Secondhand sales are a great way to stretch your budget or bring in a little extra cash…. if you know what you’re doing.

I’ve put together some great tips for buying and selling secondhand over at the H&R Block Block Talk blog.  After you read that list, you’ll have a better sense of what to buy and what to skip when shopping secondhand.  You’ll also learn what will bring you top dollar at your own garage sale.

And speaking of hosting your own garage sale, be sure to check out my strategies for a successful garage sale as well as my tips for how to price items for a garage sale.   You’ll also want to read Susan’s post, What I Wish I Knew Before the Garage Sale.

I had a genius idea for a smartphone app that would make the money handling at  joint garage sales with family and friends much easier. The idea was that you would use an app to track who sold what and for how much so that you wouldn’t have to anguish over chicken scratch in a notebook after hanging out all day at a sale just to figure out how much money you made.

It turns out there are actually two such iOS apps that exist!  Garage Sale Checkout (also available on Android) and Garage Sale Cashier look similar with similar features, although the Garage Sale Cashier app allows more individuals to be a part of the sale. Both apps are cheap enough (under $3) to pay for themselves with just one sale. I definitely plan to try one of these apps at my next multi-family garage sale and see if it doesn’t make it easier to keep track of the money.  The notebook and sticker method is so tedious – especially when the sale is busy.

I’ve been trying out some different methods of buying secondhand – like estate sales, local Facebook selling groups and local online auctions.  Many of my strategies for shopping garage sales work with these types of sales, too.  Start with a list, stick to a budget, and look for quality at a great price.

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