Which Do You Think Is Better???.....

[many houseapes]

After riding around to garage sales today, I am wondering if I should just shop at the Goodwill every other week when they have their 50% off sales. As much as I love garage sales, I am thinking that I would probably save more money if I didn't have to drive all over the place & waste gas...(& the gas prices are rising here.)...If I were to go to the Goodwill on the 50% off days, I would find more of what I really need & not waste gas as I would if I were traveling to garage sales only to find that they have nothing my family needs. What are your thoughts?

[Debbie-cat]

I only hit garage sales that list things that I might be interested in. For example, I do not have any small children so if the listing tends to focus on alot of kids clothes and toys, I don't bother going there.

Goodwill is great but I feel that you really need to go quite often... at least here. It is so busy that their stock flies out the window at an amazing pace. So I usually try and check every two to three days just in case. But that is me and mine isn't too far from me so it isn't a big deal.

[HandyMom]

I feel that if I am only needing a few specific things, yard sales are a waste of time and possibly money too since I get frustrated and feel a need to buy "something" for all my looking and driving around. Even the church sales are slim pickings for me. IMO opinion, Goodwill is better and has so much more you can hardly go wrong. A lot of the yard sale stuff ends up there anyway and you don't have to ride around to see it.

I know my yard sale didn't do well last year and I was practically giving stuff away but no one wanted to drive around so a lot of my stuff went to Goodwill since it wasn't worth trying to sell on Ebay or Craigs list.

[Lisahas2cats]

I used to love yard sales, but have chosen to stick with thrift stores for several reasons:

1. Thrift stores pretty much stay put. Once you find one, it doesn't move very often....yard sales come and go, and their signs usually stay up forever to trick you, lol.

2. Yard sale season is HOT. Thrift stores are usually climate controlled.

3. Proceeds from thrift stores go back to help the needy in some form or fashion (typically).

4. In our area, yard sales tend to be overpriced.

If I can find a giant, multi-family or church rummage sale I'll check it out, but generally I don't bother anymore.

[Michelle]

I think it depends partly on your location and how good your Goodwill store is. Around here the yard sale prices are much cheaper, but as you said, you spend time & gas driving from one to another. So if your Goodwill normally has a good selection and/or has what you need, you would do better financially to shop there. However, if your Goodwill store is lame, lame, lame like mine is, you might want to stick to yard sales close by.

[frugalwarrior]

It depends what you get out of it and what you need. For me,gargae sales are entertainment and superficial socialization. So, I consider the gas part of my entertainmnet budget. My kids are in school all day. Most of my friends/neighbors work,my husband travels alot. I also live in an urban area. I can hit over 75 house at times in a weekend.
That said.
If you are pressed for time, estate sales,resale shops,thrift stores are better. Some places even take returns. Try (Estatesales.net). At resales prices are higher but hassle is lower. Our S.A. get new things from Walmart and Goodwill from Target. I've hit the jackpot many a time.
To me both are good. Sometimes though I run into some flaky people running garage sales. (Recently I had a lady up a price on me when I went to pay. When I balked she said I could leave if I didn't like it). I don't always possess enough patience for that sort of thing.