How to Make Money Shopping at Garage Sales

Have you ever heard of a “garage sale entrepreneur”? Basically, this is a person who makes money by buying things at garage sales and then selling them for more than what they paid. For those who know what kind of things to look for, this can be a pretty profitable venture – but it can take a lot of work and patience.

If you love the thrill of the hunt and to haggle, then this is the job for you. Here’s what you need to know about making money by buying and then selling the things you find at garage and yard sales.

Know What to Look For

One of the most important skills you need is the ability to identify items that can potentially be valuable. Some will be easier than others.

For example, precious metals like gold and silver are always great buys because they can be sold at places like https://www.Muzeum.ca/ for market value. If you look at their website, you’ll see that they have daily price listings for gold bars, coins, and jewellery.

Finding gold and silver to sell isn’t always easy – how can you tell if the item you’re eyeing is real or not? There is a pretty simple test that you can use to find out.

Take a small magnet with you to the garage sale. If you see an item that could possibly be made of precious metals, then run the magnet over the item. If the magnet attracts to the item then that means that it isn’t likely made from real gold or silver.

What about diamonds? If you want to spot the fakes, what you do is hold the stone up and look through it at a 45 degree angle – if you see a dark spot in the stone then you’ll know right away that it’s not a real diamond.

So what else should you look out for at garage sales? There are collectors out there for almost everything, as long as you know where to look. For instance, you can sell old paper money for a decent amount if you manage to find something rare or collectible. 

Old designer watches, costume jewellery, and certain kinds of memorabilia may be sold to interested collectors. Some examples of things to keep an eye out for include:

• War memorabilia
• Movie memorabilia
• Rare and vintage video games
• Vinyl albums
• Silverware
• Old or rare collectible toys
• Old comic books

When trying to find something that might be old or valuable, here are some things you should keep in mind:

• It’s probably not valuable if it has a barcode (meaning it’s been mass-produced)
• Philips-head screws typically indicate something newer – what you want to see are flat-head screws
• Look for comic books that are priced 10c or lower

And lastly, you should always consider the condition of the item before you make a purchase. For example, a toy that’s been used and is out of its original box is considerably less valuable than if it were in mint condition.