8 Great Estate Sale Tricks

Springtime is finally here, and estate sale season is in full swing.  For anyone who uses found objects in their artwork, estate sales are treasure troves of oddball ephemera.  Dennis starts all of his paintings with a base layer of collaged paper, and my paper goods are often inspired by vintage typography.  We brave the madness of estate sales at least once a month to replenish our supplies.  Here are eight tips we’ve learned along the way that will help you stage a treasure hunt of your own.

The humble beginnings of a painting.

1. Go on Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! The last day of most estate sales falls on a Sunday, and by then they’re practically giving things away.  Plus, the throngs of people looking for furniture and antiques are long gone.

2. Choose long-established, safe suburban neighborhoods. Places like this have people who have lived in the same house for 50 years.  That usually means they’ve accumulated a lot of wonderful junk.

3. Make yourself a treasure map. Estatesales.net should have list of all the sales in your area, plus pictures.  Once you’ve chosen the sales you’re interested in, go to Google Maps and get directions from your house to one of them.  Then, on the left, click “Add Destination”.  Once you’ve added all of the sales you like, drag the locations up and down in the list to create the most efficient order. Voila, you have a customized road map!  (Note: sadly, maps with multiple destinations don’t seem to work on iPhones.  Print that sucker out.)

4. Get dirty. If someone already organized it, the good stuff is probably gone or overpriced.  Look through mysterious boxes on the basement floor and piles of clothes in the bottom of closets.  Search the tops of dusty shelves that others may not have noticed.  Sift through stacks of paper and open drawers.  Don’t be afraid to be nosy.  If they didn’t want you to touch it, trust me, it wouldn’t be there at all.

I'm a huge fan of places that look like this. What's in that box?

5. Talk to the right people.  Many estate sales are run by companies.  Their job is to price things, make the stuff look nice, and then watch the money roll in at the cash register.  They are not security guards.  The guy in the laundry room eyeing you suspiciously?  He’s likely a family member who’s making sure no one steals anything.  His main concern is not making money, but rather getting rid of all this stuff.  Strike up a conversation and tell him you’re an artist looking for materials. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve walked up the stairs with my arms full after someone said “tell the cashier Tom said you could have this whole box for $3.”

6. Don’t forget the garage. You may think all that’s back there are some tools and all the husbands standing around.  I’ve found some great stuff in garages, barns and sheds.  It’s more likely that things get exposed to the elements back there, which sometimes can be a really good thing.  Once we found some beautiful naturally yellowed, good quality heavy weight paper that Dennis used for Rain Dog and I used to screenprint business cards.  We still have a ton of it left, too.

7. Don’t be afraid to haggle. As my great-Granny says, “The money’s under your tongue”.  And if you think it’s overpriced, you’re probably right.  Walk away – you’ll find something similar elsewhere.

8. Buy yourself a present. Ok, this one is optional, but estate sales are great places to find little pick me ups for next to nothing.  My favorite thing to splurge on? Definitely clutch purses that are too small to hold anything!  I also have a penchant for shiny things.  I’m like a bird sometimes.

Ooh, is that a treasure I see?

What’s your favorite estate sale find?