How to Build the Perfect Yard Sale Route — Save Gas and Hit More Garage Sales

A well-planned route means less driving, more shopping, and better finds at every garage sale and yard sale. Here's how to plan your route like a pro.

Step 1: Find Garage Sales and Yard Sales

Start by building your list of sales to visit:

• Search by zip code — Find yard sales near you, filter by date and distance
• Browser extension — Import listings from Craigslist, Facebook, GSALR, EstateSales.net, Nextdoor, and 5 more sites
• Smart paste on mobile — Copy a listing URL and paste it into YSC

As you find garage sales you want to visit, tap the green pin icon to add them to My Stops.

Step 2: Set Your Start Location

Your start location matters for route optimization and mileage tracking:

• Home — Your saved home address (set this in Settings)
• Work — If you're going straight from work
• Custom — Type any address
• GPS — Use your current location with one tap

Step 3: Create Your Route

Go to Routes → Yard Sale Route:

1. Name your route (e.g., "Saturday Morning Garage Sales")
2. Select which stops to include from your saved list
3. Choose your start location
4. Click Create Route

Step 4: Optimize Your Route

On the route detail page, you'll see your stops on a map connected by dotted lines. This is the unoptimized order. Click:

• Shortest Distance — Minimizes total miles driven between yard sales
• Fastest Route — Minimizes total driving time (considers highways vs back roads)

Example: A 10-stop route that would take 2 hours unoptimized might take just 45 minutes after optimization. That's over an hour saved — and significantly less gas.

Step 5: Navigate Your Route

Click Start Route when you're ready. For each garage sale stop:

1. Navigate Here — Opens Apple Maps or Google Maps with directions
2. I'm Here — Check in, rate the sale, log purchases
3. Skip — Skip sales that aren't worth the stop (mileage adjusts automatically)

During Your Route

Quick-action buttons at the bottom:

• Log Gas — Record gas station stops and amounts
• Log Food — Track restaurant and coffee expenses

These are tracked separately from your yard sale purchases for clean bookkeeping.

Step 6: Complete and Export

When you're done hitting garage sales:

1. See your route summary: stops visited, miles driven, money spent
2. Toggle "Include return to start" for round-trip mileage
3. Export CSV — Download for your records
4. Upload to My Reseller Genie — One-click export with proper tax categories (mileage as "Sourcing Mileage", purchases as "Inventory/COGS", gas as "Gas")

Pro Tips for Better Yard Sale Routes

• Check sale times — Your route shows warnings if a yard sale hasn't opened yet
• Start with far sales — Hit the farthest garage sales first while you have energy
• Build routes the night before — 10 minutes Friday night = grab-and-go Saturday morning
• Bring the right gear:
  • Collapsible wagon for heavy purchases
  • Reusable bags since sellers rarely have bags
  • Portable phone charger for all-day navigation
  • Sunscreen — you'll be outside all day

Custom Routes for Flea Markets & More

Not just yard sales? Pro subscribers can create Custom Routes for:

• Flea markets and swap meets
• Trade shows and card shows
• Thrift stores and consignment shops
• Auctions and estate sales
• Antique malls

Same route optimization, mileage tracking, and expense logging.

Track Everything in Your Dashboard

Your Pro Reports Dashboard shows:

• Total miles driven across all routes
• Gas and food expenses per trip
• Purchase history and spending trends
• Mileage deduction calculations at the IRS rate

Get Started

Search for yard sales near you and start building your route. Free users get 1 route with up to 5 stops. Pro users get unlimited routes, unlimited stops, mileage tracking, and more.

Start your free 7-day Pro trial — cancel anytime, no commitment.