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***** Picking Pair’s Garage/Yard Sale Negotiating tips *****
1. Look poor to average (don’t dress-up)
2. Listen … don’t talk other than a friendly hello to start
3. Be nice/respectful … don’t insult their items or point out defects
4. Look disinterested … Don’t be eager
5. Make a pile … don’t negotiate individual items
6. Make them state a price on the pile first and work down from there
7. Avoid the quick deal; there is always a better one.
8. Offer your lowest on the pile (“Would you consider $X?”) but be willing to come up a bit
9. Be willing to remove items
10. Be willing to add items to come up to their price
11. Make sure they are aware you have the money; they want the money, not the items.
12. Never disclose what your bottom line is or was
13. Never state your need for it (ie: I resell on ebay)Good Tips when negotiations stall :
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1. “You might still have this at the end of the sale, I have money for you right now.”
2. “What is the very least you’ll sell this for?”
3. “Is that the best you can do?” or “Could you come down a bit more?”
4. “You really don’t want to take these back into the house do you?” “Let’s make a deal.”
5. “Please think about my offer, I’m going to look around a bit more.”Other Tips:
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1. If the seller is tough, be tough too. “I can’t pay more than $X for this.” Just wait, they might cave.
2. The one who keeps their emotions in check will usually win.
3. Minimize talking. Use silence to your advantage.
4. Sellers want the deal to go through, so hold your ground and keep negotiating.
5. You want them to feel good about the deal, so pick-up on clues they might provide.Do you have some to add?
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I went garage saling this morning and discovered a new trick. A guy had a tall dresser for $45 and a smaller one for $20. I asked what is the lowest he would take on “these” (rather than “the pair.”) He said $35 and $10. I took the one for $10.
Had he said “$45 for the pair” I could then ask “You mean $35 and $10?” If he says Yes, then take the one with the best discount. You could also say “I’ll take this one for $10, but can you do a little better on this other one?”
The trick is to suggest a group but buy the items with the deepest discount from the group, or use it to shrink the group to allow further negotiations on the remaining items.
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This is my personal feelings, but I simply despise the phrase “What’s the least you’ll take”. Poor negotiators tend to go with that right out of the gate. I have actually replied to several of those on FB yardsale with “What’s the most you’re willing to pay?”
I’d much rather someone lowball me than say that phrase. At least it is a starting point.The only exception I have is if negotiations stall, as you said, and then the buyer asks. If they’ve made a good faith effort to negotiate up till then I will give my absolute best price. I may even let them knock a few bucks more off that if they are nice.
I really like it when a buyer will go back and forth on price – it is fun!
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I always greet the seller when I walk up with “good morning, how are you?” it sets up for a friendlier negotiation later.
Never ever say anything disparaging about what they’re selling, it’s theirs until someone buys it, show interest, it gets them on your side and if something’s too high I just say you’ve got a fair price on it but I’m not really willing to spend that much, usually they will give you a better deal.
It all about a friendly non confrontational negotiation.
I’ve shared this before, go to the bank and get as many $2 bills as they have, it’s usually not more than 10-12, I’ve found that $5 items often can be bought for one $2 bill.
The power of the Two is amazing, last night at the auction they had a stack of 22 two dollar bills, not old, the bid went to $57! -
That’s funny about the $2 bills. A couple of years ago I called my bank regarding $2 bills. I got about 25 of them. They couldn’t wait to get rid of them and told me to call back when I wanted more.
That week I took them with me to the garage sales. I ran into a lot of people who had no idea what they were and actually were very suspicious. In the end I decided it wasn’t worth the effort.
I absolutely agree with not disparaging the seller’s items. In fact I generally will complement them. Most times the sellers are so happy that you also appreciate them, that they’re willing to negotiate. Many times they’re glad you know what they are. Even if you don’t make the deal, it’s still interesting.
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No tips, just a review of our annual neighborhood yard sale which was today.
We didn’t sell this year: We’ve done it in the past but did’t do it this year as a seller.
New Neighbor with Vintage Items: We walked around and got to meet a new neighbor and see inside of of his house and get to know him. He is a retired arms dealer, he said he likes to stay busy so now he sells military poison and has a few other businesses just for fun. He showed us the renovations he’d done to the house and everything looked so quality and high end. He is a divorced guy but he even had tons of vintage Pyrex bowls which made me want to ask him if was also an antiques dealer because it so seemed like he had vintage quality stuff, the sort of stuff we look for. But I didn’t ask, I don’t really tell many people in my real life about my eBay hobby. Which is why a forum like this is so fun – strangers with the same interest.
No purchases: I didn’t buy anything except a muffin for my daughter at one house where they sell food every year.
Overpriced things: I had to silently laugh at a guy trying to sell a John Deer children’s ride on thing for $350, seems like that would go better at an auction or on ebay or somewhere better than a yard sale. What have you all noticed about higher end things at yard sales – are they there? do you ever find them priced to sell? Also, one yard sale had eBay prices and listed what the items were selling for on eBay.
Thrifted clothing: And another friend of ours had I guess gotten a storage unit full of 2XL mens shirts and the guy asked my husband if he wanted any – we didn’t take any – and afterwards my husband said “I didn’t want to tell him I have all the access I want to 2XL shirts.” I mentioned this in another post, but my whole family wears thrifted clothing all the time now. And we used to shop at places like Target and JC Penney so our quality of clothing has gone up while the price of our clothing has gone way down.
Florida: Since it is warm all year here, there are yard sales all year long. I’ve never had very good luck at yard sales. I like estate sales better, but mostly stick to one company’s sales because some of the others have crazy prices.
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I love to buy in bulk when I can find it. Couple of years ago, someone was selling baseball bat weights for $1 each, and had 2 huge boxes full of them. I asked her how much for both boxes. Mentioned the benefit of getting rid of ALL of them at once. She suggested $25, and I didn’t bother haggling. Got them home and counted 77 of them. Came to about 32¢ ea. Listed them in quantity, and I’ll sell them for $15-$20 ea shipped. Not huge profits, but steady bread and butter. The key is to add several of these to your pipeline.
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When I first started listening to SL podcasts I heard a tip that I think is great: ask for the price of an item from a distance. I think the person giving the tip had additional advice about this technique but that was my take away. Don’t hold on to it and ask for a price. Asking from a distance (from the item) makes you appear a little disinterested, like it is not a must have for you. I like that tip a lot.
I also discovered for myself that I can get free stuff if I pay the asking price for some items.
Example: Yesterday I was a yard sale, from a distance I asked the price of three items I was interested in. The prices were OK, not amazing but decent. I then pointed to a wood box that I wanted and asked if I take all the items that I asked about, can I get the box for free. They had no problem with that.
I paid 9.00 for everything, listed all the items (4 of them) and the box sold overnight for $45.00. Honestly that was a surprise to me, but a nice one!
Here is the box if you want to see it: https://www.ebay.com/itm/162986920941?ViewItem=&item=162986920941
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