Once while shopping at a garage sale I was given a box of canning jar lids and bands for free. I was perfectly willing to pay the $1 price, but the proprietor said “Oh, you can have it” – probably because I was buying a bunch of other stuff.
At another garage sale, my daughter and I showed up just as the hosts were So Done with the event. Everything left was free, they said. And not just some limp paperbacks and yellowed doilies, either: We’re talking a bed frame, kitchenware, sports equipment, a kitchen table, linens and more.
The easiest way to get free stuff, though, is the most obvious way: Look in the free box.
Not every garage sale has a free box, but you should always look for one. While it does tend to be the place where Happy Meals go to die, you can sometimes find some pretty good stuff. Belinda, who blogs at Frugal Workshop, is an avid yard-saler who looks for items to sell as well as to use in her home or for crafting projects. At one recent sale her daughter found two pairs of American Eagle jeggings in the free box.
“She would have paid money for them,” Belinda notes – but this time it wasn’t necessary.
Garage sale gold (or iron)
My favorite free-box find was a cast-iron skillet that needed just a little steel wool and some seasoning to become one of my essential kitchen tools. Among other things, I’ve also found an apron, a spoon rest (still using it), crayons, markers, books, a Slinky and some other little toys, a small saucepan, Tupperware, a couple of boxes of paraffin and a decorative pouch.
Probably other stuff, too, because as noted I always check the box. One person’s trash is another person’s stocking stuffer.
As noted above, you can sometimes get things for free if you buy a lot of items. I’ve heard that suggested as a frugal garage sale tactic: “Hi, I’m buying these three coats, the high chair, the bag of Legos and the ski boots. Would you be willing to throw in this stuffed animal for free?” Can’t hurt to ask – and it’s one way of stretching your shopping dollars.
But do look for a free box any time you see a yard sale. And since right now is prime garage sale season, you will probably see a lot of them.
Not every sale you stop by will have a free box. Some might have free boxes that contain little except dubious plastic gimcracks.
On the other hand, you might wind up with a cast-iron skillet that makes the best cornbread ever. (Pro tip: Grease it with bacon fat and set it in the oven as it preheats. You’ll get a nice crisp crust and a delicious hint of previous pork.)
Finally, I must share the best free-box anecdote ever: A friend’s sister was a super-saler took her kids along with her. Her little boy, who I believe was around kindergarten age, was looking through the free box. The proprietor saw him holding a toy and said, “Those are free, honey.”
The boy responded with a tactic he’d heard his mom use: “Would you take a quarter?”
Readers: How often do you visit garage sales? Do you pounce on the free box as eagerly as I do?
Speaking of free cast iron, I answered a “free” ad. The woman said there was a lot, but I had to take it all. She told me as I drove up that I had to take it all and she had added more. It took, her grandson, she and I to get it into the car and trunk. When I got home, I found cast iron–about six vessels and three or four lids.
So, I had carried it all home. Most of it went on the curb for others, but I still have all the cast iron.
As for yard sales, I do love them. But, I cannot walk and stand to go to many or stay long.
When my youngest was two and the older two were in school and kindergarten, I took the two-year-old. She was made for shopping. She moved with me, each tiny little step and never touched anything, unlike other kids. She was so good that if anyone saw her looking intently at a toy, the person gave it to her. She loved yard sales.
I am NOT a garage saler simply because I can’t make myself get up early enough in the morning to get the good stuff. By the time I get there, anything I might want is always gone.
These days, I don’t want to spend the money on gas and put more wear-n-tear on my 16 year old car. Also, the older I get, the more minimalist I become. I’m a little bit afraid I might buy something because it’s a great deal, not because I really need it. Not that I’ve ever done that before. ;O)
That’s always an issue: Do I need it, or do I just want it because it’s only a quarter?
That said, I have found some great birthday and holiday gifts at yard sales. These days I won’t go far out of my way to find them, especially since I too am trying to divest, not obtain.
There’s a yard sale a couple of blocks over today. Maybe I’ll walk over there and maybe I won’t.
Thanks for being such a consistent reader and commenter.
I do so agree, I bought more items yesterday. I now have yet another Grandfather Clock a Makita Angle Grinder and another 1950’s Sunbeam Fryer(like new). How can I resist, yet I can’t walk in my own house and have a big storage building.
Thank you so much for the shout out, Donna. We do love to yard sale here. I once found the most beautiful fabric in the free box, about 4 yards worth. I check everyone I find. Nice find on the iron skillet.
You’re so welcome! And as you know: Every dollar you don’t spend is a dollar that can be working for you somewhere else.
BEST GARAGE SALE FIND EVER: When we lived in one of the villages up north, a nasty old lady died. Her daughter in law held a garage sale and sold a gorgeous full length parka, complete with silver fox trim around the hood, wrists and bottom, for $50! I knew women who had paid $1200 to 1500 for similar parkas and said so to the woman. She told me she despised her mother in law and it made her happy to think of the old lady doing back flips in her coffin over selling it so cheap and to a white woman yet. I am, as they say, a well-upholstered woman, so finding a parka was amazing enough, let alone one big enough for me. I finally had to get rid of it last winter, after 15 years, because it was pretty much in tatters.
After a cross country move (where I disposed of a lifetime of clutter) my husband and I are definitely minimalists now.
We set most of our stuff on the curb. After 30 years most of our stuff was in pretty rough shape and not worth selling. Many house holds benefitted.
My best yard sale find was a Coach purse for $5. Im still using it.
The yard sales in my new area are pretty good but I don’t go too often.
Best yard sale find—on our way home from a race my friend and I saw a yard sale in the neighborhood and there was an almost new toddler “Strider” bike – (she had been researching them for her Sons second birthday and didn’t want to spend $75-$100 on something he’d use maybe 6 months) which his party was that same day! I jumped out of the car and asked how much for the bike….$4!!!! My friend couldn’t get the money out of her wallet fast enough! LOL!! (Said birthday boy was in his car seat in back oblivious to what was going on!)
Yard sales are spaced so far apart, like an above poster said, I hate to spend the gas money today the way it keeps going up. I do go to a large flea market sometimes that is about 25 miles away and maybe has 100+ people there. There are a few regulars I go to that sell box lots they got at auction sales, but the other people there want a mint for their stuff. I, most times, talk my self out of what I eye up, as I really don’t need it. The day I go there, I do all my grocery shopping for the week, as there are 6 or more stores all within a mile. On my trips, I think I have only seen a free box about 4-5 times. Nothing like cast iron, only small toys or a chipped dish. Sure wish I could fine a medium size stew pot that was heavy duty. I have one I had since I got married in 71, but on my stove now, it either hangs over the burner too far and takes forever to heat, or the other burner is too big that the handles would be on the burner. One of these days I will either find a good sale at a store or find one at the flea market.
I just started doing Estate Sales, I went by one today and everything was 50%off the lafies were so sweet they gave me a lot of nice items for 15.00. I was happy as can be.
At one estate sale I attended in Seattle, the person doing the checkout didn’t charge me for several kitchen items. And yes, that was nice.
When I say “kitchen items,” I mean “food.” Estate sales are perfectly fine places to find great deals on food, because everything must go — even the canned goods and aluminum foil.
It’s not a bad idea to swing by your local thrift shop on Tuesday or Wednesday — or even late Monday. People will drop their garage sale leftovers off over the weekend, or Monday morning. (You have to give the thrift shop people time to process the booty!)
Nice tip! Thanks for sharing it.
In this neck of the woods yard sales a good source BUT the best resource is “trash day” I’ve found. Recently returning home I saw a 12 by 12 out-door canopy folded up on top of a trash tote for disposal. I brought it home and found that one of the legs had broken off BUT all the parts were there. I fixed this with a “square dowel rod” and 2 screws from inventory. As I was setting the canopy up after the repair, I noticed the price tag still on it…$129…I wonder why these folks didn’t fix or return the broken item?
Quite a find! And I wonder that, too. Maybe they broke it trying to set it up or take it down, and just quit while they were behind. Or maybe their workplace paid for it, for an outdoor event, and no one felt handy enough to take it home and fix it.
When I lived in Los Angeles I often spent Saturday mornings at garage sales in Beverly Hills . I’m still using those designer handbags many years later. The free box often made me feel I was stealing…. vintage costume jewellery that made me drool.Those were the days….
Wow. That sounds like some serious haulage.
I once scored a kids’ water table for free at a garage sale. And one of my best resale shop finds was a gorgeous Elie Tahari skirt that retailed for ~$400 for $16!! It looks fantastic on me.
Niiice.
Love yard sales! My mother-in-laaw is a great haggler so whenever she goes to one, I try to go with her. Best find ever was a coffee table my husband and I found for $5, still using it 12 years later 🙂
I don’t do many yard sales these days, partly because we’re trying to downsize our stuff and partly because on the occasions MrH is free to go with me, we prefer the more concentrated shopping at thrift stores. But…
We scored a minifridge for our son’s room for $25. Asked to make sure it hadn’t been used for bait (worried about odors) and then snapped it up.
Back in college I found an unusual and attractive necklace at a random garage sale I stopped by on a whim. I think it was handmade, because some of the brown beads appear to be apple seeds. It’s in my jewelry box still.
Not a garage sale, but at a favorite thrift store, two volunteers sorting donations gave our sons a couple of broken boogie boards. I’m sure they were headed for the trash if we hadn’t taken them, but they were still sturdy enough to float on when we went to the beach. We used them for years.
Recently our son was looking for a cushion for his chair at work, and a co-worker gave him a throw pillow she’d picked up by the curb on “Millionaires’ Row”. Apparently the folks there throw out a ton of great stuff, especially after a tropical storm or hurricane. If anything, or even a part of a set, is water-damaged, they drag the whole kit and caboodle out to the curb and replace it. I can’t even imagine!
When I lived in Philadelphia, someone who was once a doorman on ritzy Rittenhouse Square told me that an antiques/furniture dealer had him on retainer. The day before trash day, when he was sometimes asked to help cart unwanted stuff to the curb, he’d call the guy and tell him what was to be thrown out. The stuff never made it to the curb because the dealer would come pick it up.
It amazes me what people will just toss out.
My best find was an antique sideboard. It was the last days of a moving sale. The young gave it to me for a song because I was “the only person who knew what a sideboard was”. It’s still in my kitchen 20 years now.
Recently, I threw a tea party and kept the cost of party prizes down by shopping at the thrift store. But more importantly found, still in the box, a beautiful English floral porcelain pie plate and server. It’s one of the prettiest things I have now. I love it. P.s. The party was a huge success, a real triumph for this quiet bookworm.
That sounds lovely — and so does your party. #bookwormsunite
Hi I live in San Juan TX and just wanted to know who I can get free stuff it’s that I just got my place and really need stuff for my place
Here are a few suggestions:
Buy Nothing Facebook groups. Learn more — including how to find a group in your area — at http://donnafreedman.com/need-something-buy-nothing/
Freecycle.org. See if there’s a group in your area.
The “free” section of Craigslist. You may luck out.
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“Curb mart.” Keep your eyes peeled for stuff people are putting out with “free” signs.
During these nervous coronavirus times, people may actually be getting rid of more stuff because they’ve spent their downtime cleaning out closets, garages and attics. Certainly the Buy Nothing group in my area is brimming with stuff.
Good luck!