Keith Wassung

A couple of methods that I have used to get a hold of equipment over the years.

1. Always and I mean always keep some cash readily available. I cannot even begin to tell you how many times I passed up a real bargain because I did not have some extra cash on me. On several occasions, the 20 minutes it took to run to the ATM to withdraw funds meant the item was sold when I returned. If you have to-at least carry a blank check in your wallet and write them a check to hold while you go get the cash-this will constitute a binding contract and will buy you some time


2. Classified Ads-Yep, read the, but also put ads in the "Wanted to Buy" section-this seems to work well in smaller, local papers and thrifty shopper papers. Use BOLD headings " WANTED: USED WEIGHTLIFTING EQUIPMENT CALL 555-Iron and ask for Keith. Do this around the holidays and on weekends and your phone will ring off the hook-you may get a lot of people wanting to sell crappy weider 7-1 benches and stuff like that. You will also get people who will say "Come get this thing out of my basement/garage and you can have it for free" (this happens more than you think)

3. Go to your local Goodwill/Thrift store-ask to speak to the manager or head sales clerk ( taking a box of fresh muffins helps) Have some photocopies of equipment you are looking for, ie power racks, etc. have your name and number on the copy. Explain to the person that you are looking for the type of equipment that is on the paper. What happens a lot is that people bring big pieces of lifting equipment to Goodwill and the workers wont take it because they really dont know what it is and it will be a hassle setting it up and taking floor space. Tell the manager if someone has something like this to give you an immediate call or at least to give your phone number to the person trying to drop it off. You will not believe how often this works

4. Put ads on the bulletin board ad at your local health club/spa/YMCA-the members often have un-used equipment laying around and they want to get rid of it.

5. Garage Sales and Estate sales-self explanatory

6. Schools tend to buy equipment in the late fall ( not a hard and fast rule, but close enough) network with area coaches and let them know you are in the market for used lifting gear-you can really get some great stuff, often just for the cost of picking it up.

7. You will almost never find a really good bar this way-spend the money on a good bar and everything else can be bough second-hand

Hope that helps

keith

Master Of Puppets

You have NO IDEA how much that helped me. I really need some equipment, and getting it secondhand is definitely cheaper. I've been looking for a power rack ever since your last article, so now maybe I can find one. Great post! :bigthumbu

MOP :nosthumbs

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