Garage Sale Strategy

[diesel_dan]

Hey Fellas!

Believe it or not, spring cleaning is just around the corner. And that means thousands of games are about to be released back into the wild in the time-honored garage sale tradition. I've never been much of a garage saler, myself, but I think I'd like to change that this year. So what's your strategy for digging up those legendary garage sale deals? Just pick a few and pray?

Ever scored something impossibly awesome at a garage sale? I'd like to hear about it!

Cheers!

[AppleQueso]

I know cheapassgamer has a TON of info on what you're looking for, like half the site is practically dedicated to it.

I don't know if you could say I've scored anything awesome at a garage sale per-se, but I have picked up nice finds in flea markets and such. Got Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy IIIus, Silent Hill, Mega Man Legends 2, and others for under $10 each.

[Epoch]

The last time I scored anything nice at a garage sale was back in 1995... a Mario World booklet for $0.25. Hey, I was happier than a clam and that's what counts.

I don't know what garage sales some people out there go to but I've yet to find anything video game related at a garage sale. :/

[RCBH928]

Any one pick up N64 games and a rumble pack please inform me, I will buy it from you

[Anayo]

Last year I went to sell things at a church yard sale. There was a mom there with a N64 with a bunch of controllers and some nice games (Mario Kart 64 was one of them, I don't remember the rest.) She wanted $10 for it, which I pounced, killed, and dragged to my cave.

I think I got a pile of decent NES games for $5. Sold them here last year.

Other than those two instances I've never had much luck with yard sales. Then again I don't visit them too frequently - perhaps if I spent more time at them and showed up earlier I could do it. My biggest gripe with yard sales is that people try to sell a lot of tacky garbage, so it ends up being more of a waste of time than Goodwill, which actually kind of sorts through their stuff.

[s1mplehumar]

I never disclose my strategies, especially if I'm within a 100 mile radius of the potential competition inquiring.

[CaptainWeasel]

If you get discouraged, just remember that you're only going to find video game related items about 1/8th of the time. It's a matter of perseverance. Let Dom & Liz be inspiration for you. They've found EVERYTHING. It's a shame that they moved, I loved looking at their website.

[CRTGAMER]

This subject is similar to VIDEO GAME FINDS topic.

But anyways yes, there are deals to be found at Garage Sales, Swap Meets and Goodwill.

Picked this up for 10 bucks at a garage sale.
I have two.



A better deal was the DUAL ANALOG (Not DUAL SHOCK) I got for 5 bucks at swap meet.

[Navin_Johnson]

My strategy is to have my wife do her thing. She's good at getting deals, particularly because she's able to go on the first day of sales (usually Friday) while I'm at work. She knows what I am looking for, generally, and she calls if she's not sure.

Her best finds for me:

PS2 with network adapter for $15 a few years ago.

SNES with 20 games (final fantasy 3, zelda, metroid) for $20

Guy selling off a huge collection of Star Wars stuff. My kids got Christmas and birthdays taken care of (and a nephew too), I got 8 of the full sized cardboard stand up guys. Spent about $80 for kid toys; my stand up cardboard guys were $40.

[Jrecee]

Was at a garage sale a couple days ago. They had some saturn game called Panzer Dragoon saga stilled sealed for 50 cents! Looked like a crap game though so I passed.