Ode to Springtime Garage Sales

It’s finally springtime in Tulsa. Time to put away our coats and winter clothes in exchange for breezy dresses and shorts only to pull them all out again when there’s a cold snap and then put them away again wondering if this time will for real be the last time for the season. It also means it’s time to put away our humidifier, time to start distributing a daily cocktail of allergy meds for the entire family in our daily reenactment of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and time to make sure we’ve got water bottles and tealight candles handy for the inevitable upcoming tornado warnings. 

But most importantly it’s time for that brief and fleeting season of bluebird mornings before the oppressive summer heat starts to kick in. And as the mom of three teenagers — two who are anime teens — I know all too well how important it is to carpe momentum and drag their little vampiric selves outside to touch grass. And other than checking on our friendly neighborhood squirrel Teenager Squirrel Eliot, dragging the teens outside can be a tall order to fill. 

Since all of my attempts to persuade the teens to play the IRL version of one of their favorite games, PowerWash Simulator, have been rebuffed, I’ve had to find other ways to get them out in the universe. Fortunately, every member of our family is a huge fan of yard sales, and the kids are more than happy to pile into the car and search for deals. 

As folks who generate most of our income from freelance work and what most folks would consider side gigs, we’ve got a pretty sweet arrangement: Mister Nebula looks out for things he can fix up and resale online while the rest of us focus on reverse Marie Kondoing — that is, picking up things that bring us joy. 

Not only is this a fun way to spend the weekend morning and afternoon hanging out together sans screens, but it also gives us a chance to pick up quality stuff we love but ordinarily can’t really afford to splurge on. Last weekend, for example, we picked up about a dozen anime/pop culture shirts along with some super cute Hot Topic clothes for one of the teens. 

Our family has a personal commitment to outfitting our home and lives with secondhand items as much as possible, a commitment that’s both economically wise and eco-friendly. And as folks with what I’d call quirky interior design tastes, it’s also a way to curate our home with all the unusual, kitschy, artful, and conversation-starting pieces we’ve filled up our space with — like the mid-century modern amber grapes I picked up for a song in Lortondale a couple of weeks ago. 

In an era where thrift stores are increasingly filled with overpriced Shein rejects, yard sales and estate sales are one of the only ways to pick up vintage clothing and decor affordably these days. And sometimes it’s just fun to peek inside the time capsule homes you can find yourself in while shopping estate sales. 

As a family that’s been yard sale warrioring since our pre-kid era when we picked up only what would fit on our scooters with a handful of bungees, we’ve got the weekend sale down to an art. Whether you’ve never been big on garage sales and you’re eager to get started or you just want to up your game, here are our favorite tips for a family garage sale day:

1. BYOB (Bring Your Own Bags)

Garage sale shopping is so much easier when you’ve got shopping bags handy. I make sure we’ve got one for every family member, and I try to favor translucent or mesh bags so no one gets accused of the old five-finger discount. Once you get to the car, you’ll want to empty those bags and arrange everything in the trunk or cargo space as neatly as possible, especially if your purchases are fragile, so make sure you’ve got extra bags or some kind of milk crate or box situation in the vehicle. 

2. Plan ahead using Google Maps

We do plenty of casual garage sale days where we’re more about the experience than the deals, and we’re more than happy to Mark 1 Eyeball for garage sale signs. But we’ve had a lot of days where those sales led us on a wild goose chase, and sometimes it’s just better to have a plan. 

On those days, I take an hour or so the night before to peruse Craigslist, Nextdoor, and Facebook’s local garage sale site and then search Facebook for any other yard or estate sales that might not be listed there. Keeping Google Maps open as I come across any sales that look promising, I create a “Garage Sale” list, input the listing, and copy/paste any notes about what they offer or whether there’s a deal before adding a tag for “garage sale,” “estate sale,” “church sale,” “big discount,” etc. 

This sounds complicated, but it really doesn’t take that long and it’s well worth the effort in terms of time saved overall. And the best part is that once you’ve inputted everything, you can open Maps and pull up your Garage Sale list organized by nearest location or pull up the map itself. Simply delete each sale as you finish there, and your map will be all clear to use in the future. 

3. Make sure everyone’s phone is charged

As a family full of neurospicy folks, we tend to lose people in estate sales — especially when there’s one full of hidden attic rooms that lead to other hidden attic rooms ultimately ending in a nook full of fascinating miniatures like the one we wandered into last week. Thankfully, everyone in our crew has a fully charged phone when we head out, so rounding up Team Nebula is as easy as texting the family chat. 

4. Pack snacks and water bottles

I’m guilty of getting lost in the adventure and forgetting to hydrate on many a garage sale outing. But since I can’t afford not to prioritize the growing teens’ health, I try to stash my hip bag with a handful of granola bars and make sure everyone in the party has a full bottle of water handy that we can easily refill at the QT. 

5. Bring small bills

It sounds silly, but it’s easy to forget that you need small bills and change when you’re hopping yard sales. That said, more folks than ever use banking apps like Cashapp, Venmo, and Zelle, so I try to keep a little cash preloaded and ask before giving up all of my physical cash. 

6. Use Google Lens

I use Google Lens constantly when I’m shopping. If you don’t know what this is, you can easily snap a pic of an item and use it to image search, adding text if you want to for context. I use it to value items — like the hunting knife I almost purchased before realizing the estate sale had it listed for resale value —, to authenticate items, to date them, and sometimes just to find out what something is (you can encounter some weird stuff when you’re yard saling). 

7. Haggle within reason

It’s almost always a good idea to haggle at yard sales or estate sales, especially on the last day — with the caveat that you should try not to insult the sale owner. I’ve found that while people tend to hesitate on a direct lowball offer, most folks will happily make a deal if you show them a handful of goodies and throw out a price for all — like a while back when I picked up a SpongeBob backpack, a Guess dress with a $179 price tag still attached, a nearly new pair of Cole Haans, and a cosplay cloak for a crisp AJ. 

Do you have any garage sale tips I missed? Let me know in the comments, and have a beautiful spring week in your little nebula!