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All the ways to thrift

THRIFT YOUR WAY

Yard and garage sales

People sell what they no longer need from the driveway, mostly on Friday and Saturday mornings. Some neighborhoods hold one together.

Before you go

Good for
Household goods, kids’ things, tools, the odd treasure
When to go
Early on the first morning, spring to fall
Paying
Cash in small bills. Prices are open to an offer

How to do well

  1. Plan a route the night before from the listings, and start early. The best things leave in the first hour.
  2. Look for neighborhood and community sales. Dozens of sales on a few streets make the drive worth it.
  3. Make a friendly offer, especially for several things together. Late in the day, sellers would rather not pack up.
  4. Ask if there’s more. Frames, tools and boxes in the garage often haven’t made it to the table.
  5. Bring small bills and coins. Not having change can cost you the deal.

What to bring

Where to find them

Mostly spring to fall. In winter, try moving sales and the free section instead.

How Thriftcraft helps

  • Your assistant

    Not sure something’s worth the ask? Ask your assistant about the find for a rough value before you offer.

    1. Open the find and tap ChatGPT, Claude or Muse under Ask about this find. It opens with a question about the find already written.
    2. Send a detail photo of any mark when it asks. Ask it to save the answer and its sources with the find.
    3. Saved research keeps its own words and sources. It changes the find’s details only when you approve the change.
    Research a find without losing the evidence
More ways Thriftcraft can help

  • Scan

    Snap what you buy with its price, so you remember where it came from.

    1. Open Scan and take a photo of the find.
    2. Open the find to keep its price and notes together. Keep extra photos of marks and damage with it.
    3. If a snap is waiting offline, leave Thriftcraft open when you reconnect and check that it uploads before signing out.
    Keep a useful record of a find

  • Places

    Know whether the side table fits the hallway before you load it in the car.

    1. Use Places to keep the room, wall or shelf and the finds that belong there together.
    2. Open New place or Edit place to save its width, height and, where relevant, depth. Add the find to that place and use its Outside size control when measurements are missing.
    3. Places organizes where things belong; it does not automatically prove that furniture fits through a doorway.
    Know whether a find will fit at home

The sites here belong to other companies. None of them pays to be listed.

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