Just thought I would give you a little insight onto a few things I like to gather before getting ready to head out on a long Saturday afternoon excursion of treasure hunting.
Prior to heading out I like to prepare. I go to my local newspaper website and find the garage sale listings for the upcoming weekend (Thursday - Sunday). This is usually listed under classifieds. If you can find this - it is extremely valuable! I then copy and paste the text of all of the listings into a text document. I proceed to take the time to organize the sales in a way that makes sense to me. For me I separate them into Thursday Sales, Friday Sales and Saturday Sales.
Then I take my long listing of Thursday Sales (for example) and I order them in order from the furthest North sale to the furthest South Sale ... and then the same with ones that are on the East side of town and the West side of town. Adjust this method for your area ... if you have suburbs, organize them by those in the same way. I then edit the listings so that the address is complete (fill in the street names if they are abbreviated and add the city and state). The reason I do this is to come ...
The next step is to email myself the text by copying it and pasting it into an email to myself. Then I send it to myself. When I receive the email ... all of the addresses have been turned into hyper links ... and you guessed it - now I can simply select the address hyper link and my gps will take me directly to the sales. I start furthest North and work my way down. GPS usually will get me right to where I need in a timely fashion. Feel free to stop at any other sales that weren't listed on the way!
That's how I do my big 6 hour Saturday excursions to keep them in a timely manner. That's also how I choose where to go on my lunch breaks and after work on Thursdays and Fridays ... find an area of town that has a few sales that are open during those times and sneak them into my plans for the day. Grab a few items and move on ... but Saturday is almost always my big day. If I could do Friday mornings that would be much better - but my day job prevents that from being a possibility. Once I have a bit more PTO built up I plan on taking off 1 Friday a month to really hit the sales early and hard.
The next thing I don't leave home without (obviously) is my iPhone. I use this for GPS and for tracking mileage. It's not a bad idea to have a car phone charger for your smart phone - GPS really sucks up the battery power. You also want to have your smart phone with eBay app open and ready for when you hit the sale. I try to look up items while at the sale ... especially if they seem valuable or priced higher than I want to risk. I don't just look up the listings on eBay ... I do an advanced search and search for Sold items only. That way you aren't getting a false idea of what stuff might sell for ... you are seeing what it actually sells for. I then like to take a photo of my newly purchased items, or jot down in a note the item and how much I paid for it so i can reference back after an item sells and feel super happy and cocky about how great I am for picking up that item. ;)
The next thing I don't leave home without is my coffee. I'm a Folgers man myself and I like to brew a nice big pot before I go out. I fill up my thermos and that way I'm good to go all morning. I like to do that rather than start my day off with spending $4 on a coffee at a local store. Think of all of the treasure I can buy and resell with that $4!
The next thing is also pretty obvious but it's part of my routine. Music. You have to enjoy being out all day and one thing that keeps it interesting for me is jamming out. Find a great radio show or podcast ... maybe treat yourself to some new music for your 'business outings'. The last thing you want is to be bored out of your mind while you are driving around all day ... the right music might be just what you need to keep you going, especially if you are a solo shopper like myself. The Princess Bride Soundtrack that I picked up on Cassette last week has really been getting me through the trips as of late ... what a great movie and soundtrack!
Probably the most obvious thing you don't want to leave home without is money. I like to go to the bank when I can and take out $50 - $200 depending on how big of an adventure I'm planning. I like to get plenty of ones, fives and tens and a few twenties. Sometimes Grandma Francine might not have enough nickels to give you your change for a $20....or she might have enough nickels and you won't be able to keep your pants up with $19.50 all in nickels in your pocket. ;)
I'm sure there are plenty of things I'm forgetting on this list. But it's a start. Is there anything special you like to make sure you have with you when you go out? Any secrets to share about how to prepare for inventory shopping excursions? Do tell.
Happy Hunting!
The eBay Freshman
