August hasn’t been a great month for yard sales. I’ve gone out each weekend to find a few things but nothing earth shatteringly great. This week the weather is cooler and the sales are starting to pick up. Today I had a good day. I started with $61. Here is some of what I found: 

The first yard sale that I went to advertised 20 years of toys. I thought that was interesting so I contacted the lister before the sale to see if they had any Thomas the Train or legos. They didn’t have any that they were selling but I figured there might be some other goods as well.

The Little Professor Calculator ($1). I remembered this little guy from my childhood so I knew he was at least vintage. I need to find a battery to test him but if he works he could bring in anywhere from $15 – $30 at auction.

Yahtzee Digital Handheld Game ($1). I read about these on one of my forums a while back. I sold one NIB earlier this summer. This one works and is in good shape except for the top label. They sell for about $35 used! I list mine for that and see if it sells.

1972 Spirograph Set ($2). I had the 1980′s version of this as a kid. This set has all of its parts except the original pens. Even without the pens it still sells for $20-$30.

The next yard sale I went to was a neighborhood yard sale with lots of hype but not a lot of good product. I did find two thing:

2001 Scrabble Deluxe w/ Turntable ($2). I’m always on the lookout for Scrabble games at a reasonable price. If all else fails the tiles sell well in lots. This one is complete and could fetch as much as $50!

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – Book 5 ($1). I have been working on collecting the entire Harry Potter collection in Hardcover to read to my son when he’s a little older. Book 5 was the only book I was missing. I completed the whole set for just under $7. I will probably keep these on my radar though. The lot can sell for only $30-$50.

The next yard sale I went to was probably the best of the day. They didn’t have a ton of items by the time I got there but I was surprised with what the still had.

 1997 Fisher Price Loving Family Grand Doll House w/ Accessories ($8). Loving Family can sell well. I’ve never found any prior to this. I have only read about it on various forums. The dining room table and chairs I have sell for $18 – $20. The lot could fetch as much as $150 at auction!

Lego Table w/ Box of Duplos ($5). I sold a similar lot last year around Christmas for $75! This set, table and blocks, is in much better shape.

(8) Kids DVDs ($4). These include Barney, Elmo, Wiggles, etc and are in great shape. I’ll sell them for $5 each at the upcoming consignment sale.

I also stopped at a small consignment sale to see what I could find. I usually don’t got to these when I could be yard saling because I find much better prices at yard sales. I only bought one item but it should be worth the stop.

TJ Bearytales Bear NIB ($8). There is some damage to the box – the plastic in cracked in one place and one of the corners is dented. This will detract a little bit but I should still be able to get $25-$35 for him.

Throughout the day I also picked up kids books for $.25 each or less. I ended up getting (56) books for $12 (approximately $.21 each) including Berenstain Bears, Dr. Seuss, Early Readers, American Girls and more.

With $1 left if my pocket, I stopped at the thrift store in town to see what the secret deal of the day was. They had toys/games $1 fill-a-bag. There wasn’t much left when I got there but I did pick up 3 vintage Monopoly games. These aren’t worth a ton but I’ll more than get my money back.

I did pretty well for the day.  After subtracting the $10 I spent on clothes for my son and husband , $5 on Christmas decorations for our house, and $1 on a book for a total of $16 in personal purchases. I’ll take those out of the resale equation. I spent $45 on items to resell with a total potential return of $400+.

Saturday, August 25th, 2012, 9:26 pm   |   Yard Sales  |  RSS feed |  Respond  |  Trackback