Garage Saling for Curriculum

I was finally able to purchase most of the rest of Asa's Pre-K curriculum!  My parents blessed us with some monies specifically for curriculum.  That helped purchase All About Reading Pre-Level 1.  I really wanted to use Sonlight this year with Asa.  He seriously BEGS for school work and I knew that I needed to capitalize on that desire to learn.  I also knew that I needed a ready made curriculum for him due to the fact that I just do not/will not (especially with a new little one) have the time to put together trays and units for him myself this year.  The problem was that it was not in our budget to buy a pre-k curriculum (and the curriculum I wanted is on the pricey side)....hard to do in a one income family (or 2 income for that matter).  Enter Ebay.

Some of you may know that I buy things at garage sales to resell on ebay.  I've been doing it for almost a year....with a break from Jan-March.  It is a fun hobby of mine.  I love garage sales, and I love hunting for things that I know I can sell on ebay.....I guess my hobby makes me a nice little profit which in turn funds my garage saling addiction and gives me a little extra spending money.

I was actually able to purchase the complete Sonlight Pre-K curriculum (sans 2 books) for almost 1/2 the price of buying brand new from a seller on Ebay (one of the reasons I LOVE Ebay).  I was also able to purchase it with money that I earned from garage saling.....what, doesn't everyone get paid to garage sale? :)  Look at all these lovely books just waiting to be explored this next year with Asa......books make me giddy.

I thought that I would share with you some of the purchases I made at garage sales that help make buying the curriculum I wanted possible.  Such a fun way to make some extra money.  I know that some people will think that this is not a great thing to do, and that's ok.  I will just say that this is my creative way for my family to buy the curriculum we love, and our way to save money (since it funds my garage saling, which in turn saves us money on clothes, Christmas, etc.).  If that makes you upset I am sorry, I am really not trying to upset you.  If it intrigues/inspires you than great!  This is really something anybody could do....and in this economy creative money making is sometimes needed. :)

At one garage sale I bought a huge box of duplo for $15.  When I got home I was so happy to see all the lots that I could make from it (duplo and lego are great sellers).  All 3 of these lots sold for a Buy it Now price of $29.99 (keep in mind that about 12% goes to fees, and 10% of my total sales also go to tithe).  The really fun thing is that I also got about 3 more lots out of this box and 2 have sold (one for 19.99 and the other for 14.99).

I LOVE to buy/sell books.  They key to making a decent profit on a book lot is to not pay more than .25-.50 a book.  Sandra Boynton is a very good seller....the more books in the lot the more attention/bids it will get.  I paid $4.00 for this lot and it sold for 20.83.

I found this lot of Tag Reader books for $1 a piece (so $9 total).  I was pleasantly surprised with the turn around on this.  They sold for 38.85.

I bought this lot of Polly Pocket princess clothes for 2.00 (I actually got a couple lots out of what I purchased) and it sold for 14.99.....slow and steady....not everything needs to sell for big money....the little things add up quick.

This was a fun find at $3.00.....it was really, really cute!  It sold for 24.99.

A good friend of mine found this lot of little Polly cars for .25 (I still owe her .25 lol)....she does the same thing I do only she sells a different genre.  If she sees something that may do well for me for a good price she will pick it up.  It's like I go to double the garage sales that way. lol  These sold almost immediately for 17.99.

These guys were fun.  I paid $1.25 for them and they sold for 17.99.  They brought back memories from childhood...they are vintage 1980s hand puppets from a Pizza Hut promotion.  We had a couple of them.

This Super Why computer was .25 at a sale.....it sold for $12.99.  I thought it would go higher....the completed listings showed it selling for 20-30....oh well....still a fantastic turn around!

This one makes me laugh.  And just to show you that you don't have to buy and sell just toys......  I took a risk on these Wizard of Oz thimbles and bought them for $2.00.  I was so surprised when the auction ended at $33!  Seriously.....what do people even do with these things.

My friend was also very generous and gave me these vintage glass chandelier parts (when she thought she was done selling on ebay) and they sold for 34.33.

These are just some of the sales that I've made in the past few months....and all of these helped me buy a wonderful curriculum.  Still planning on doing it for the next few months.  I'll either be saving up for Christmas or saving up for curriculum for next year. :)  Happy blogging!

jess_hak