Plan Ahead

•Find your targets. In the middle of the week, consult the classified ads in your local papers for weekend tag, yard, estate and church sales. Thursday is usually the big advertising day for sales that start Friday or Saturday, though Wednesday may prove fruitful, too. (Sales can also often be found in the classified section of newspaper Web sites under “merchandise.”)

• The day before, circle all the ads of interest, taking note of start times. Then, using a detailed local map, plot your path based on which sales open earliest and appear most enticing (“chock-full,” “multifamily” and “60 years accumulation” are promising indicators).

• Dress for duress! Your passé fanny pack is still in vogue at tag sales — it leaves your hands free for rooting and should be stuffed with as much cash as you plan on spending (don’t expect checks or credit cards to work). Gear up with extra plastic bags and carry small bills and lots of change. A pair of thin cotton gloves can protect your hands when plowing through trays of tarnished silverware and bins of sweaters. A tape measure will be handy if you’re buying clothes for kids, or figuring out if a table will fit through your doorway. A pair of reading glasses, a magnifying glass or jeweler’s loupe is useful for inspecting baubles and glassware.

• Fuel up. Because you don’t want any interruptions to slow you down during the precious first few hours, fill your gas tank the day before. And borrow a truck if you’re scavenging for big items such as furniture.

Hunting & Gathering

• The early bird catches the crystal chandelier. Go early, early, early. “Pickers” for antique stores and eBay entrepreneurs wait for hours to get in first. Sometimes you can even visit before the doors officially open. If a seller is advertising something you want — and there’s no advisory discouraging “early birds” — call or stop by a day or two ahead to request a sneak peek.

• Don’t waste time. Case items and sales quickly, and swiftly move on to the next when you’ve finished. “You can’t see everything, and you want to hit as many sales as you can,” urges Bruce Littlefield in his new book, Garage Sale America.

• But do maximize each stop. “Ask if there’s anything else in the house that’s for sale” before leaving, suggests George Evans, owner of Antiques on Union in Lambertville, N.J.

• Keep an open mind. Tag sales are great places to score ultra-cheap exercise equipment, Christmas decorations, kitchenware and sewing supplies. You may not have set out searching for thread, but if you encounter spools at a penny apiece, stock up! Keep in mind your family’s out-of-season needs (outgrown ski jackets usually wind up at spring sales; surfboards at fall ones).

• Avoid buyer’s remorse. Tag sales are “all sales final” affairs, so closely examine and road test every contemplated purchase. Run your finger or a cotton ball along the edges of glassware to inspect for chips, find an outlet to test out appliances and carefully check all clothing for wear and tear. Open all boxes to make sure the contents are as labeled. (Used merchandise may be repackaged in the box that housed its new replacement.)

Bargaining & Buying

•Be polite. Asking for a “best price” or asking “would you take $5?” for an $8 item is fine, but don’t insult the seller by offering 10 cents for a 25-cent item or haggling just for the sake of spending less. Greediness not only offends sellers, but may spur other interested shoppers to offer more for an item you want, cautions tag sale pro Dora Edelman of Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y.

• Wear your poker face. Try to get the seller to give you a price on unmarked items before mentioning a number yourself. Her asking price might be even lower than the figure you have in mind!

• The end is dear. Prices collapse like pricked balloons in the last hours of a sale. If you can’t strike a bargain on items you’re conditionally interested in at the onset of a sale, return at the end to make an offer.

• Be a bag hag. Church and charity sales often declare the last few hours or day of a big sale as “bag time,” where you can fill up a big bag for $1 to $20. Carefully folding or rolling clothing will allow you to pack more into a bag than the “stuff-it-all-in” method.

• Know thyself and thy taste. Sure, that exceedingly snug designer jacket retails for a fortune, but if you never wear it, you’ve still wasted your money, even if you only paid $2. Don’t throw away your bucks on stuff that doesn’t fit your body or lifestyle. (Of course, if the jacket doesn’t work out… you can always sell it at your own tag sale!)