Do's & Don'ts of Garage Sales

Don't get me wrong... I love to sleep in. But really when does that happen? Never! So this weekend I decided to get up and go check out some garage sales. I have been teaching for 10 years but this is my first year of kindergarten. Most of my materials are 1st and 2nd grade level, so I've been busy stocking up on letter stamps and pocket charts.
I was so excited to have a free minute that I couldn't even sleep. I headed out around 7am and saw a sign... "Retired Teacher Garage Sale!" You bet I was about to burst when I saw the sign. Retired kindergarten teachers... you know they keep everything...this HAD to be good.

I am not a professional garage seller by any means. I am the person who is just jealous of other teachers finds and they always seem to get amazing items for under $5! This kind of bargain shopping NEVER happens for me. My excitement turned to disappointment very quickly. So I took some notes on the dos and don'ts of garage sales to save you from a Saturday morning let-down. Don't worry... I made it to Starbucks and quickly turned my day around.

#1 Do: Sell your classroom items to help other teachers build their classrooms. Your treasures are so valuable to us and they inspire creativity in our classrooms...BUT

DON'T: Sell items that don't belong to you or may have a terms of use for the product. So many items at this garage sale were labeled with the school name. Even more products were purchased from Teachers Pay Teachers, printed and being sold in file folders. I was so disappointed to see such valuable resources be mistreated by a teacher. 

We all use items that belong to our school and most of us are avid TpT buyers. Be mindful of these precious items and use them with care. We are a team of educators who need to stick together. 

Good luck on your garage sale finds. I hope your early Saturday morning is more successful than mine. Any good garage sale finds? Let us know what you found in the comments. Can't wait to be jealous... still looking for that letter H!