Fall is Garage Sale Time!

Hi All,

Garage sales are awesome! Where else can you find gently used merchandise (clothing, toys, kitchen appliances, tools, computer accessories, kids clothing, toys and more...) at a fraction of the cost that you would normally spend for the same stuff at a Wal-Mart or Target or Sears or BuyBuyBaby?  Indeed - garage sales can save you big bucks!   Which is why I'm writing about them today!  I love to save money - who doesn't!

There are 4 major garage sale/yard sale sites on the web. They are:
1. YardsaleSearch.com
2. LISaler.com
3. Garagesalestracker.com
4. GSALR.com

YardsaleSearch.com lets users look for garage sales by state or by zip code.  Users can post a yard sale and get yard sale tips as well. The site has an informative blog as well.  One of the reasons why I like this site is the 'down home', country type feel to the site.  Click on this 'About Us' link and you'll understand why you feel so comfortable on this very, very useful garage sale site.

LISaler.com is another helpful garage sale website available to users. Like the prior site, users can find a yard sale and post an ad. Users can also find professional services on the site as well.  Clicking on the 'Find a Sale' link takes you to a page where garage sales are listed chronologically.  When I looked - 10/12/14 - I found garage sales that were taking place that very same day. How is that for timely? 

Clicking on any of the garage sales links takes you to another page that includes date and time of the garage sale, a map and a link for directions to the sale and, finally, a brief narrative of what items are being sold at the garage sale.  It is very, useful and comprehensive information for someone who likes to visit garage sales on a regular basis.

Users can find active sales by city by clicking on the box on the right side of the page. Finally, LISaler has videos that users can watch.

Another garage sale website that is very helpful is GarageSalesTracker.com.  At the top of the page, visitors to the site will see a box where the zip code and a distance can be entered.  Basically the site is asking you to enter a zip code to look for all garage sales within a radius....Entering a zip code and the radius option brings you to a results page.  Contact information, date, time and more are listed on the new page.  In additions, readers can get more details about the garage sale and driving directions.  One thing about GarageSalesTracker.com - there is some advertising on the site.  Somewhat annoying, but not a deal breaker.  From the home page, users can also click on a 'Browse Sales' link at the top of the page.

Finally, users would be remiss in not looking at GSALR.com.  It has many of the same features as the previous three sites mentioned.  Users see a big dialog box at the top of the page when they first visit the site. By entering the City and State, they are taken to a page of garage sales.  But first, they have to navigate a pop-up (annoying window) that asks the user if they want to sign up for free email alerts.  The dialog box can be closed by clicking on the X at the top right portion of the box.

Beneath the box appears a map with all the garage sales that were found.  Users can zoom out to view more sales.  On the right side of the page, users can find a comprehensive list of the garage sales.  Including address, details, time and more about any particular sale. Clicking the 'Details' box brings the user to another page that includes a map, address and, in some cases a very detailed description of the garage sale.  Whew!

There you have it!  Four great garage sale/yard sale sites for the inner antiques collector/shopper/hunter in all of us.  Good luck finding what everything you need for your house and kids at these sales!

Enjoy the sites - and enjoy the weekends and the treasures that you'll find at these yard sales.

Regards,
Stu

Antiques - There is Much More Than Ebay....

Hi all,

Just wanted to remind everybody that with regard to antiques and collectibles...there is much more to the world of antiques and collectibles than just Ebay!

For example, if you click on this link from 'The Open Directory', you'll find dozens of categories and subjects for antiques and collectibles. Some of the more popular links are bicycles, books, coins, dolls, glassware, photography, radio, stamps and toys among many others.

Click here for the Open Directory link to the generic (and not in a negative way) term 'auctions'. You'll find many, many links to auction websites and/or auction related businesses....

Finally, click on this link and you'll find a Google search for 'auction bidding sites'. Notice that the first auction site discusses basic bidding strategy - from Auctus Development.

Click on this link for a discussion of Live Auction Bidding Strategies from ehow's Money section.

Click on this link for some auction bidding strategies - interesting article - but it isn't very reader friendly.

So there you have it - some auction information that should make our future auctions more enjoyable and result in more successful bids for you!

Regards,
Stu

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Ebay - Sniping

Hi All,


Looking back at a few of the more read posted led me to this fact: my readers are really interested in Ebay and auctions.


As a result...here is another blog entry regarding auctions - and not just Ebay since I don't want to seem biased toward it.


I suspect that many readers who have used Ebay and other auction sites have lost out on a particular item by seconds.


One way around this is to use a 'snipe' service which literally waits until the last second or two to send a bid to the auction house. By sending a bid at the 'last possible' moment, the user is preventing another, higher, bid from coming in and causing the first bidder to lose the auction.


There are a few free online services that are available for this type of bidding. One of which is called Gixen. Click here to visit the site. Gixen users don't have to download any software and the service is good for an unlimited number of snipes...


Another auction bidding site is called AuctionSniper and can be visited by clicking on this link. AuctionSniper has a link for users so they can see a video of how the service actually works. Click here for that link.


Finally, click on this link from wikiHow to see an article on 'How To Snipe on Ebay'. Why this site and not another auction bidding site? Because I didn't want to be redundant and make the blog post just a list of auction bidding sites. Besides, users can just click on this link to see the search 'ebay sniping' that I did to generate the results for the first two bidding sites I mentioned.


So, good luck bidding and I hope all your auctions are winners!


Regards,

Stu



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Auction Info 101 - Not Just Ebay

Hi All,

Lots of home owners have attics. And lots of folks use these attics as well, storage and for 'stuff' that doesn't fit in all the closets of the house proper. Imagine all that 'stuff' up in the attic - baby furniture, old suitcases, lamps, tools, wedding dresses perhaps or old pet toys...

But if you click on this link, you'll see how looking in an attic just made two siblings in London quite wealthy - to the tune of $60+ million. Now, I'm not saying that everybody will find something like this rare antique in their attic, but you might just find something that you can get rid of - and sell on Ebay or at an auction house.

Click here for the most important online auction site in the world - Ebay.com. Click on this Help link to find more information on the bidding/buying process, payment/shipping, selling/seller fees at Ebay. The site is very, very easy to use and the explanations are clear and concise.

For those Ebay users who seem to lose auctions by the millisecond, click on this link to AuctionSniper which lets users bid at the last second of an auction - automatically. Presumably by bidding at the last second, users will win more auctions! Note that there is a free trial available but eventually you'll have to pay for the service. I am not endorsing this service however...

Click here to see some of the wonderful auctions at a world renowned auctioneer: Christie's

Click here to view another fantastic auction house: Sotheby's

Click on the following link if you are interested in a brief history of auctions . The link came from the Bay Area Auction Realty.

For more about the history of auctions, click here for the Wikipedia entry for auctions - which is pretty comprehensive and totally interesting.

Finally, I can't help but promote the library, but we have many, many books on antiques and collecting. Anybody who is interested in this hobby would be wise to learn about it before they start collecting seriously. Click here for a link to the card catalog 0n the topic of antiques at the Farmingdale Public Library.

Happy antiquing and collecting.
Stu

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