Success tips for Bargain Hunters

Bargain Hunting for Art

How often do I have a certificate, photo, piece of art or picture that I want to frame and look great, but really want to do it the bargain hunting way? Here is my bargain hunting tip for you.

When I’m out shopping at thrift stores or estate sales, I find frames that I really like that are in great condition. Often the frames are being used by some piece of art that I would rather toss in the furnace than ever look at. But I rarely buy the frame for the included art. I’m just buying the lovely frame.

I gather up my piece of art that I think would look great in this bargain frame. I go to a local ‘frame it yourself’ shop. I have them cut a mat for the art I bring to fit the frame I just bought.

The mat costs me around $15-20, and the frame cost me less than $10. I assemble the picture in the mat, and then in the frame, and it looks like I spent $100 or more on the framing of this little piece.

Truly a great bargain hunting solution to framing your art collection!  Try it out and let me know how you like it!

All the tips on garage sales, and the tips on estate sales do not usually translate to bargain hunting at Thrift Stores.

The Thrift Store is a different beast.

1. Know the Discount Bargain Days. At a Thrift Store

Bargain Hunting

in my area, every Monday is 25% off day. Guess where you will find me on Monday morning? I’m out bargain hunting at the Thrift Store. Some thrift stores have bargain days depending on what color tag is on the item. I see this often at the Salvation Army and Goodwill Thrift Stores. “Today is Yellow Tag Day: 50% off!” One Thrift Store I visit has 50% day on three day weekend holidays, like the Monday of President’s Day, or July 4th. If they do this at a popular thrift store, get there early as my local store has a huge line one hour before they open.

2. No price tag might mean not for sale – but still BEG! So often I’ll see a great item that they forgot to price. I ask the manager to price it and he always says no. One time I found a new Vitamix blender container (the part where you dump all the food in). These retail for about $100 – not the Vitamix just the container! Instead of looking for the manager, I found someone young who worked at the store and asked if he could price it for me right then and there. The manager would say no. The young guy looked at me and rolled his eyes. I said how about $3.00. He took the container from me and marked it $5.  I was able to buy it and not only did it make my day, but every time I use it, I remember how I got it for $5! What a bargain!

3. See if they have a discount bargain card. My local Thrift Store offers a free discount bargain card with emails on upcoming sales. I have the card so on Thursday’s I also get 25% when showing the card. The emails give me advance notice of 50% off days, and every once in a while they have a 50% off day just for people with the card. When I’m alerted to those bargain hunting days, you know where you can find me!

bargain hunting can find you treasures

We all want a bargain. How can we best go bargain hunting at estate sales?

Estate sales can present some unusual challenges to you, my fellow bargain hunter.

First Rule: Just because it’s old doesn’t mean its valuable. The biggest challenge is that the people who are hosting the estate sale might think their items are truly worth more than they are.  I’ve been to some estate sales where they were selling average condition US Silver Dollars.  These were very worn down and silver was only worth $20 per ounce at the time. But the date on the coin said 1921. It was a common coin, worth about $18 just for the silver melt value. But the person pricing the coin probably thought “an old American coin…must be pretty rare….I’ll charge $50.” Really a waste of money. Let someone else buy the $50 coin. You see this often with worn down Buffalo Nickels. If there is no date on the coin, and it isn’t gold or silver, it’s only worth what it states – a nickel is only worth 5 cents. Don’t pay $1 for one of them. Save your money.

Second Rule: When you buy a group of things, pick one item you don’t want. This is the ultimate tip on estate sales, or tip on yard sales.  Let’s say there is a picture and lamp I want, and I think I can get a better price. For argument’s sake, let’s say each item is priced at $15. I want to pay $10 for each item.  I have those two items in my hand, and then find one thing I do not want or need (if you saw how many pictures I have in my house, you’d swear I don’t really need another one!). I’ll grab some $5 plate out of the kitchen, or a pillow. Something that looks like it might have a bit of value to the seller.  I take all three items up to the cashier and give my offer price of $25 for everything. They say no (which I’m expecting) then I just put down the one item I didn’t really want and then say “how about $20 for these.” You’d be surprised how often this works. Or they might say $25. I’m happy I got a bargain, and they are happy they made a sale.

Third Rule: You find the best bargain hunting on the last day of an estate sale. You can bring a pile of items to the cashier and can offer $5 or $10. You walk home happy having made a great bargain, and the house is that much emptier. The drawback, some of the best items were sold on the first day! The earlier you go to a sale, they less likely they are to bargain down prices – unless it is bigger ticket items.

It's a bargain hunting jungle out there

There are those that enjoy the bargain hunt and bargain hunting as much as getting the bargain!

I’m not ashamed to say that I am one of those people!

You can find me going to yard sales, garage sales, thrift stores, and flea markets.

In these days of economic uncertainty, people are going out hoping to find bargains everywhere.

On this site I will post my favorite tips that have helped me not only hunt out bargains, but save money on those very bargains!

Are you a bargain hunting addict?

When I don’t have an estate sale, yard sale or garage sale to visit, I’ll go shop around the thrift store. As a matter of fact, that is where I get all my household glasses and plates. Why? On average they cost me $0.80 each, and I can usually get a matching set of 4. They look good and if they break, I don’t lose sleep over it.

I’ve even found several sets of two leaded crystal tumblers and wine goblets. So now when guest come over they are drinking out of beautiful glasses. It adds elegance to a gathering and people are always impressed with what I have!

Always feel free to add your tips on bargain hunting, on your favorite bargain hunt and other tips for bargains!