Web posted on: Tuesday, July 07, 1998 3:44:58 PM EDT

CNN -- One woman's refuse is another woman's treasure. Or so the saying goes. For Lisa Payne, garage sales are the secret passage ways to finding incredible treasures, and telling people about the secrets of successful buying and selling is a passion she could not keep to her self.

Seven years ago, while on a trip to a local mall, Payne turned her car around to go to a yard sale that would change her life.

"I gave a 'what the heck' kind of shrug, and it was the beginning of the end," said Payne, who went from being a corporate attorney for a mortgage banking company to a self-published author of "Once Upon a Garage Sale ... From Fairy Tale to Reality: How to make more money, get rid of more stuff, and otherwise succeed at your garage sale".

The road to becoming an expert at yard sales began innocently enough for Payne, who remembers thinking at her first yard sale, "this is too good to be true."

What impressed her? "All kinds of treasures you would have paid retail for ... The feeling of euphoria, that someone's going to catch me," said Payne, who recently helped the Kansas City Chiefs football team with a garage sale that, in four hours raised between $20,000 and $25,000 for charity.

For Payne, visiting weekend yard sales evolved into going out 4-5 days a week. What she began to notice were the mistakes sellers were making. "One huge mistake is not pricing items. By not pricing items, people assume you want more for it. They yell back and forth across your yard sell; it promotes stress and does not promote bargaining," she said.

She said she became a natural advice giver, telling people of slight adjustments which would improve their yard sales and make the event more enjoyable. The advice grew from hand-written notes into a brochure into her self-published book.

Payne recommends anyone thinking of self-publishing to do their homework. She talked with book printers and read research guides before getting her cover design and ISBN number. She began selling books at seminars, colleges, and woman's groups. When Barnes and Nobles called to place an order, she contracted a national distributor and began preparing for a second printing.

Before setting up, Payne suggests you check out the competition. Go to five such sales within a three-mile radius of your home. Check the prices to gauge what the market will bear.

Generally, garage sale items are priced at 10 percent of retail. A toaster oven bought for $35 would sell for $3.50, for example. Add to or subtract from the 10 percent rule based on the item's condition, label and demand.

Garage sale shopping is generally cash and carry, as is. "It's a personal decision whether to accept checks," Payne said, but some buyers offer checks to hold a major purchase. "Some people bring $20 because that is only what they want to spend, but if you accept checks people may spend more."

Payne says her best buys could be the commercial freezer she purchased for $100 that retails for $1,200, or the mink jacket got for $7. But she puts her greatest yard sale value in the $1 jeans she buys for her boy.

"When my son slides into second base in anything but a pair of $1 yard sale jeans, it raises the hair on the back of my neck."

When the jeans no longer fit, they go into her own garage sale stock to be "recycled" -- that is, sold to someone else.

Overall, Payne says her family is supportive. Her two children say to "garage sell" anything they don't want or use anymore or ask her to find an item the next time she goes out to a yard sell.

"My husband likes when stuff leaves the house rather than when it comes in. But he stands for what I believe in, for what I'm super passionate about. He thinks it's great that you can make money at what you believe in."

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