Savvy Garage-Sale Shoppers Go on Treasures Hunts

If you think finding the best bargains at garage sales is as haphazard as the sales themselves, then you haven’t spent time with Joe Hodulik.

Hodulik has been getting up early almost every Saturday and Sunday for years to search for what he describes as “treasures.” And while most people see this as merely a stroll through a series of huge junk bins, Hodulik considers the process more of a challenge requiring real strategy.

You have to be prepared. Knowing all the little secrets helps, too.

“If you want the treasures, you need to be able to find the treasures,” said Hodulik, who lives in Mission Viejo in a house loaded with found pieces. “There are so many things you can do. It really is important [to know these things], if you’re serious about it.”

For instance, Hodulik, 44, pointed out that Sunday is the best day. Though Saturday may be more attractive to those eager to hit the streets, some of the best bargains for the cheapest prices turn up the day after.

“Sunday sales have fewer buyers [and] sellers are more anxious to bargain,” Hodulik explains.

And though some quality pieces may have already been picked over on Saturday, sellers often bring out good furniture and other items that were forgotten the previous day, he said.

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Then there’s the art of getting the best price.

“If you see something you really want, pick up some other item first and ask pricing,” he explains. “Whatever the price, put it back as if it was too much money to ask. Then, pick up the item you really want and you’ll be surprised how much cheaper that one will become.”

Hodulik, clearly, is serious about all this. He admits that it’s more than just a hobby, although he won’t go as far as calling it an obsession. He became something of an expert, as many people describe him, through necessity.

Several years ago he needed to decorate his house but couldn’t afford anything new. That set him on his first weekend jaunts, eventually leading to a home known for its garage-sale furniture, antiques, knickknacks and wall paintings.

“I’d say that 98% of the stuff in my home is from garage sales, consignment shops or traded,” Hodulik said. “I’ve furnished my sister’s place and friends’ places. Now, I look for treasures for others because I just don’t have enough room.”

He’s quick to point out that he’s not a pro (Hodulik has an art-framing business in Lake Forest) and only does what he does because he “loves nice things, handmade things, things that can really be appreciated by others.”

Among Hodulik’s most prized finds are a large cabinet made from rare Hawaiian koa wood and a Grecian amphora, which he said has been dated as originating from around 400 BC.

“I’ve been lucky [but] you also have to know how to look for these things,” Hodulik stresses.

Cynthia Jacobson of Seal Beach is another garage-sale veteran. She, like Hodulik, plans most Saturdays and Sundays around her trips to local and distant streets, keeping her eyes open for lawns covered with someone’s discards. Her garage is overflowing, but that hasn’t stopped her. Laughing, she admits she’s compulsive.

“I just love this so much, I’d probably have to get counseling before it could come to a halt,” said Jacobson, 39. “These days, I’m looking more for gifts for everybody than things for myself. My husband keeps telling me that [the garage and home] are getting too crowded.”

The appeal, she explained, is simple: Everyone, no matter how well-off, is thrilled by a great bargain.

“It’s just that ‘something for nothing’ attitude that keeps me going,” Jacobson said. “We all want that.”

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But what about those purchases that seemed so great at the time, only to end up as throwaways themselves? When it comes to garage-sale furniture, a new book has ideas on how to give those items new life.

Abby Ruoff’s “Making Rustic Originals: Turning Furniture Finds Into Folk Art” ($25, Hartley & Marks Publishers, 1999) starts with the premise that a little paint, stain and other surface techniques and various natural materials can make any table, chair or whatever a great piece, if you use your imagination.

For example, Ruoff explains how she found a hardwood table in such bad shape it didn’t even have legs. She first solved the leg problem by attaching short wooden blocks to the top. Then she spruced it up with a “faux leather” finish created with various paints and stains.

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Other projects include using long twigs and rag weavings to repair the backs and seats of chairs, making lampshades from tree bark and reinventing broken-down doors as tables.

“In decorating magazines and trendy shops I would see items that I could have made myself by fixing up furniture I had discovered for next to nothing,” Ruoff writes.

“A discarded wagon wheel hub and pottery jugs became table lamps, a garden gate became a guest room headboard and dollar chairs were reupholstered with vintage rugs. . . . I became a dedicated revamper.”

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Go Early, Play Dumb, Score Big

Here are a few suggestions to make your garage-sale searches more productive:

* Early is best. Obvious, but true. Go to sales from 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. for the top results.

* Check the newspaper for sale announcements but avoid those that list specific items. Prices are usually higher. The same can often be said for estate sales.

* Bring along a friend. Besides the companionship, Hodulik says “two sets of eyes can help” find treasures.

* Never call unusual items by their specific names. “Experts” are frequently charged more. Instead, say “How much for this?”

* After you’ve settled on a price, ask the seller to “throw in” something else, maybe the item you really wanted in the first place.