15 Popular Items Worth Money At Yard Sales
Estimated reading time: 11 minutes
Yard sales are starting to pop up around our community, meaning opportunity-seeking frugal-minded buyers will be out in full force.
We enjoy looking to see what we can find, and it’s nice to get up early on a Saturday morning.
Bringing our son to yard sales also helps him understand the value of money and why buying new is not the only option.
Watch for these 15 popular items at yard sales if you plan to save or earn extra money to pay off debt or stash in the bank.
Scanning Yard Sales Fast For the Best Bargains
Getting the best bargains at a yard sale takes experience, precision, and excellent negotiating skills.
Most often, you’ll find two types of people who visit yard sales;
- Those looking to get a deal and save money on items they would typically buy or need to buy
- Those looking to buy items worth money to resell to make even more money
We fall into both categories because we are a frugal family, and earning extra money on the side is what we do.
We visit the second-hand shops in town just about once a week, souring the shelves for deals we can re-sell online to make a profit.
The idea is to earn a profit to pay for the items we need, cancel that purchase or make it accessible.
Make sense?
For example, we bought a wood art easel from Melissa and Doug for $5 from Goodwill and sold it online for $30.
The list goes on and on, but you have to know what you are looking for.
Turn A Profit To Pay Off Debt
Buying and selling items are not for everyone, but there is lots of money to be made if you’re in for the financial ride.
As everyone knows, thrift store prices have been on the rise lately for whatever reason; greed sounds about right, but we won’t go there.
We’ve found ourselves leaning more towards the Thrift Store, Bibles for Missions, and the Goodwill because it is tax-free, and the prices are far less than Value Village.
Although we take advantage of 50% off or promotional days at local thrift stores, our big money-maker is community yard sales.
I wish we could get out to more garage sales throughout the summer, but we have to limit ourselves right now as our son is only four years old.
Trying to wake a 4-year-old up at 7 am to be ready to hunt for deals at garage sales can be tricky, but most often, he’s up anyway.
Are Yard Sales Worth it?
If you are hosting a yard sale, I’d, of course, it is.
When you donate items, you earn no money. However, If you sell the items, you make money.
The financial part of garage sales is common sense, but you can make a little or far more than anticipated depending on yard sale prices.
Savvy buyers will even negotiate, bargain and fight for an item, especially if they know it’s worth money at your yard sales.
The last thing you want to do is waste time at yard sales, so the game’s name is to get in and get out as fast as possible.
Time is money for some people who have other things they’d rather or need to be doing.
Even hosting yard sales throughout the summer is hit or miss based on time spent hosting them and money earned.
If you have nothing better to do that particular day, go for it; if not, hold off until you can run a yard sale without wasting valuable time.
What Sells Well At Yard Sales?
As buyers and re-sellers of yard sales, there are certain items that we look for specifically as we know how to sell them and, for the most part, know their worth.
If we don’t, we Google the item to see the current sale price, which will help us decide whether or not to negotiate for a yard sale item.
Let’s look at some of the most popular items buyers look for at yard sales in no particular order.
These are some of the best items to sell that will net you the most money hosting or buying at yard sales.
If you want to bring in more money, have the kids host a yard sale, bake sale or offer bottles of water, pop, or sell juice to buyers for profit.
Keep An Eye Out At Yard Sales For These Items
For the most part, anything in-store or online selling with high price tags and brand-name items will sell to the right buyer for the right price.
- Brand New Wrapped Products
- Brand Name Baby and Kids Products
- Indoor and Outdoor Furniture
- Toys, vintage toys, Old games
- Televisions, Stereo equipment
- Yard/Home Maintenance/Tools
- Music/Vinyl
- Jewellery and Costume Jewellery
- Artwork/Home decor
- Large and Small appliances
- Camping and Sports Equipment
- Brand Name Clothing/Shoes/Handbags/Wallets
- Books
- Vintage Signs
- Workout Gear and Equipment
- Brand Name Cookware
Worst Yard Sales Items To Avoid
Our eyes are always on new products, household items, toys, especially vintage or new items.
Anything that falls under the baby and kids products or toys category is our big seller for profit in the CBB home.
The worst for profit is books for resale; however, a yard sale is a perfect place to snag a deal next to local library blow-out sales or online sellers if you want to buy books.
If you don’t want to own a book, taking it from the library is the best option since it is free.
What to look for when buying for resale at yard sales
I’m no vintage professional, but you might want to Google it if you see something in great shape that you know is old, no longer produced or in medium to high demand.
Most buyers already know what they are looking for and don’t waste time looking at anything else.
When we visit yard sales for items we can resell for profit, a few things are MUST before any negotiation occurs.
- What shape is the item in?
- Does it come with a box?
- Can it sell without a box?
- Are all the parts present?
- How much is the original or current sales price at the stores?
- Is the item in demand?
- How old is the item?
- Can we profit from the item?
Yard Sales And Your Expectations
Expectations before purchasing at yard sales
- If the item is damaged- No
- No box- yes and no, depending on the product
- If there are missing parts-No unless I can find them elsewhere for cheap or free. and it’s worth it to us.
- We must make at least a $5 profit, or it’s a no.
- Are there buyers for the item online?
- Will it save us money?
Depending on your goals for visiting yard sales, the questions above may or may not apply.
Making Money From Yard Sales
Overall I believe yard sales are a superb opportunity for people to save money, make money and earn even more money reselling items online.
Whatever your game plan is, you can’t go wrong with buying used unless what you purchase is broken, missing parts, or collecting dust.
Discussion: What other items do you think are worth looking at for-profit when going to yard sales?
Leave me a comment below, as I enjoy reading your feedback.
Yard Sales Tips And Tricks
Other excellent Garage Sale Posts on CBB to read!
- Do you have your garage sale permit?
- How to sell used children’s clothes at your next garage sale
- The Ultimate Guide to avoid garage sale theft
- Should there be a garage sale return policy?
- How to stop wasting valuable time at garage sales
- 20 Garage Sale Tools you need to attract buyers
- How to host a community garage sale this summer
- 5 Garage Sale Staging Secrets to help you sell your stuff
- Should you negotiate prices at a garage sale?
- How to price garage sale items?
- Watch what you sell at your next garage sale in Canada
- Garage sale tips for buying and selling stuff
CBB Home and Blog Update
Hi, there everyone,
I’ve been swamped at work for the past two weeks, leaving little time for anything.
The good news is, before you know it, I’ll have some free time to start building the new deck and hopefully finish up at least one of the bathrooms this summer.
With our son starting baseball and soccer at the end of May and then swimming lessons, we have a busy summer which is OK.
The idea is to keep him busy doing things he enjoys so he’s not bored around the house.
We like balancing our chores with independence and fun, which works best for us.
This past week, I could sneak in some time to get our herb garden on the go.
As usual, we’ve got lots of basil, parsley, chives, tomatoes, garlic, and dill.
I picked up three bags of ProMix from Canadian Tire yesterday after work, so I’ll try to finish planting this weekend, weather permitting.
That’s all for now.
Pictures of the herb garden will be coming soon and the deck!
Mr.CBB
CBB Posts You May Have Missed
These are the blog posts I’ve written over the past two weeks that you can catch up on if you’ve missed them.
If you don’t already, please subscribe to the blog, and you will get my posts to come straight to your email. CBB in an Instant.
- How we became a host family for 8 International students in Canada
- 6 Retirement concerns that we are thinking about today (Our February and March Net Worth Update)
- Copy-Cat Keto Hostess Cream-Filled Cupcakes
- Ontario Electricity Support Program lowers electricity bills for lower income consumers
- How much does the Ketogenic Diet Cost in Canada?
Finance Read Of the Week
I’ve written LOTS of grocery and food-related posts because food is a massive part of any budget since we all need to eat.
I found this great article via Twitter that shares 22 Bad Cooking Habits You Need To Stop Now.
I went through them all, and yes, they are all bad; if you are doing them, stop.
Not only can you make yourself or others sick, but try to consider food waste and the extra costs involved with it.
I’m wrong for the stir and poke too often when cooking. I need to work on that!
What else would you add to the Bad Habits in the Kitchen list?
Frugal Recipe Find
When I asked Mrs. CBB what an Eat-More chocolate bar was, she told me it was one of those chocolate bars that you either hated or loved.
Barry over at Rock Recipes Canada created this simple copy-cat Eat-More chocolate bar recipe that I think any bar fan will enjoy.
Eat-More is a chocolate bar made by Hershey. It consists of dark toffee, peanuts, oatmeal and chocolate, and its slogan is “Dive into the unique taste of chewy dark toffee, peanut and chocolate.”
It was created in Canada by the Lowney company, which was acquired by Hershey Canada on July 1, 1987 from Nabisco Ltd.
An early 1930s contest to name the chocolate bar was won by Angus B. MacDonald of New Waterford, Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia; his prize was an prize was an art deco-style clock fashioned to look like a measuring tape.
It is chewy and comes in a yellow wrapper. It is also rectangular and flat, and “stretches” when you eat it.
A caramel version was also launched in 1995 which replaced the dark toffee of the original with caramel of similar consistency.
It was the same size and shape as the original Eat-More, but it came in a copper coloured wrapper. The caramel version has since been discontinued. Source: Wikipedia Eat-More
The bar was a chewy chocolate nougat loaded with peanuts, from what she recalls and as described above.
Her mother was a massive fan of the Eat-More chocolate bar, but only if there was no Aero bar insight.
I’ve never had the Eat-More bar, but I thought I would share this nostalgic Eat-More chocolate bar copycat recipe with any die-hard fans.
I’d eat a few if I had a dish of them in front of me.
If you don’t want to make them but want to try them, you can still buy them for around a dollar each or $4.12 for a 4-pack on Amazon Canada.
Mr. CBB’s Motivational Corner
Gardening 101
If you’ve thought about growing a garden this Spring and Summer but don’t have the space, I found this fantastic post that shares step-by-step how to build an elevated planter box with legs.
Not only is a project like this simple to do, but it’s also inexpensive, especially if you can get the wood on offer or when it is a no-tax day at one of the big box stores in Canada.
Upkeep of the box is simple and should last you a long time.
Have you used planter boxes before?
Saturday Search Term Giggles
Every week I get tens of thousands of people who visit the Canadian Budget Binder because they searched online and found my blog. (SIC) means I’ve copied the text exactly, and it has spelling errors.
Most times funny, sometimes not.
- Facebook group auction app– I see someone sidetracked by Canadian Budget Binder and just had to visit. Ha!
- Hard-boiled egg parmesan cookies– I’m no expert, but that cookie sounds a bit…savoury.
- Life is full of mistakes– It sure is.
- Call me old-fashioned but I value things that are not considered anymore– Hey, do what you need to do.
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