<p>I’m in an apartment with friends, and I was wondering how successful people are with buying normally expensive items at garage sales (i.e, blenders, toasters, lights, chairs, etc). It’s furnished with the basics (bed, desks, chairs in bedrooms, then table, chairs in kitchen, and couch, chairs in living room), but we need appliance type stuff. Is it worth the hunt?</p>
<p>For lamps, blenders and so on, you can always ask the garage seller to plug the appliance into an electric socket (in the garage) to demonstrate if it works.
I’d be a bit cautious about buying food-related appliances, espec. toasters where you can’t see into them completely, from a very dirty looking household. You don’t want to introduce bugs into your kitchen.
The only place I’ve had bad luck with appliances are at the big church and temple rummage sales, because they accept everybody’s donations and the volunteers have no time to check every appliance. So a private household is actually more reliable for small appliances.<br>
Good way to save money!</p>
<p>As long as you don’t burn up a lot of gas searching…some of these appliances are really dirt cheap new at K Mart or wherever, as long as you buy really basic models. Plus, many of the appliances at garage sales are there for a reason - either they work poorly or they are some item you’d never need (101 ways to pop popcorn, etc.).</p>
<p>For appliances, finding used often isn’t worth the trouble since new can be so cheap, as others have pointed out. Check Wal-Mart and Target as well. Garage sales can be a good source, but they’re very “hit or miss” and alot of gas can be burned up for nothing. When it comes to appliances, buying new might be the best way to go.</p>
<p>For furniture, I’d go to the craigslist.com for your city. Unbelievable deals on furniture and most people who post there show pictures. I’ve never looked for lighting there, but might be an option. Also for lighting, check clearance places like Marshalls, TJ Maxx or HomeGoods if you have one nearby. IKEA might be worthwhile for lighting as well if you have one nearby.</p>
<p>Also a couple of websites to buy household stuff like appliances, etc are overstock.com and smartbargains.com. I’ve used both with great success. One of them often has a deal where anything they ship is free or around $2. Definitely worth checking out. I’ve had particular success when it comes to things like bedding, rugs, towels, linens of any kind, etc.</p>
<p>D bought every single piece of furniture in her apt except for her bed and couch from Craigslist (St Louis) but it was cheap enough to buy apliances at Target,Wal Mart,etc.The exception might be a TV or microwave but I’d be real careful about why they are selling it.</p>
<p>Also, if you or your apartment-mates mention what you’re shopping for to parents, wondering aloud if they are “tired” of theirs…maybe you’ll find a dear sweet Mom or a hard-cooking, barbequing DAD, who wishes s/he could upgrade their own blender or toaster, and mail you their perfectly good, but used, appliance. </p>
<p>I don’t mean the family should give their every last possession for a new apartment! But sometimes we like new toys, too, and just need an excuse like, “I was helping my kid set up…”</p>
<p>(OT: Even as I mention this, I recall a college boyfriend who kicked at my parents’ beautiful rug from India, asking if they still needed that ol’ thing since he could use an area rug for his dorm…Ooops.)</p>
<p>Back to Topic: Thinking over other posters’ responses, I agree it’s wiser to get blenders and such small appliances new, whether by retail or online. Typically people at a garage or charitable rummage sale will sell a blender for $8 or $10, when a new one can be had for $18-25. If the appliance works, the garage sellers won’t mark it lower than $5, and usually land on close to $10 for working small appliances. At that point, it’s better to go brand new.</p>
<p>Estate sales are a good way to go because all of the kitchen stuff goes. With garage sales, you have to look for a person who might be getting rid of a blender.</p>
<p>Our neighbor had an estate sale when he moved out of his home to go to assisted living. After having been to his sale, I think it’s a great place to furnish a whole kitchen, bathroom, etc. on the cheap.</p>
<p>Goodwill and Value Village are often good places to look for apartment stuff. I would point out that you don’t really need a toaster–you can toast stuff in an oven, esp. if you’re not an every-day-eater-of-toast.</p>
<p>As for blenders, do you really want to encourage your child to make frozen margaritas? (I gave my daughter a blender to make smoothies with, since that’s her favorite breakfast; she reported back that her roommates were thrilled that it actually chopped ice for margaritas. Oh well.) I notice the OP is posting for him/herself. I’ll note that every single blender I’ve had, except for the Waring blenders, sprayed liquid everywhere, which is why they ended up at Goodwill. Waring blenders are sometimes available refurbished at small appliance repair stores. IMHO, worth the $$$.</p>
<p>Personally, I’d be leary of supplying too much stuff for an apartment. Everything that goes in has to be moved later. Or stored, or resold. Or something-ed.</p>
<p>See of there’s a freecycle group near you! I freecylced away an older microwave and furniture to college kids. Its amazing the things I see posted on freecycle: a 2 year old washer & dryer. Beds, all kinds of appliances. Go to freecycle.org to see if there’s a freecycle in your community. & after you’ve been a member of freecycle for a while you can even post what you need and its amazing how many folks are willing to give away perfectly good stuff.</p>
<p>For smoothies or personal blending, no need to buy used. We bought the super cheap ShakeNTake and it really works…crushes ice beautifully. No mess…easy to clean. The container you blend in is actually a snap off sport bottle with a drink spout that fits in a cupholder…so you can take your morning smoothie with you.</p>
<p>Don’t forget to buy extra containers/bottles. (We bought our ShakeNTake and extra bottles at Sharper Image.)</p>
<p><a href=“http://store.h-denterprises.com/shakentake.html[/url]”>http://store.h-denterprises.com/shakentake.html</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/productdetails/sku__IP700[/url]”>http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/productdetails/sku__IP700</a></p>
<p>My s and his roomies got lots of stuff last summer through craigslist. You can do your “shopping” on line, as it were, and then go pick it up. He hasn’t done freecycle but others really like it. Also, look in supermarkets and around campus for fliers put up on bulletin boards. Lots of stuff can be gotten cheap that way as well. Good luck!</p>
<p>If you’re sharing the apt with others, it might pay for everyone to check with their parents in case the parents are planning (or looking for an excuse) to replace still working appliances and might be willing to give you the old one or sell it very cheap. </p>
<p>If you end up buying new appliances, I’ve found very good prices on (and convenience) on Amazon.com.</p>
<p>another cheap place is overstock.com. They are doing a free shipping deal right now.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>hahah that’s not its full purpose, as i’m a fan of smoothies and milkshakes, but yes, it probably will be used for that on weekends. I don’t understand why parents try so hard to avoid things that are party/drinking-associated. It’s a blender. As long as they clean it out, so what if people use it for margaritas? A majority of students are going to drink in college, at some point or another, and buying a blender is not going to help contribute to or avoid it.</p>
<p>As most people have said, I think smaller appliances we’ll just buy. We’re trying to split it up so one person doesn’t have everything, but also each person buying/keeping something they’ll reuse often (so the girl who never irons isn’t stuck with one, or the horrible cook doesn’t end up with all of the pans, etc). We’re going to try to find the pillows, throws, decorations, etc at yard sales and such. But for most stuff, it looks like it’ll be the 30min trip to IKEA =P</p>
<p>Alot of things if you keep your eyes open will be on sale at different places throughout the summer. Deals can be had for new things if your patient and read the ads. Also there are discount kitchen supply stores just about everywhere.</p>
<p>We’re planning a garage sale in a couple of weeks. We just want to get rid of stuff, refridges, mircos, tables etc… that have accumulated with changes. Cheap and fast, I would like to see my garage floor again.</p>
<p>I second the recommendation of Craigs List. However this morning I caught these two deals for a toaster oven and iron. I thought there was a blender, too, but can’t find the link now. <a href=“http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1364629[/url]”>http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1364629</a></p>
<p><a href=“http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1364636[/url]”>http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1364636</a></p>
<p>I knew I had seen a blender, too. <a href=“http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1364622&siteID=59JLB7sBj1c-Wyxote8kEJFT4zwV3sdCqg[/url]”>http://www.lnt.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1364622&siteID=59JLB7sBj1c-Wyxote8kEJFT4zwV3sdCqg</a></p>
<p>Hmm, a lot of people seem to be doing the bargain online shopping route (overstock.com, etc). Has anyone had any luck finding a decent fiber/featherbed for under $100 anywhere? All the ones I see are twin or full, etc</p>
<p>what size are you looking for? And is it just the topping you put on top of the mattress??
We started a “deals and bargains” thread a few yrs ago. We can resurrect it</p>
<p>I guess it’s a topper, just the fiberbed or featherbed (i’d rather fiber, but a cheap feather would be ok) that lies on top of a regular boring ol mattress =P I found one at BB&B but its $60 and only 1.5" thick. I’d rather a twin XL, but i’m thinking it’d be cheaper to do a twin, and that way I could put it on my bed at home when i’m here or give it to my brother if I move to a full size bed eventually.</p>