Yard Sale Fun

I have been very negligent in documenting and sharing my yard sale finds as of late.  So last night I did a mad dash through the house locating as many of my "finds" as I could.  I will start with Mr. Simpler Life's amazing find.  At the beginning of the yard sale season he came home from one really wanting this $200 weight set.  When he said $200 my mouth hit the floor.  I didn't know you were allowed to sell anything at a yard sale for $200.  I said "no" and thankfully he obliged me.  Since then he has found some great deals to create an excellent home gym all for a total of, drum roll please.........$34.  Yes, $34.  I am so totally impressed.  Here is everything he has found:

$20 for this entire machine.  You can do all kinds of things with this and it is in excellent condition.

He got this weight bench for $5 and please take note of the weights to the right.  Those are part of the next picture.

He also was able to find a set of weights for $9.  That included the bar and 60lbs. of weights.  If you have been to any store lately you would be amazed at how expensive weights are, so this was a fabulous deal.  I am really proud of him for going from $200 to $34 and getting some great equipment along the way.

Now onto my clothes finds.  A couple of weeks ago we found a yard sale where clothes were 50 cents and some of those clothes included the two coats below!!!  Can you believe I got 2 coats for $1 total.  I was so excited!!!

I especially like the blue one because it has a hood, but for 50 cents I couldn't pass up one without either.  Now onto another of my favorite finds.  I got an almost brand new pair of shoes and an adorable polo shirt for about $1.14 each.

But I got this whole lot of clothes for $8.  Sadly, when I got home I discovered the tan pants have a hole.  You know I am not very crafty, so hopefully I can find an iron on patch, which will of course go on the inside (that's for you mom :).  For $8 I got two pairs of Children's Place shorts, 1 pair of slightly ripped Old Navy pants, 1 pair of Lee Jeans, 1 pair of Children's Place sweats, 1 Polo shirt (that I love!!!!) and 1 pair of Children's Place Shoes.  On top of it all, you will notice most of these are bottoms, which, at least for me, are always so hard to find.

I also got some items that I am hoping to sell and make of course a very small profit on.

I got this shirt, pants and jacket for a total of $2.  I thought the jacket was a really good deal for .67.  Maybe I will make a whole $2 on it :).

I also got this blue shirt for 50 cents, at the same sale where I got the coats and this adorable sweater for $1.50.  This brings me to another topic of discussion.  Prior to this year I really did not go to yard sales that much and I certainly did not try to bargain with the sellers.  If the price tag said $2 then that is what I paid. If the price was more than what I thought was acceptable then I just passed on the item.  This year I finally developed the courage to ask if the seller would accept less and I am so glad!  The thing is I have not been turned down once, not even a counter offer.  Am I asking for too little of a discount?  For example the sweater above was being offered for $3, but I wouldn't pay that much for it even though it was in excellent condition.  I asked the lady if she would take $1.50 and without any hesitation she quickly blurted out "Sure".  How do you bargain at yard sales?  As I said I'm kind of new to this and would love any advice you have to offer. 

On one last final note, I just have to say that I am amazed at what you can find at yard sales.  My children's closets are full of very nice, often name brand clothing bought for about a twentieth of the price.  Why I ever shopped at a store is beyond me and it is so much better for our planet.  I can't wait until this Saturday!