Yard Sale/Thrift Shop Savings Thread

[angela2678]

Originally Posted by Leanna

I love garage slaes and go every Saturday! I am always on the lookout for vintage things, especially pottery, and have find about 5 to 10 lovely pieces (Rosewille, McCoy, Weller) per season for fantastic prices, usually $5 or less.

I am so jealous! I collect vintage pottery and have NEVER found Roseville at a yard sale! I have found a couple of small McCoy pieces (which I snatched up, of course). I own only one piece of Roseville...it's the green basket with the white and blue freesia. It was at an estate auction and there were a whole bunch of bidders, but it was in such perfect condition that I think people were afraid it was fake! So we won it for $40 (a splurge for us, but obviously worth it).

I always think it'd be worth it to drive to Ohio to go yard-saling because I bet I'd find Roseville all over the place. :-)

[angela2678]

Also, I buy ALL of my kids' clothes at yard sales and thrift stores. And I'm really picky, so I only buy Gymboree, GAP, Hanna Anderssen, etc. and it has to be from within the last 2 years or so--nothing dated or dingy! My kids have HUGE wardrobes because I'm getting all of it for .50-$1 each. I just went to a bag sale at a thrift store the other day and got 5 pair Children's Place jeans, 6 Gymboree sweaters/tops/cords, and about 10 other pieces of high-end clothing stuffed into a grocery bag for.......wait for it.......$3!!!!!

[Leanna]

I have only found 2 pieces of Roseville at yard sales but it was all I could do to not knock people over as I ran towards them! I have found a little Weller and mostly McCoy, Hull, some unmarked pieces, and some vintage California pottery. I originally come from Ohio and I agree, that would be the place to shop since most of the pottery was made there! I have bought a few reasonably priced pieces in antique malls there.

[Bargainfinder]

My very best find at a thrift sale is my Heywood Wakefield tv table I bought for $10 at a children's home where I used to work. The ladies auxiliary for the agency held 2 sales each year to raise money to buy furnishings and personal items for the cottages that housed the children. The table was actually not even marked...I saw it, liked it, and said what will you take for it and the person said $10 I realized AFTER the fact that it was HW. Walked down the street to check out a local antique store that specialized in mid-century modern and they were selling it for $495!!! I love that table & would never sell it even for that big a profit!

[angela2678]

I LOVE Heywood Wakefield! We have a bunch of vintage ads for them framed. In terms of profit, one of the best buys I ever had was at an auction...In the basement there was a 1920s linoleum rug (real linoleum--not vinyl). It had a great graphic pattern. I asked the auctioneer when he was going to sell it, and he looked at it like it was a pile of crap. He said to me, "You want that?!" And then he gave it to me for $5! I sold it on eBay for $250. Then another time I bought a $2 box lot at an auction and inside it (unbeknownst to me til I got home) were three 1930s German paper Halloween decorations. They sold for $290 on eBay! I love it.

[Bear]

I also love Heywood Wakefield. Last year I found a five piece set of Heywood Wakefield Custom Room Plan bedroom furniture. A desk, chair, 2 dressers, and a hutch/bookcase that sits on top of one of the dressers. Sale was almost over, couldn't believe it was still there. Price $80 for all.

I live in Ohio, maybe I should look for that pottery.

[angela2678]

Originally Posted by Bear

I also love Heywood Wakefield. Last year I found a five piece set of Heywood Wakefield Custom Room Plan bedroom furniture. A desk, chair, 2 dressers, and a hutch/bookcase that sits on top of one of the dressers. Sale was almost over, couldn't believe it was still there. Price $80 for all..

That is sickening! My grandma had a whole house furnished with nothing but HW. She kept it literally until she died in 1999. My parents went through her stuff to get items they wanted to keep and get rid of everything else. I was in college at the time, so I wasn't around to offer my opinion. I was horrified later to find out they sold EVERY SINGLE PIECE of her HW blond furniture (dining table & chairs, living room sofa/chairs/end tables, bedroom set like yours including the hutch/bookcase, credenza with hutch on top, etc) for $900 to an antique dealer. I'm still sad about it!

[lucyrevenge]

Originally Posted by angela2678

That is sickening! My grandma had a whole house furnished with nothing but HW. She kept it literally until she died in 1999. My parents went through her stuff to get items they wanted to keep and get rid of everything else. I was in college at the time, so I wasn't around to offer my opinion. I was horrified later to find out they sold EVERY SINGLE PIECE of her HW blond furniture (dining table & chairs, living room sofa/chairs/end tables, bedroom set like yours including the hutch/bookcase, credenza with hutch on top, etc) for $900 to an antique dealer. I'm still sad about it!

I'm always amazed at what some things sell for. I have no interest in antiques and am quite sure in my time that I thrown away something of value.

I already told my grandmother please do not give me your items when you pass on. I'm much rather she find someone who knows and appreciates when she has spent years of her life collecting/buying.

[TheThriftyMom]

I've been shopping at garage sales since I was pregnant with DD1. Low on money, garage sales are awesome! I went yesterday to one that I did so well! I got a Fisher Price My Size Barbie Dollhouse for $20 (FULLY FURNISHED), 5 disney DVDs (snow white, beauty and the beast, dalmations, sleeping beauty, cinderella) for $2, Barbie Mermadia for 25 cetns, a whole village of houses and accessories I think it's called Sweet village?? I don't know. Fisher Price made it. I got 20 houses over 100 pieces of accessories and little dolls for $5 and a HUGE lot of polly pockets for $5. I also got my youngest a Little PEople gas station set (HUGE) for $1.

[kimshaw1106]

I say that those are a great finds. I love yards sales and flea markets. I like it at the flea market when it is the end of the season and the vendors just want to get rid of things so they dont take them back home they give lots of it away. I have walked out of there with tons of stuff from the other vendors and then we had to bring back the stuff that we were selling..I stocked my cabinets up with the single served bean pots that you put in the oven. I got so many from one guy he want over 20 bucks I talked him down to 6 dollars...What I dont like is weither it is a flea market or yard sale you offer a price and they wont go down..