Make More Money Buying At Garage Sales

Are you a person that frequents garage sales? Do you stop at every thrift shop and flea market you see? If so why? I happen to be one of those people and not because I enjoy looking through endless piles of junk or pre-owned clothes, I do it to make money. It amazes me how much money is just lying around on some poor souls garage sale table waiting for me to take it. The old saying “ one man’s junk is a another man’s treasure” is absolutely true. I can’t tell you how many thousands of dollars I’ve made over the years off of other people’s junk.

I got started as a young boy watching my father hitting garage sales looking for antiques for his booth at the local antique mall. I watched as he haggled at each garage sale over a few dollars, this process totally amazed me. I soon took up following his lead, read books on many different types of antiques and collectibles, and soon learned the value of what I wanted to find. This later led me to become an auctioneer and open my own auction house but I’ll save that for another day.

My whole point with this article is to make you open your eyes and realize that this is something everyone can do to make extra money. If you want to be come good at the art of making money from garage sale and flea market finds you need to do some studying.
Spend time going to auctions, browsing eBay, reading antique price guides and magazines to get a solid foundation at knowing an items true value. Key things you need to learn to make money through garage sales are:

How old is it? - Look for maker’s marks. Learn the different ways manufactures marked their items. Usually you can determine an antiques age just by looking at the makers mark.

What is it made of? You need to learn the difference between pewter, lead, copper, bronze and many other metals. Know the different types of clay and pottery glazes. Learn to know the difference between acrylic and oil paints. If you ever going to make money through garage sales you need to learn.

Is it a fake? Just as important as knowing an antiques age and value is knowing when you have a fake. Many of the most popular antiques on the market today are reproductions and people just don’t know it. If it is a fake is it worth any money? Yes some are if you know which ones to look for. There are just as many books on reproduction antiques as there are on real antiques READ THEM. Knowing what your buying is one of the most important things when it comes to making money from garage sales.

If you get a basic understanding of each of these things you’ll be well ahead of most when it comes to making money from garage sales.