12 Must-Buys At The Next Yard Sale

If you’ve never been to a yard sale, you might be surprised at how many incredible deals you can find from others’ discarded goods. While many people go years without visiting a garage sale, savvy consumers know you can find lightly-used, high-quality items for pennies on the dollar.

Here are some things that you should always buy at garage sales:

1. Baskets

I like to purchase baskets cheaply and save them for teacher gifts, cramming them with my favorite snacks and a good bottle of wine.

2. Le Creuset and Pyrex

Le Creuset cookware and Pyrex glassware are both well-regarded brands that can cost a pretty penny when you buy them in-store. However, they’re frequent stars of garage sales, where you can buy them for cheap.

3. Legos

Legos have been a popular toy for decades. In fact, kids and adults both enjoy them. Sure, you probably won’t find a NASA space shuttle set at a garage sale, but a large pile of mixed bricks should provide hours of fun.

Hot Tip: It’s always a good idea to look for items that will still work as expected with age! Shopping at a yard sale is a great way to find hidden gems for cheap.

4. Vintage Board Games

Not every person had the funny, wacky Mystery Date game, which enabled players to open a plastic door and hope for the right hunky man to be waiting. As a present, you can give that pal who helped you endure the ’70s a board game. However, be sure to check for missing pieces.

5. Sports Gear

Want to know where Olympians score their boots and cleats? On garage sales. Although most sports equipment isn’t sold at garage sales, you can still pick up some used gear at a bargain.

6. Certain Baby Items

It’s fine to purchase baby clothes, strollers, and bassinets used, but not car seats or cribs. The price is an excellent pacifier.

7. Travel Guides

There are a lot of online travel guides, but a good, reliable guidebook is often useful. What do you think is a savvy traveler’s secret? You should check the history, maps, and basic information about a region before visiting it if you purchase a guidebook that is more than a few years old.

8. Specialty Appliances

You can almost convince yourself to regularly use the cake-pop maker or hot-dog cooker you purchase on sale. Why spend the money on a new one when you can pick it up used from a neighbor for a fraction of the cost.

9. Halloween Costumes

Yard sales are a great place to find cheap Halloween costumes. You may find them worn, but they’re scary cheap.

10. Fancy Dress-Up Clothes

Formal wear is a garage sale favorite. Maybe you can’t remake Molly Ringwald’s 1980s prom dress in Pretty in Pink, but prom dresses and vintage gowns can be utilized for children with princess fantasies. You can also use them for Halloween costumes. You won’t feel bad about applying fake blood to a $5 wedding dress to make a zombie bride costume.

11. Musical Instruments for Children

Most of us were encouraged to study music at school, only to find ourselves abandoning the band afterward and storing our rusted clarinet in the basement for years. You might not be able to find a high-quality instrument at a garage sale, but your young Mozart might not care.