Something for everyone
May 03 '04
The Bottom Line It's all in good fun. Here and there.
If you don’t like to shop at yard sales then you probably will not want to read this. Unless you like to make a lot of money on eBay. I know this write-off is suppose to be only "The Best Stuff to Pick Up at Yard/Tag/Garage Sales" but I wanted to venture out a little and list a few things that I made a big mistake in purchasing as well as the great stuff that I did purchase.
I’m an avid yard sale shopper. With five children, I should be a professional bargain hunter. You should see my husband come Friday nights throughout the summer, he knows what to expect when he walks in from work on Saturday mornings. He walks in, newspaper in one hand, caffeine in the other.
When it is 85 degrees by 9 o’clock, we have ice cold drinks and cold sandwiches packed to take along with us. Even our children love to load up in the van for a morning of ‘wheeling & dealing’.
I have to admit that one of the most lucrative items that I have ever purchased at a yard sale was a set of Crayola Collector Tins. I bought them for the kids because they were cute but when my husband saw them he talked me into selling them on eBay. I made five and a half times the amount of what I paid for them. I don’t do this often, but it happens from time to time. *thinking* Maybe that’s why my hubby encourages me to go so much.
Some of the greatest things I have bought for my children at yard sales were;
I’ll review some as I go; some I won’t
*1)Crabby Sandbox (still in box) *excellent condition* $5.00 Retail Price $49.99 My son’s favorite outdoor toy. Bright Red with wonderful white eyes and a lid to keep the kitty’s away. This is better than the Turtle sandboxes because the Crabs claws doubles as seats for the children so they don’t have to sit in the sand as they play! Also, I looked at the Turtles in Wal-mart just th e other day, now they don’t come in boxes and they are made a lot more flimsy than when the Crabby Sandbox was made.
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*2)Little People Animal Sounds Farm *w’ most of the animals, tractor and car* $3.00 Retail Price $23.88These were recalled a couple of years ago because two screws came off and cause asphyxiation. So check dates before you buy!
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*3)Exercise Trampoline with ottoman cushion *superb shape* $ 10.00 Mini Trampolines without cushions range in Retail Price $19.99 - $39.99
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*4)Fisher-Price Infant to Toddler Swing faded but sturdy* $2.00 Retail Price $17.97
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*5)Evenflo Vibrating BouncerPlays music and vibrates. Includes 3 detachable toys and retractable sunshield. $2.00 Retail Price ???? Can’t find this particular model Prices vary from $19.99 – 39.99 around Evenflo bouncers though. This one has been a life saver since Korah has had ear infections she has not been able to sleep flat on her back!
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*6)Little Tykes Picnic Table *little faded but sturdy* $ 5.00 Retail Price $34.99 Seats 4 children age ranges from 1 ½ to 5 years old.
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*7)Graco Pack & Play Portable Playpen $5.00 Retail Price $42.99 These are great. Much smaller than older playpens. Set up takes less than a minute: Simply open it up, straighten the locking rails, push the center hub down, and lay down the soft play mat.
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*8)Evenflo Exersaucer *like new condition* $20.00 I own two of these. One has a vertical chew toy that baby can pull toward her, water dome with glitter and toys encased inside a nonbreakable, see through plastic case. Roller rattle that spins easily for baby, filled with multi-colored beads; directly in front of it is an odd shaped mirror for baby to see herself in. Another plus is the smooth plastic rail that has four colorful, circular tubes surrounding the rail that slide up and down. When they come together they make a slight clang that my daughter loves. The rail can be moved to the left or right and Korah goes crazy trying to reach. She drools worse than any pooch I’ve ever seen!
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*9)Graco Pack & play WITH Bassinet (For friend, baby was born 2 days before mine!) $15.00 Retail Price $69.99Wish I had bought this one FOR ME!!!
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*10)Fisher Price Rock & Play Piano *Great Shape w’batteries too* $ 1.00 Retail Price $40.00 Your baby can sit and rock will playing a tune. Light-up keys with patterns that dance to the music Flip-out feet for stationary piano play 4 classical songs,4 children's tunes, 5 instrument sounds: piano, violin, harp, tuba and flute. Power/volume control. Handles for baby to hold on each side. Seat adjust to two positions for when your baby grows. Requires 3 "AA" batteries. There was assembly required.
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*11)Evenflo Pastel stars and moon Soft carrier *Still in box* $1.00 Some of these have been recalled due to babies 2 months old and less slipping to one side and falling out. Retail Price $19.99 - $59.99 Product description varies.
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*12)Little Tykes Activity Garden My children loved it. Even my neighbors children loved it. This became a problem in the end. *shrug* Everybody needs something! $4.00 Retail Price $65.00
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*13) Little Tykes Double Easel $3.00 Retail Price $49.99 Tis great for your young budding artist.
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SOME OF THE WORST THINGS THAT I HAVE BOUGHT
*1)Fisher Price My First Skates *great shape* $2.00 Retail price $14.99 These in-line skates that fit over children’s shoes. They adjust to the shoe size. And go from size 6 to 12 The skates have a rear brake. They fit on children by straps that hook over there foot, through a loop then Velcro onto the strap. 3 settings; one for beginners where the wheels lock. Two, which allows the wheels to roll forward but not backwards. And setting three lets the wheels roll freely front or back. These were a menace to deal with. We ended up buying my son regular blades like his older siblings and he has adjusted fine with them. He enjoys them more and they are much easier for him to use. More stable for his ankles and more comfortable then struggling with them on his shoes.
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*2) Evenflo swing down bed *Someone bought this at a sale/then gave it to me.* Retail Price $19.99 Wasn’t happy with it.
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*3)Fisher Price Sparkling Symphony™ Mobile Crib with a remote. *Sparkling condition* $3.00 Retail Price $25.00 Fisher-Price has received 30 reports of batteries leaking from the toy's battery compartment, including six reports of minor burn injuries to babies.
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*4)Over The Shoulder Baby Holder * aka Baby Sling *$10.00 Retail Price $39.00 I could never get the hang of this when Nathan was a baby. Why I bought another when Korah was born, I don’t know. I guess I don’t learn. Or maybe, I just don’t give up that easy…….
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*5) Eddie Bauer Car Seat *Fab Shape*, my son loved it, I didn’t, I hated how much he sweated in it.* $8.00 Retail Price $129.00 (I don’t recommend buying car seats from yard sales unless you know the people. You don’t know when the seat has been involved in a wreck)
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*6)Rugrats PS1 Game *didn’t work* $3.00 I was not in the market, so I haven’t a clue what the going price was for these games. Kids wanted it, so we got it.
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*7)Sit & Spin the kind without the lights. $1.00 Retail Price: No fair quote. Can’t find one priced without lights on it.
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*8) Baby Einstein Baby Einstein - Baby Van Gogh Color Go Round Check out ‘Marytara’s’ review about this. $1.00 Retail Price $29.99 Although my 5 month old is fascinated with it, I agree with Marytara. It’s not much for $30.00 new. I wish it played longer than just a few seconds and I wish there were more tunes to it. My daughter loves to watch the blue oil encased inside swirl around & around & around. It is frustrating to her though when it abruptly stops. The music stops, the blue ‘tide’ stops and her world stops. If I’m not standing nearby I ‘gotta run’ and hit the music button the front before she goes nuclear. Most of the time, I use this during her feeding. If you have a little 5 month old, you know how fidgety they are when they are first learning how to eat. This helps distract her while I am working the spoon into her mouth. It also helps minimize how much she spits out.
I have to admit that I got my $$ worth at only a dollar. I'd been rather upset if I had paid a lot more than that though.
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*9)HP Computer with windows 98, printer, speakers, monitor, etc… $75.00 *worked great for about 2 weeks but with me behind it, it turned out to be a lemon* Beyond those 2 weeks, well… let’s just say that my husband wanted me to look for more crayola tins.
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Other things I have bought from yard sales of course were clothes. I won’t buy many items like that though. I find that my kids, although they don’t mind wearing ‘used’ items, they just seem to stick to wearing the same ole things all the time, no matter how much I try to get them to change!
Usually we do our clothes buying at the end of season sales and put them up till the next year. May sound like a fashion mistake to a lot of you, but to an 8 year old who doesn’t even care if he takes a bath for a week, he’s not going to mind much if he’s clothes are last years style or not.
I won’t buy shoes from yard sales. You never know what you will be getting along with them! Other things are food products or opened make-up that I avoid. If I buy any Tupperware other food storage containers, I use bleach to clean these too.
======Want a few tips from me?=======
Take baby wipes! on your yard sale adventure. Sometimes I feel *icky* after leaving a sale and need them to wipe my hands. It helps to cool off also if it is a HOT day out.
Make sure you always clean your children’s toys with bleach and hot water. If you can, throw them in the washing machine or dishwasher.
Make a list ahead of time of what you want to look for so that you can check it out on the net to see about Recalls or retail sales. Most of the time it’s okay to buy a recall item if it is within a certain time frame because they are always willing to fix it or send you the repair kit for YOU to fix it. *ugh*
Also make a list of what’s hot and what’s not if you do like to sell on eBay. Keep an eye out for those price tags though because of the fees and S&H charges. You don’t want to get carried away with it. There’s no fun in it when you’re not making any profit off of it.
Tote money in your pocket. The less you put in your pocket, the less you spend. If they are asking $3.00 but you only pull out $2.00 sometimes they will take $2.00. If not, it doesn’t hurt to reach into your other pocket/wallet to get that other dollar.
If you are interested in finding out how I made $375.00 off of one yard sale, send me an email and I’ll let you know when I finish that article for Epinions.
I hope you find this review helpful on your yard sale adventures.
Thanks for the read and the time you have spent here.
If you want to join the Yard Sale Write-Off visit Pippadaisy Here is a bit of the information she states about her write-off *****This is a site-wide write-off, so you can post wherever you like. Products that may be languishing in the Epinions database with no reviews because they aren't on the market; Writer's Corner if Eps doesn't have something listed or you want to make a comprehensive list, whatever! Just have your review in by the end of the day that Thursday for people to make their shopping lists for the official start of yard sale season: Memorial Day weekend!***** !?Join us?!
AnnieC
*I tried to include links to the people I mentioned here, but Epinions html bug isn't letting me today. Sorry guys. I'll keep trying to update it and add it in.*
Thank you bonzobean and mmcphee for the suggestions. *I really wasn't sure where exactly to put this.* And to pippadaisy. She's obviously a good mother if she still has patience with me! ;-)
However, I apologize to those who have had to read it again.
:-(
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Epinions.com ID:
Annie_Crane
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Location: MT
Reviews written: 355
Trusted by: 186 members
About Me:
Bee Happy
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