Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Garage sale gold

So every now and then I like myself a nice garage sale. Going to, not doing one. It never surprises me what gold you might find out of pure dumb luck. Yesterday I bought this Star Trek ornament because I thought it would be cool on the tree this year. It’s the Enterprise and it was made in 1991. Well I do a little search and these first year ornaments are fetching 100.00 + . I’m not a treky I just thought it looked cool. So now I’m thinking it may end up on someone else tree. I would have never guess it had that kind of collector value.
Anyone else hit the garage sales just for the fun of it?

My wife bought one of those fancy "Little Giant" ladders that can be set up in multiple positions for $5.

I never go to the sales myself though, and she just happened to drive by this one and stopped on the spur of the moment.

Daughter always finds "vintage pyrex" bowls for just a couple of dollars and she re-sells them for $25 to $150 on line depending on what color they are.

Check out the sold for those ornaments on Flea-Bay. They aren’t fetching anywhere near 100.00. Average for New in box is 45 bucks.

I bought just about all my rifle reloading equipment at a garage sale. Paid $75 for a large herter press mounted on a work mate bench, several sets of dies, scales, powder thrower, several shell holders, universal trimmer, and I'm sure I forgot some.

If I waste my time at yard sales or flea markets,
They want gold prices for stuff the garbage guys wouldn't take.

If someone else goes, they are selling Griswold skillets for $5, all 10 for $40.

My dad gets steals, I don't have the patience. I road hunt.
If it looks interesting from the road, I stop.

I need to go more often...I know there’s a ton of vintage cast iron cookware out there for cheap...

Great find!

I like to stop at garage sales, especially those community sales where 15 or 20 houses will all have garage sales on one winding block or two of suburbs.

My most memorable garage sale buy went to someone else. I was in north Seattle years ago, before cell phones were common, and found a huge set of antelope horns on a cheap wood shield. The price was $15. I didn't know much about antelope, but they were so much bigger than any I'd ever seen that I drove a few blocks home and phoned a friend who is a B&C scorer. I had unobtrusively measured a few places on the horns and my friend told me that they would make Boone & Crockett easily. I drove right back over and a step ahead of me an artsy Seattle type middle aged woman picked them up. She looked at them casually, started to put them down, but then added them to her basket and bought them. I did not say a word, maybe should have made her an offer. She had no idea what she had.

I got a Filson upland hunting jacket for 3.00 at a garage sale last year. Didn't look like it had ever been worn. They sell for 395.00 new.

When I go I usually look for books the girls are interested in, couple weeks ago I picked up a new hardcover set of all the Harry Potter books for $10
My 9 yr old and 12 yr old were thrilled
Never know what you’ll find
H&r 16ga single shot $25 (that was about 15 yrs ago)

I sawa Winchester M94 that looked almost antique but was a post 64. Guy had $100 on the tag. I asked him why so low and he said it would shoot. Not accurate? No, it won't go bang. I bought it and replaced a broken firing pin Sold it at a gun show for $400.
Paul B.

This is a military town.


Nothing in our yardsales except mudshark baby clothes.

HOOAH!!!!

My big find was 30’ of galvanized chain, $10

I think you are wrong. You aptly describe today’s professional flea market seller, but home owners looking to rid themselves of property want to do just that, at damned near any price.
Hell most of the flea market sellers get their stuff from home owner garage sales.

Recently picked up a digital safe for $5. It was unlocked but guy didn’t know the combo. Contacted the company and for $30 and an affidavit, they sent me the default code for that safe and I put my own combo in.

We don’t get much gun stuff at sales here, and most of it’s too pricy. But I occasionally find other good deals.

Brtdgeport boy scout hatchet 1950s - $2
Old Marble's #9 hatchet - $3
Hall's 12in - 3 stone sharpening stand -never used - $5 - this one's probably $100+
Marble's damascus bowie blade only - $5
Plano mini-magnum tackle box with Rapala and Rebel lures - $4
I go to Estate sales near to me often.

Yeah, I go to the estate sales out in the country of farms/ranches.

Sometimes they are prone to have a few things I want/need. (Some of those are no bargains though.. I could buy new for the asking prices a lot of the time)

I buy , restore and sell some antique cast iron cookware. My best garage sale find was a Griswold #13 skillet. Paid $100 and sold it for $1600 after cleaning it.

Many years ago when I had my gun shop. One of my customers came in all excited and showed me a Parker he got at a yard sale. Said he asked the guy if he had any firearms for sale and the guy crawled under his house and brought the Parker out. Itwaswrapped in oil cloth and the guy said he inherited it but didn't like guns. At that time we estimated its value at $3890.

All of the time, especially up here in Idaho. I hit one yesterday and bought a nice gun case, six old Car Craft magazines, a case filled with 20 flies and another filled with 15 lures for $20. One of my best buys was a vintage S&W screwdriver for fifty cents. It's worth a couple of hundred dollars or so.