Any careful shopper at a tag sale stands a good chance of picking up bargains, like a never-used Crock-Pot for $5 or an extra set of plates that more or less match the ones in your kitchen cupboard. The more observant eye shops in search of the treasure within the trash: real jewels among the faux, a valuable antique chair mixed in with cheap reproductions, a work of art or rare print hidden among the neon paintings on black velvet.

People have garage sales because they want to get rid of their extraneous stuff; some of it should go directly to the dump, but sometimes you can uncover great finds. Don’t count on emulating the story of the Philadelphia tag sale shopper who bought a painting for $4 because he liked the frame and, when he removed the canvas, found an original of the Declaration of Independence that later sold at auction for $2.42 million. That sort of lucky accident is nearly impossible to replicate. Much more likely are the stories you’ll see on television, like those on Antiques Roadshow. For example, a set of dusty old handwritten ledgers picked up at a tag sale were identified by a trained appraiser as former properties of Ben Franklin; the books were valued at $12,000 to $18,000. The job of the antiques and collectibles wholesaler is that of the huntergatherer; your goal should be to turn around and resell the items to private clients or to a wholesaler. You will make your profit by reselling items at a price higher than you paid for them, plus the cost of travel and shipping.