Everyone Can Win at the Game of Rummage

This time of year, on small roadside signs and anonymously pinned to grocery store message boards, hidden in church bulletins and obscure websites, are the code words that indicate to a local group of watchful, dedicated initiates that another season of amazing bargains has begun:

“RUMMAGE SALE”

To those in the know, this eagerly awaited sign indicates a near-magical opportunity where household improvements can be accomplished for a handful of coins, the kids (and you) can be clothed in style for an entire season for $5 or $10, and delightful vintage and antique items can be found for a couple of bucks.

Things you might not normally have the expendable cash for are pennies on the dollar and less. Go late, and you can usually stuff a grocery bag with anything you like for about the cost of a cup of coffee.

At the same time, anything you buy at a rummage sale keeps things that are still perfectly useful—and better yet, things you can use!—out of our landfills.

And, all the money you spend—a tiny fraction of retail for the same items—goes directly back into your community, funding things like local soup kitchens, scouting groups, and food pantries.

Rarely can you do so much good for everyone, even yourself, with so little. And it's fun!

How to get the most out of a rummage sale

Prepare

Before you go, take a look around, and make a list of anything you'd like to acquire. Be thorough. Everything is fair game, necessity or whim, from a blender for the kitchen to a wastebasket for the den to oars for the canoe.

Garden planters, curtains, clothes for the kids (or you), toys, an extra lamp and a VCR for the spare bedroom, baskets for Easter, a tripod for the camera, whatever comes to mind that you might like or want—don't worry too much at this point about practicality or limiting the number of things. Just write it all down.

You won't find everything, but knowing what you're looking for, you're more likely to find it in the chaos. Few things won't turn up eventually if you're persistent and attend multiple sales.

WYSIWYG

There are many things we use every day that matter little whether they are 'new' or not. Part of the reason rummage sales are a subculture is because most people only see piles of junk, or have been conditioned by a lifetime of advertising to believe new is better. In a world of glossy packaging, picking the best bargains out of tons of items simply lying on tables requires a different perspective.

It's not hard. Just remember the acronym, already familiar to techies, WYSIWYG—“what you see is what you get.”

In this case, you have to see things for what they are and for what value they can add to your everyday life or not., without the benefit of presentation and packaging. If you're a fan of antique stores and flea markets, consider this a no-frills variation, and you're more than half there.

Part of the fun is that these sales can be like going through grandma's attic and picking whatever you like. Indeed, sometimes one literally is—older churchgoers often make donations as they downsize, and therein lies one source of potential treasure. Items that are unique at any price are often to be found, usually for a tiny fraction of their market worth.

Other things will solve everyday problems or add small luxuries to your life for practically nothing. These are often things that have seen little or no use. Kitchen appliances are often a wonderful deal—at a usual going rate of $1 to 3, you can't lose.

Household goods from textiles to lamps to closet organizers often go for the same or less. Small TV? About $4. Stereo for the workshop, a waterproof radio for the bath or a minivac for by the cat box? Got two bucks? A bagful of designer-label clothes for you and the kids? At the bag sale, $2 to $3.

Pick at once, go twice, look thrice

If you can, it's often a good idea to visit a sale twice. Early, you'll find the best selection. This is the time to pick out the things you really like and get a look at the rest of the sale to scope it out for the bag sale.

Anything you really like, pick up now, because if you like it, chances are someone else will too and you can't count on it being there (even five minutes) later.

Check out the whole sale at least three times while you're there. Be sure to look under and behind tables, and look for signs or ask volunteers about things you might otherwise miss.

Between the sheer amount of stuff and people picking through it constantly, merchandise shifts. The more times you look, the more likely you are to find a treasure you might have otherwise not seen.

Late in the sale, there will usually be a bag sale—that is, anything and everything you can stuff in a grocery bag is one set price, usually $2 or 3. This is where the bargains go from amazing to astounding. It's also the time to score those items you were lukewarm about paying a couple of bucks for earlier, but happen to fit in your bag.

Fold textiles and pack your bag tightly—a lot more will fit. Sale volunteers won't mind. Their objective now is to get rid of as much as possible. You may as well take home anything you like.

Be creative and willing to put in a little effort

Often there are items that are otherwise perfectly good, but missing a small detail that may not matter much. Usually volunteers at a well-organized sale weed out the true junk.

Clever rummage hounds know that people are very quick to discard expensive items for very minor reasons, or often no reason at all—and will capitalize on this. This is a moment to contemplate some creative DIY.

Like-new cappuccino maker ($90 retail), $2, but missing the carafe? Check the pile of mugs to see if it “migrated”or for a suitable replacement vessel. Awesome leather jacket (retail $400), missing a button?

Check to see if an extra was included, or peruse other garments to sacrifice for suitable replacements. Leather bag ($80 retail, 50c at a rummage sale) has a scuff? A little shoe polish might cure it.

Things that need love are always a gamble, but at rummage prices, it's hard for the balance not to tip in your favor. Often, if you can't fix it the way you thought, you can repurpose it.

Oops...

On the other hand, some things turn out to be more trouble than they're worth. It doesn't fit, there's a stain you missed, that color just doesn't work, etc. Such is the game of rummage.

The real measure of success is the total price versus the number of good items. Say you spent $6 at a bag sale, got 30 items, and 24 of them are great. (You'll probably do better.)

You spent 25 cents for each item you can use, a lot less than if you bought those two dozen items new. Actually, chances are, you paid less than you would have for one of those items new. You win. Anything left over leads to...

Giving back

Redistribute things that don't work out. The local homeless shelter, assistance agency, domestic violence shelter, or animal rescue may be grateful for donations of clothing, textile items and/or some household goods—call around to see what's needed.

Donating to another sale is also an option—most collect items the week before. Offer extra items to friends and neighbors, join your local Freecycle group, post items in the free section of Craigslist, form a rummage swap club, whatever—but be sure to pass your excess good fortune forward.

As they say, what goes around, comes around. Good luck hunting!

Patch contributor Christina Georgiou has furnished a good portion of her life on the cheap while enjoying rummage and other extreme bargain strategy games for more than two and a half decades.

Very likely, if you go, you will run into her at some of the sales listed on the .