I don’t like going to garage sales.  I really can’t think of a more annoying way to spend a weekend morning than rifling through other peoples’ used stuff in search of a bargain on something I probably don’t really need.  If I could give the world one piece of garage sale advice, it would be:  Stay away.

I’m with Sense to Save on this one:

Some people love the thrill of the hunt, but I don’t like spending a morning going from sale to sale looking for a bargain. I don’t like visiting dud sales, and I feel awkward picking through people’s belongings.

That doesn’t mean I don’t know  a few things about garage sales, though.  I know quite a bit.  That’s because Mrs. Lampsen is an all-out maniac about yard sales and garage sales.  She’s passionate about them.  I look past my distaste and dutifully accompany her on many bargain-hunting missions.

And I’ve learned a few things in the process.  First, that there are a few things you can do to save money at a garage sale.  Second, that many people are so excited to get at $5 used piece of Tupperware that they’ll act like complete morons.

I’ve tried to combine these two issues into a single post.  Let me tell you how to save money shopping at a garage sale without being annoying.  For the sake expediency, we’ll address two points.

Be early.  Not THAT early. Everyone knows that it pays to be early for garage sales.  Unlike traditional retail stores, the folks peddling their old gear on the front lawn don’t have extensive inventory.  If you don’t get there first, you might miss the item you want.  So, get there when the sale opens.  If the ad says “open at 8″, be there at 8:00.

Don’t be there at 7:30.  Resist the urge.  If the folks having the sale wanted you there a half-hour early, they would’ve invited you.  Those early arrivals are annoying to the people running the sales who are trying to get things set up.  Don’t be annoying.  You might miss a bargain occasionally, but at least you won’t be a jerk.  It’s hard to put a price tag on that.

Consider negotiating.  But not on everything. If you’re considering buying a relatively new designer sofa at a garage sale, it makes sense to talk about shaving a little off the price tag.  It could make the difference of few hundred bucks for you and it might make the difference between sale and no-sale for the person running the sale.  If you’re filling two crates with miscellany, it makes sense to see about striking a deal.  You’re a volume customer.

When you see a salt shaker on a table for fifty cents, however, don’t ask if you can get it for a quarter.  If you ignore that advice and do haggle over the shaker, don’t put it back on the table after an affirmative response and see if you can score it for a dime.  At some point hagglers cross the line between trying to get the most bang for their bucks and being petty, annoying people with whom no one wants to deal.

Now, there are a lot of other things you can do to save a buck at the ol’ yard sale.

BeingFrugal.net has a set of recommendations that lean more toward the logistical aspects of garage sale shopping.

Denise Robinson committed her thoughts about asking for a deal to video.

About.com has a little snippet that reminds us not to let a little filth scare us.  You can buy dirty for cheap and then clean the item up.

Maybe I’ll see at the sales on Saturday morning.  I’ll be the vaguely annoyed looking fellow with an incredibly enthusiastic bargain shopper for a wife.  And we won’t be there 2 hours early.