Diana Clement: Profiting from others' errors

Photo / Northern Advocate

In a suburb near you, garage sales are alive and well. Every Saturday, a hardy crew of regulars do the rounds of their neighbourhoods looking to buy a few cast-offs.

When I came back from overseas I was with them every week, furnishing my house on the smell of an oily rag with everything from mid-century sofas to Le Creuset cookware.

People often assume that you'll only find old, dirty or broken items at garage sales. Not so.

Almost every garage sale I've visited had items that were new, or at least looked as if they were.

In our society, we're showered with the pressure to buy, from advertisers, friends, family and the Joneses.

The result is we buy stuff we just won't use.

We all know the scenario. You get the urge to buy a George Foreman grill, leaf blower or copy of Tana Umaga's biography Up Close. Then you never use it, read it or treasure it.

Eventually, the guilt sets in and guess where it turns up? At garage sales.

Unwanted gifts are common, especially when it comes to children's toys.

One of the best barely-used items I discovered was a pair of Briarwood boots, RRP $539, that I snaffled for $8.

Talking with the former owner, I found she'd worn them only once, because her husband didn't like them.

I love them.

Personally, I'd recommend that people sell off expensive items such as those boots on Trade Me.

But I can understand the allure of holding a garage sale and clearing the rubbish from your house quickly.

Getting there early is the way to get good bargains. Even better is to develop a "garage sale eye", which helps you spot the things other people miss or that you don't expect to buy.

Your shopping list might include - as mine once did - a pop-up soccer goal and a 24-inch girl's bicycle, but lo and behold your garage sale eye spots a fax machine that would be mighty handy in the office.

I sometimes chat with local garage sale addicts, who include a barrister, a retired professor of architecture and a student.

All except the last oneare well-heeled but they simply can't see the point of buying new.

As well as garage sales, keep an eye out for school fairs.

They're an Aladdin's cave for bargain hunters - if you can cope with the occasional elbow in the ribs.

Finally, I never bother to bargain. It gives garage sale shoppers a bad name.

My approach is to pay the asking price which is usually outrageously cheap or, if the seller's expectations are on planet Zog as they sometimes are, just thank them nicely and walk away.

diana@bargainbetty.co.nz