Shopping Rural Minnesota Garage Sales Can Pay Off Big Time

“Is that a Louis Vuitton?” my dad yelled jokingly. I immediately shushed and punched his shoulder. It was and I didn’t want anyone else offering more for it than the $4 sticker.

On our way back from our hike at Inspiration Peak, we had two options. Head into the teeny-tiny town of Clitherall for a drink, or follow the garage sale signs we were seeing everywhere.

Always up for adventure, my parents and I headed towards the sale. A few gravel roads and left turns later, we were there. For a garage sale in the actual middle of no where, we were surprised to see about six cars in the driveway.

My family’s rule for garage sales is to always grab the first random thing you find, whether you need it or not. We had been there a few minutes and my dad had already grabbed a shovel and a spear. My mom had a kitchen knife, and I panicked and grabbed a crystal citrus juicer.

As we kept browsing we added a pair of new wool socks to the pile, a statuette of a cocker spaniel, a suitcase, and a fake Christmas tree. That’s when I noticed the Garage Sale Holy Grail.

Sitting on a table in the corner was a Louis Vuitton handbag. The sticker price was $4. $4. That’s it. Not even a $5 bill could potentially land me a designer handbag. I snatched it up and told my parents to head to the lady with the cash box. We had to get out of there.

The people running the sale said that we could have our whole menagerie of stuff for an even $20, so my dad gave them $22 because he thought we got a deal, and we rolled out.

After about 30 minutes of Google searching “how to spot a fake Louis Vuitton” I couldn’t seem to find anything wrong with my bag. It all seemed relatively legit. The stitching is even, the monogrammed pattern is correct. The font is correct on the heat stamps. If this bag is a fake, it’s a dang good one.

Whether my Louis is fake or not, it’s not like I was going to resell it. A $4 purse is a $4 purse.

You just never know what you will find at a back roads garage sale. Keep an emergency $20 in the car, it could land you a treasure!