[Narz]

Just out of curiosity, what's some of the best stuff you've managed to find at Yard Sales (or on C-list)?

Mostly I get toys & clothes for my daughter, I can't think of the best thing I found at one right now.

[PrestonSturges]

Yamaha acoustic guitar for $15 (this was a long time ago). I later traded it for a good mountain bike. This was at an old mansion converted to assisted living. it probably belonged to a former resident so nobody knew what it was worth.

Also, you should include what's the best thing you ever junk picked or brought home from the dump? my neighbor brought home a lot of zoysia sod a landscaper was throwing out.

My best junk pick was an 18 foot Old Town canoe i found in an industrial dumpster with a creased side and a hole in the keel under the stern seat, which is the classic white water livery canoe damage. I put two layers of Kevlar over the hole and have used it on many flat water camping trips.

[careinke]

My beach, (and the tides) bring me lots of lumber for the garden. Once they brought me a full roll of Tyvec. I find lots of free fencing on CL.

[pedalling_faster]

some garage sales have "Free Piles". got a few tarps last weekend.

tarps not TARPS.

[basil_hayden]

Enough free steel studs to finish my second floor and basement.

[Cog]

Found a two mantle, dual fuel Coleman lantern in immaculate condition.(About $60 new at the time) The woman of the house was setting stuff out for a yard sale and didn't really know what it was worth. She asked me for $7.50 but I talked her down to $5 and she threw in 3 gallons of Coleman fuel.

Her husband was coming out of the house as I was leaving. Made it out of there just in the nick of time.

[Narz]

Also, you should include what's the best thing you ever junk picked or brought home from the dump?

Ok, included!

[cynthia]

Oh, boy, don't get me started. Okay you did. I love yard/estate sales!
I buy unopened medical supplies like band-aids, floss, tooth brushes, paper products. Also, Medical props like crutches, toilet seat risers, walkers, portable toilets, canes, etc. (I loan them out to people in need. I am in my early 50's and have had to scramble for such things for cancer patients and accident survivors).
Tools. Nice old tools, mostly gardening, and watering implements like retro sprinklers made out of metals, not plastic.
Quality clothes (Pendleton brand shirts are nice-check for moth holes) , general household, camping gear, collectibles (to sell on eBay to support the Yard Sale "finds.")
It's also easy to collect unnecessary crap. Make a list of needed items to keep perspective. And if you buy to sell, know your market.
cynthia

[PrestonSturges]

A neighbor retired from the foreign service and he had a lot of stuff from Africa. I got ornamental carvings you could tell were from mahogany by how dense the wood was, and a small folding table made from olive wood. He had a couple old cotton sleeping bags for a dollar each, took them to a laundry and gave them to my buddy's hunting cabin. I spent maybe $10.

A couple months ago someone on the next block was selling a pair the hexagonal 75 lb dumb bells for $15. My heaviest dumbell is 45 lbs and I had no possible use for those. Whoever owned those was a beast.

[Fishman]

Went to an estate sell of an old farm a few years back. When they pulled out a huge cast aluminum double stacked quart size canner. Apparently no one had any idea what it was. I bought it for $5. Went on line for the pressure guages, New cost over $250. Works great.