If you are one of the millions of people who have a collection of one sort or another, you probably have your own favorite way of building your collection. My own mother built a rather extensive collection of clown figurines over the years simply by requesting that people buy them for her on special occasions like birthdays and Christmas.  Over time, her collection numbered into the hundreds, and was probably quite valuable at the time of her passing.

Some people prefer to be a bit more proactive in building their collections.  They know exactly what they want and often will do what is necessary to get a particular piece into their own collection as quickly as possible.  Often, these people frequent collectibles shops or online shopping sites such as eBay.  When you are looking for a specific item that is no longer in production, you have to go to where the merchandise is.  There is really not any easy way around that.

For people looking to save a bit of money, there is an alternative to the marked up prices of antiques and collectibles shops however.  Believe it or not, checking out local yard sales during the early morning hours every Saturday can often turn up some unbelievably inexpensive collectibles that people are ready to part with for whatever reason.  Many times, you can find unusual old items like antique lunchboxes or vintage salt and pepper shakers being sold for pennies on the dollar.  Both of these two items are extremely collectible and can fetch handsome sums when put up for sale on eBay.  If they happen to be something that you collect, you could save significant amounts of money as you build up your collection at local sales.

As people look for ways to save money while still maintaining the lifestyles they enjoy, garage sales and yard sales may become a regular stop for more and more people.  If you have never considered visiting them, it might be time to start checking them out!

photo credit: MS Society – SVIC