Best bets June 29-30

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June 29, 2012

It’s slim pickins’ this weekend because of the upcoming holiday. More people are planning cookouts than yard sales.  Makes sense.

But for those who will be out this weekend, here’s our best bets:

  • In York Township  today and Saturday is a community yard sale at Chambers Ridge on Chambers Road from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. each day.
  • An “all you ever wanted yard sale” will be held today and Saturday at 3308 Overview Drive off Mt. Zion Rd. in Springettsbury Township starting at 7 a.m. Pewterex, Harley gear, Longaberger baskets, lawn furniture, salamander heater, mechanics tools, household goods and much more.
  • A barn sale at 5541 N. Salem Church Road in Dover Township will be held today from 7 – 4 and Saturday from 7 – 2 and features antiques, furniture, collectibles, pavers, tools and good junk.
  • There is a church yard sale at Bethany U.M. Church at 1401 Mt. Rose Avenue on Saturday only from 8 a.m. – 2 p.m. There will be food by the church, baked goods, chicken BBQ and Carman’s ice cream.

FORECAST

Great weekend for picnics and yard sales if you don’t mind the heat. We’re looking at temperatures in the 90s today and Saturday with heat indexes in the 100s. If you do mind the heat, get in an air-conditioned kitchen!

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5 yard sale items to resell on eBay

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June 27, 2012

Old tin and copper items offered at yard sales can often be resold on eBay for a good markup. Don't just look for shiny things though, weathered and beat up metal items have a lot of character that bidders enjoy.

At Yard Sale Secrets, we definitely go shopping for ourselves first and foremost. And by “ourselves” we mean to benefit our family and friends with good stuff and great prices.
But we also keep an eye out for investment opportunities. We’re always looking for something that we can buy cheap and then immediately turn around and resell on eBay and other auction sites.
With that in mind, we offer you some ideas on what you can get big bucks for when you resell online.

  • NAME-BRAND CLOTHES – Even if the clothes don’t fit anyone in our family, we will sometimes buy up still-tagged or new looking clothing at yard sales and put them online for sale. More than once we’ve invested $1 in some clothes item and got $20-plus in an online auction.
  • CROCKS – In the “they don’t know what they’re selling” category, we often see old dairy crocks for sale at yard sales. These are highly sought after by collectors, particularly if they aren’t cracked and have the dairy’s stamp on them. You do have to be aware of replica crocks though!
  • TOYS – Finding just the right toy to resell on eBay is hard. We’ve had successes and failures in this department. That being said we most commonly are able to resell toys made in 1970s and earlier. Condition is key, of course. You also need to be able to describe what the toy is too. If you don’t know the name, you can’t offer it online. The best way to figure out the age of a toy is to look for its copyright date on its bottom side.
  • SIGNS – If you’ve ever watched an episode of American Pickers, you’ll see those guys go after old signs, particularly tin ones. Those sell great on eBay, but in truth, any sign that’s not made of cardboard and not a replica can do well for you on eBay. We’ve sold molded plastic ones, light-ups and even “advertising statues” for a decent markup.
  • OTHER METAL ITEMS – Not many things are made out of tin, copper and other metals these days, and because of that, these items make great decorations. From kitchenware of the 1960s to tools used in an old garage, these little knick-knacks can be hidden gems in a yard sale. The most important thing here is that you know what it is you’re trying to sell, because sometimes it’s not apparent with those old items.

 

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We found ducks, toys and little knives

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June 25, 2012

The weekend was a hectic one for the Yard Sale Secrets team — actually all of last week was a hectic one — so we didn’t get to many yard sales. Still, we did buy and here’s what we came back with.

This old Donald Duck board game came with a felt playmat that we figure will make a great kids' room decoration. Alternatively, it could go on eBay for people who collect Disney items.

This box of carving tools was ours for just $1. We aren't necessarily carving folks, but these tool can be very helpful in other crafts.

All these toys were ours for less than $5. Sitting next to Green Lantern is a cup set and a bunch of little plastic bears that parents can use to help their kids learn to count and understand basic math.

HOW ABOUT YOU?

Tell us about your finds. Tell us about your good deals. Send us an e-mail or leave a comment and we’ll let the whole world know in Wednesday’s post!

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Best bets for June 22-23

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June 21, 2012

Yard sale season is in full swing this weekend. And the weather should cooperate, too.

Friday will be hot again, but Saturday cools down to about the mid-80s. Check out the full forecast here.

Lots and lots of good sales in the Dispatch classifieds. Here’s our best bets:

COMMUNITY SALES

Fox Meadow Drive community in Dover holds a Friday and Saturday sale from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. This one’s for early-risers!

Beaver Colony Estates and Crestview in East Berlin holds a 40+family sale Saturday starting at 8 a.m..

Wilshire Hills in East York is holding its 10th annual community sale, with some starting Friday but most on Saturday. (This one’s a favorite of one of our Yard Sale staffers.)

Colony Park Condo Association in the city holds its sale from 8-2 on Saturday.

Haines Acres in East York is worth a drive-through Friday and Saturday. Sales are scattered throughout.

INTERESTING ITEMS

A sale at 279 Good Road in Airville Thursday through Saturday features lots of kids’ clothing, including twin girls 4, 5 and 6 clothes.

A sale at 206 DeGuy Ave. in Hanover is selling  boating goods, including a boat!

A multi-family sale at 818 Latimer St. in North York is selling shotgun reloaders, a crossbow, gun safe and a dishwasher. Interesting combination there.

CHURCH SALES

First Assembly of God at 2270 Susquehanna Trail is having a yard sale starting at 7 on Saturday. This one also features Summerfest from 10 to 2, with a kids area and a car show. That’s a lot going on!

First Church of the Brethren at 2710 Kingston Road in Springetts is having a huge yard and bake sale Saturday from 8 to 3. Serving indoor lunch.

BEST AD

The previously mentioned First Church of the Brethren ad says “Early birds will be baptized.” Love it.

A REAL BARN SALE at 1466 Cooper Road in New Freedom on Friday and Saturday must be at a poet’s home. The ad says “Rust! Dust! Come to this sale you must!” Well, it’s either a poet or Yoda.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Our yard sale haul for the weekend

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June 18, 2012

The York Newspaper Company parking lot held a large sale this weekened with several dozen vendors. As usual, the place was swamped.


The weather forecasters got it right again. It was a beauty of a weekend to hit some yard sales. We predict that there will be a few more weeks of good sales before the summer slump when the heat and humidity gets too intense to really enjoy things.

Until then, we’ll keep buying stuff if you keep trying to sell it to us.

Here’s our great buys for the weekend.

This little play gym cost just $20 and retails for much more than that if you buy it new. These play gyms don't really wear out, so we'll probably sell it for another $20 a year or so from now.

This "Finding Nemo" XBox game was just $2. Old video games like this one are great buys if you're not playing on the newest system.

According to the comic collector at Yard Sale Secrets, these comics are absolutely "nothing special." He picked them up simply because they were comics he had never read before. They were priced at $1 each, but were bargained down to 50 cents each.

Cookbooks are always hard sells at a yard sale. But this one was just 50 cents, and you can never have enough slow-cooker recipes.

This story book reader toy, its books and cartridges were $5. We love the idea of promoting the love of reading, and honestly we wish these sorts of things existed when we grew up.

A few kids books for our new, independent reader at top were between 10 cents and 50 cents each. Just Dance 2 was $7 -- a little steep, but a lot of fun. "Magnum P.I." Season One was marked $10, but the seller talked herself down to $5. We like it when sellers do the work for us!

A Windsor Township sale was offering new, unopened DVDs at 2 for $5. Not a bad deal if you're not interested or able to get films streamed to you by cable or the Internet.

This unopened hat-and-scarf combo was just a buck. Even if we use them just once before they get a hole in them, we'll have spent our money well

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