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Well, this Saturday we are going to our first garage sale. Anyone ever been? It should be a hoot! We are going to get up really early and head down. I have no idea how they run this thing, if they set up in the parking lot or if it is in the store.
Lisa
Usually they will be in the store, but that may vary per store. They kind of seperate it off from the rest of the store (the store is still open) and at least at the one near me, only let a certain number of people in to shop at a certain time. I think they let you in to shop for 15-20 minutes, it's not long but it's enough time to go once over and find things.They will usually hand out tickets to the people in line. The number on your ticket will be called in groups of maybe 30 people. I guess that depends on the store too.
Here are my tips.
1) get there early. Before opening, bring some warm beverages to set up camp with, esp. if you are looking for a hot-ticket item, like packs, gear, etc.
2) go with a group. Discuss in the group what you are looking for. That way, you have multiple sets of eyes to find what you want. If your friend finds a ski jacket that sounds like it might be what you're looking for, then they can holler over to let you know.
Have fun!
I haven't ever found anything great, but usually I'm not looking for anything in particular. A few friends have gotten nice packs. One got a set of rollers.
K.
I've gone 2 or 3 times and I'm trying to get more regular at it.
I've been to two different stores. One set it up in the warehouse/loading dock and the other set it up in the community room (where they normally have classes and videos). Neither limited the # of people shopping (though I did here rumors that sometimes the one that does it in the community room does have to stop people from going in due to fire code occasionally). Neither limited the amount of time you spent either; I think that's ridiculous...if I'm going to get up at 6am and stand in line til 9 I darn well better get to shop for as long as I want!! Anyway, you do want to get there early, and expect there to be a line.
Pickings vary greatly depending on what's been returned in the last month or so to that store. (It's worth going to a high volume store and getting there early). The good stuff that doesn't actually have problems will go FAST; know what you want and make a B-line to it. Last month (ours are always the first weekend of the month) I got a $300 never used tent for $150 and a pair of Chacos for $24. Expect good/undamaged items to be roughly 50% off; it's not a huge 80% discount or even cost, but you still get good deals.
Check your items throughly. The tags give you some description of why it was returned most of the time, but that's just the cashier jotting down what the customer said. REI does not inspect the items. You can't return them, so make sure you know what you are getting before you walk out. Everything will be lumped together from brand new with tags to "I wore them in the high Andes for 3 years and destroyed them".
Remember to bring your member card (or know what phone number you used to sign up), they won't let you buy stuff without it and some stores won't even let you into the sale area (if you plan on signing up do so before the sale).
Have fun! It's like an after Christmas sale on steroids typically.
I went to one at my local store last month. I came upon it accidentally, and it was very busy (I arrived around 10:30--I don't know when it started), but not a madhouse. They held it in the store, with tables set up in different areas that roughly corresponded to what was being sold in that area. Pickings were slim when I got there, but since I hadn't intended on running into a sale I didn't care. I ended up getting a nice pair of hiking boots for my daughter for about 60% off. They had been returned after the previous owner wore them once and got blisters. But blisters, IME, tend to be more user error (unless you're working with really cheap equipment) and sure enough, she's worn them a couple of times on half day hikes with no incident.
Sarah
The Dc area ones don't seem to be the same mad house that the west coast ones are... I have friends that go at 3 am to get in line.
I've shown up at the dc area ones just as they open.
I have managed to get good deals at some of them - $50 for a $500 pair of ski boots, slight mangling of the nut to adjust canting on one boot (slightly stripped but not bad enough that it couldn't be used)... an arc'teryx fleece jacket for $40 (it'd been used in a photoshoot - also got some sugoi shirts that'd been in a photoshoot... ) A water filter discounted once because it was missing a hose. I think I got the fairing for my roof rack at one as well.
But usually I don't get out of bed that early on a saturday :)
I went to the one in Framingham a couple years ago and found a really nice pair of Atlas snowshoes for $50 (returned because the person just didn't like them) and a pair of carbon-fiber trekking poles for $20. Definitely get there early and bring things to do while waiting for it to open. When I went it could have been organized better--they let the first 30 people in and then subsequent groups, but there were no numbers or anything handed out and I knew for a fact that some people who went in first had not been in front of me originally (in other words they took cuts--how rude). Maybe it's different now, I'm not sure; a couple of us did suggest handing out numbers to prevent this. At this particular one they had it in the warehouse.
If you are thinking of going to the flagship store in Seattle on Yale, skip it. The parking garage is that insane new style, where you have to drive up and down each row to get anywhere, corners are tight, no way to tell if there are open spaces around the corner, and the walk ways aren't well delineated so cars and peds mix it up and everyone is cranky. If there was an REI with a big parking lot I would check it out.
I think that half of my gear has a silver or black X on it from an REI garage sale!
My town has the smallest REI store in the country, and it's walking distance from my apartment!
They have a garage sale about every 2 months and I often try to go to them. I seldom *need* anything, but I go for the entertainment value and often pick up something.
The store is small and the crowd isn't so huge that they let everyone in at 10am and it's a bit of a feeding frenzy. It's usually outside in the parking lot.
The list of great stuff I've gotten for cheap cheap cheap is long. A few things come to mind: a NOS in box 13" Novara Randonee frame for $15 (it's my commuter bike now), two REI Taj tents for $30 & $40 (it's our favorite tent, we got one for spare parts, they don't make them anymore, $200 new), I got slightly used Pearl Izumi Quest mtn bike shoes for $11. My friend got a new K2 Twister road bike, built with whatever was around, including Ultegra 9sp shifters for $200. I have REI camelbak type packs for $5. I just got some PI winter booties for $3. We got REI zipoff pants with broken fly zippers for $2, a friend fixed the zippers for us. I got a North Face Apex jacket for $20.
We have gotten some things so cheap that I sell them on ebay for a profit.