard sale is it is more impulsive, it is more personal, it is  IMMEDIATE.  And, funny thing, it is actually pretty cool to see how excited and happy people get when they discover and purchase your treasures.  It is an emotion and human connection that does not exist when you use online methods.

Maybe I am old fashioned. But I like to see the person who is taking home my things. I like to see that something is going to a good home.  Maybe it is a bit neurotic or maternal to feel this way about items, but maybe that is why I am such a freak for yard sales  and love going to them and having them.

I have friends who sell on eBay.  They can’t get the kind of money they used to for items as there is such a plethora of everything there. It makes everything feel like a commodity. It devalues the uniqueness of the items. I, in fact, have a young friend who has been an Ebay dealer and he now wants to start selling stuff at yard sales.  It’s almost like everything is coming full circle and yard sales, barn sales, tag sales are going to become hotter than online because it is so immediate, so personal and possibly more profitable.

So, you think having  yard sales is alot of work? I can help you make it fun. Get my book, Ava’s Guide to Garage Sale Gold, on my web site, www.garagesalegold.com or get it on Amazon kindle immediately and get great tips on how to maximize your sale.  I am not saying you should completely abandon selling online, but just try a real, live sale for yourself and see how it goes. You may never go back to selling online once you experience the rush of a great yard sale.