Garage Sale Shopping for Triplets

How to get the best deals on quality baby items

Three babies arriving at once can put a strain on anyone’s budget. A garage sale, yard sale, estate sale and tag sale are great ways to save money.

My hobby for several years has been shopping at garage sales. Primarily for the fun of finding items I wouldn’t have bought new, but it’s also an amazing way to explore your community and meet new people.

Where to Find Good Garage Sales

In our area, my starting point is to pull up the Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace garage sale sections. These will give me a short list of garage sales that have listed a good selection of baby items or things I’m specifically seeking.

Neighborhood garage sales are ideal because you can shop a lot of houses quickly. Some neighborhoods are even organized enough to hand out maps of all the addresses participating.

More than anything, it’s about pointing yourself in a direction to get started. During peak garage sale season, there will be plenty of Garage Sale signs along your path (aka “targets of opportunity”), so keep your eyes peeled.

Tips and Tricks of Garage Sale Bargain Shopping

I’m always friendly and courteous, but also quite serious about shopping for bargains.

• The phrase that pays, “What’s your best price on this?”
  • I never buy anything without asking this question
  • It tests their true desire to get rid of an item
  • If they respond with, “$30, $35”, then latch onto the lowest price out of their mouth
  • Never offer your own price unless it’s to counter-offer or necessary to move the negotiation forward
    
• ALWAYS haggle
  • Even if you like the price on the sticker, always ask “What’s your best price?”
  • You’re shopping garage sales to find a bargain. If you can knock a few bucks off a price you already like, even better
    
• Bundle
  • At garage sales where you find multiple items, ask for a bundle price
  • “How much for all of these items together?”
  • Add up the marked prices in your head so you know what’s a good discount
  • This will always save you money, and it’s good for the seller too
    
• Play the twins/triplets/multiples card
  • It’s worth taking a few minutes to share your story and pictures
  • “We need so much more than we expected and this would help tremendously”
  • My daughter and I happen to have our newborn triplets with us at a few garage sales and people were giving us stuff for free
    
• Ask
  • If there’s something specific you’re looking for, ask
  • Sometimes they forgot or were on the fence about putting it out, or maybe even know a neighbor interested in selling theirs
    
• A little nudge to close the deal
  • On occasion I’ll make a reasonable offer and hear, “I’ve been offered more”
  • While that may be true, “I’m standing here, with cash and ready to buy”. If they’re serious about cleaning out clutter they’ll accept your offer, but sometimes you just have to walk away
    
• Go back the last day
  • If it’s a hard-to-find item, and it’s still available, they may be willing to negotiate rather than haul it to Goodwill
  • You could try leaving your name and number, but this isn’t a technique I’ve used

What You Should Pay

Remember, NEVER buy a used car seat. You don’t know its history and may have been in a crash or recalled.

I also avoid buying baby swings. These get recalled so frequently that I’m just not comfortable taking the risk.

The following have been common prices for items in our town (2021).

• Clothes sold by what fits in a plastic grocery sack
• Bumbo seat, with/without tray = $5/$10
• Pack n’ Play crib, Basic/Full set = $5/$40
• Bouncer Seat = $5-$10
• Jumperoo/Exersaucer Activity Center = $20-$25
• Play mat, with it’s hanging toys = $15
• Nursing Boppy = $5
• Dr. Brown’s bottles = $1/each
• Munchkin Dishwasher Basket = $0.50
• Diaper Pail = $5-$10
• Rattles, teethers and small toys = $0.50-$2, but definitely bundle
• Baby gates = $5-$15
  • Dog owners buy these too, so keep your eyes peeled

Strollers come in all shapes and sizes, so pricing is tricky. They are also very expensive new, so people want to recoup some money. Lots of strollers are worn out and, while inexpensive, not worthwhile. If the tires are bald, I’ll walk away.

How Much Money to Take

For a typical day out I’ll take $60 in cash. No reason other than it gives me enough to pick up bargains and not be tempted to spend too much on one item. Whether it’s an unproductive day, or one filled with bargains, I frequently come home with leftover cash.

Bring a mix of small bills. If you’ve ever hosted a garage sale you know the frustration of the first shopper trying to buy a $1 item with a twenty dollar bill and wiping out your change.

Smaller bills are courteous and allow for quick transactions where you’re not waiting for change. It also seems rude, to me, negotiating a $5 item down to $3 and then handing them a five dollar bill.

Electronic Payment

More and more garage sales are accepting Venmo or Paypal.

I did set up a Venmo account last year as an emergency backup and wound up using it twice.

One was a garage sale where I was able to build a bundle of amazing big items. The other was finding a bigger ticket item late in the day when I was running low on cash.