I love a good garage sale, yard sale, tag sale, rummage sale, estate sale...STOOP sale (that's a new one).
Whatever you choose to call them, awesome sales are everywhere! Back in the day keeping your eyes peeled and driving a car with good breaks and European handling was your best bet for sale searching. Slap on an "I BREAK FOR GARAGE SALES" bumper sticker and you were golden.
Nowadays finding sales is easy (and less likely to cause whiplash). Here's how.
1. BROWSE CRAIGSLIST
If you're not using craigslist to search for sales, you best get on that! You can use filters to check specific neighborhoods and search keywords to find sales relevant to your taste. In the image below I selected neighborhoods nearest to my home and searched keyword 'vintage'. Two matches! Woo Hoo!
2. SET GOOGLE ALERTS
Google Alerts changed my life. Why take time to search the web when Google will do it for you? All you have to do is set up search queries (keywords, phrases) and Google will e-mail you when they find web pages, articles, blogs, etc that match your search.
Click here for more detail. If you are looking for specific items, Google Alerts are a great option! For example, let's say you are on the hunt for a mid century modern dresser. Create an alert called '
Mid Century Modern Dresser Sale San Francisco'. You may not get an e-mail every day, but when something matches, Google will tell you via e-mail. Below is an example of some of my alerts.
3. CHECK SALE SITES
There are a number of websites that make it easy to find sales in your local area. All you have to do is enter your zip code. Most have a keyword option too. Here are a few.
On some sites, like gsalr.com, you can sign up to receive an e-mail when a sale that matches your search criteria emerges.
I think Yard Sale Treasure Map is really cool. All of the sales appear on Google Maps. Select a few and the site will suggest the best route to vist them all, based on hours of the sale and location.
FYI, many of these sale sites pull data from Craigslist, so no need to look both places.
4. DOWNLOAD MOBILE APPS
A lot of the sale sites (mentioned above) now have mobile apps. They make it super simple to find sales when you are on the go. They pretty much all function the same way; sale locations appear on Google Maps and you can touch the pinpoint to view a description of the sale. Easy and effective! Here are some to check out.
5. GET ON MAILING LISTS
Estate sales are my fave. Most are organized by estate liquidators or companies hired by the home owner or home owner's family. Try identifying these companies in your area and see if they have a mailing list. I was at an estate sale a few weeks ago and the company who organized the sale had a notebook out to collect e-mail addresses. You can bet I added mine!
How do you find sales? Tell me in the comments below. Happy Hunting!
