Le Garage Sale

I went last weekend (Saturday noon/​afternoon) and it was quite fun. I love seeing local stores all gathered in one place! I was expecting to see more people, but it wasn’t as packed as I thought it would be. I took bus 5 from UT campus and it lead me right in front of Palmer center. I found my favorite Austin local store UAL, and many jewelry booths. Many booths had 50−75% off, but some didn’t really have any discounts. I was happy to go to booths that had changing tents. I bought some great jewelry, some nice prints, and some clothes for a total of around $ 30. The downside is paying $ 10 to get in, but the deals were pretty good. I say you should take your time to shop to get your money’s worth. Also, it was pretty chilly inside Palmer center, so bring a light jacket!

Okay, I’ll admit I was scared to go here because of the horrific reviews of the big crowds, pushing & shoving and ladies getting down to their skivvies in public. No thanks. But my mom wanted to go so I obliged. Who wouldn’t want their mom to buy them things?! and spend quality time, too, of course, but it actually wasn’t so bad. And I love you, mom.
Some of the sales were still crazy expensive. Like a freaking pair of pants that were originally $ 900 but on sale for $ 300. If you have that kind of money you shouldn’t care about sales anyway. But they have tons of expensive looking jewelry for good prices and big discounts on boutique clothing items. Like 70% off sample sale stuff. That’s my jam.
Would I go to these boutiques on 2^nd street? Yes, but would I buy anything? No. This sale is perfect for those bargain shoppers who get the thrill of a good deal. But it takes some patience, some will and a lot of lookin’ through.

Was pretty fucking awesome until someone stole my $ 200 sunglasses off my purse.
Kinda ruined the whole experience

Must-​do for Austin, especially for all the ladies that suffer from sample sale withdrawal. The $ 10 entry fee is kind of a joke, but the deals are kind of unbelievable, especially on closing day. Not totally worth it for guys. A great introduction to many of the local boutiques.

Clothes, shoes, jewerly, lotions, cards, and more oh my! Grab a girlfriend and spend an afternoon shopping. $ 10 cash to enter and I found street parking behind the Palmer Events center. There is a great selection of women’s clothing. The shoe, handbag, and kids selection is small. The men’s selection is very small. The home goods were less than impressive.
My 4-​star review is based purely on the variety and prices for women’s clothing. There are a bunch of local boutiques downtown as well as Lakeway shops all under one roof. I wasn’t even aware that some of these stores existed. Living way out in the burbs, I don’t get many chances to shop at locally owned places. Higher end boutiques like By George, Estillo, and a few others give you about a 50% discount. The mid-​priced boutiques are where you can get the deepest discounts, 60−80%.
Here are some tips for successful shopping:
1– Don’t expect a dressing room so dress appropriately
2– bring cash (although most vendors do accept credit cards)
3– prices get slashed even more towards closing time on Sunday
4– all sales final so think before you buy
5– because you are paying a fee to enter, go only if you plan on buying

So I went today for the first time. I thought it was a pretty decent sale. Every boutique present had different discount offerings. I was really impressed a few high end places (ex: the Hip Chick) that had HUGE price cuts. I ended up getting a cute dress from Solid Gold that was around $ 50, a great pair of shoes that I’d been hunting for FOREVER for $ 30, and a really cool iron chicken sculpture for my yard. The only thing that was frustrating was that there were no dressing rooms. I wasn’t expecting them really, but I would have probably bought more items had I been able to try them on. It was fairly crowded but not completely unmanageable like some sales I’ve been to. Fun!

(I started this review right after I went, but somehow forgot to post it.)
2 words — I’m amazed. There were many of my favorite vendors. Solid Gold in particular!
I got some terrific deals. I have to agree with one of the previous posters. Some of the stores really slash prices, others don’t. That being said, some of the clothing stores REALLY slash prices. Some things will be between 50−80% off the original price.
I got several items that were initially over $ 100 for $ 20.
Also of note is that Heritage Boots was there selling their FABULOUS boots for $ 129. I hope they go back next year!
I’ll be back.

i have experienced better. a lot better actually. even just better sales @ stores compared to what the le garage sale had going on.
first, furniture stores that way way way way way way way overpriced to begin with please save the room for more clothing store next year, you simply may have been wasting space.
second, boutiques please do not bring clothes that are normally priced thinking you are going to get lucky by some confused chic who thinks this new shirt she loves is going to be a great deal. yet to find out it is still ridiculously overpriced and not on sale.
maybe i am being a little harsh but i was not at all impressed on any level– except! you could buy a beer while you browsed the «so called» sales. that is pretty cool and deserved a star. The other star came from the fact that this year’s le garage sale was the biggest ever. kudos for that.
I am being a bit of snob here when it comes to sales and what not because from my experience living in much larger cities I could very easily go to a plethora of boutiques and find the same clothing that is sold in Austin, the same very important brands that everyone loves to have. AND they were dramatically less expensive than they are here… yes i am talking rock&republic, paige denim, ella moss, ABS, etc.

L’awesome. A friend and I sat in my car right before we went into the Palmer Center this afternoon, debating whether we thought it would be worth the $ 10 admission each, and considering whether we should chuck the whole idea and just go to brunch. I’m so, so glad that we decided to roll the dice and go.
We adopted a strategy that I recommend of doing a walk-​through of the whole place before stopping to seriously peruse and/​or buy anything. This proved useful in orienting us to the rather massive scale of the thing, and I think helped prevent me from spending the amount I had already allotted in my head for the day too quickly, or all in one place. It was easier to not be seduced by the first pretty garment this way.
Prices tended to vary widely from boutique to boutique. SoLa seemed to have some of the best deals, selling every single piece of clothing there (which had all already been marked down) at 75% off the lowest marked price. Amazing. I found a really pretty and feminine peach shirt at their booth for around $ 7. The clearance price was $ 29; they took the tag off when I bought it so I can’t check to be positive, but I’m pretty sure the regular price was at least $ 45, if not more. I also picked up from SoLa four headbands (all cute) for $ 1. Nice, considering the pricetag on each headband says $ 8. Oh, how I love a bargain; I’m getting giddy just writing this.
I found another shirt at a different boutique whose name I can’t remember, but it was a place I wasn’t familiar with. The brand of the shirt is erebelle, which I’ve also never heard of, but it’s definitely nice. A white empire-​waist v-​neck top that is kind of simple but classic, marked down to $ 17 from $ 70. Lovely.
My final score was (unexpectedly) a piece of local photography that I just couldn’t pass up, for around $ 20. That’s another cool thing about these sorts of events, getting to support local artisans and artists whose work you might not encounter otherwise.
Anyway, to sum up, I highly recommend investing in a day’s admission to Le Garage sale. Sure, there was plenty of stuff that was completely out of my price range (but sometimes it’s fun just to browse through that stuff, too), but there are some great deals to be had if you just look a little. I’d also suggest going on Sunday rather than Saturday, the way we did, because that seems to be the best time to catch the rock-​bottom pricing.

Great concept, put all the local boutiques under one roof and slash prices. Unfortunate that there were not very many places that slashed prices… It was a toss up based on the vendor.
I enjoyed shopping at many of the baby stores, their prices were 70% off, what a steal!
Worth the $ 10 to check out.

«Excuse me! Pardon me! Can I get thru here?!»
«Oh. I’m sorry. Were you looking at that? My bad.»
«Hello! You just cut in front of me. I’m in line here!»
«Ouch! That’s my foot lady! Watch yourself!»
«BITCH!!! Who you calling a bitch, BITCH!»
«What? You don’t take credit cards? I’m outta here.»

OK, call me crazy but I’m not interested in paying $ 17 to see over priced items. I was not impressed with the Le Garage Sale. Being from California I’ve been to many Designer bargain sales. Believe me Le Garage is no bargain.
The items where already over priced and with the so called discount they still weren’t reasonable. No known designers.
Keep your $ 17 and go to an outlet mall. You’ll get more of a bargain there.
But who am I to judge?

The love child of Project Runway and Girls Gone Wild.
If you are a guy, don’t expect that there’ll be a lot there for you. I got a couple of shirts and a whole bedroom set but otherwise it was just fun to watch:
Girl A: (to Girl B, while pulling jeans up under the slip that she’s wearing as a dress thus showing the world her aqua thong with the word «Vegas» in sequins) «hey, that’s cute»
Girl B: (with one boob out and her hair still zipped in the last «top» she tried on, on the table) «thanks, you can’t have it be-​atch»
Girl A kills Girl B with what appears to be a discounted bottle of skin crème.
Girl C: «hey, you’ve been to Vegas?»

Looks like I am the only guy to review Le Garage Sale. Let me start off by saying that unless you are married, or have a girlfriend, there should be no reason for men to be at this function. The sale is 99.5% women’s clothing… with the occasional rack of men’s «designer» clothing… that, in my opinion, isn’t even worth looking at. My job at Le Garage Sale was to carry bags, and say the following words «That looks really great on you». I stood in the aisles with all the other men holding bags watching their significant other claw and fight their way through the racks searching for the perfect item.
The clothing was really hit or miss. Some stores discounted their clothing to $ 150 (whoop Dee do)… and other discounted to $ 10. If you were looking to save time, I would just visit the stores where the big crowds were. This is where the best discounts are. I had to resist my kleptomania at this place… there was nothing stopping people from taking off with TONS of clothing.
Le Garage Sale is definitely a place that should be visited by the women of Austin. My wife walked away with some killer deals.
Side Note: If Le Garage Sale is taking place on the same weekend as the «City Wide Garage Sale» then tell the parking attendant you are coming to the City Wide… because parking is free for that, but its 7 dollars for Le Garage Sale.

Le Garage Sale is my idea of shopping nirvana. All the great Austin boutiques in one place, and everything marked down to prices that I can actually swallow. Shirts and designer jeans for under 30, and really cute dresses at 75% off. Several spots had dressing rooms, but with a tank top and a flowy skirt you can pretty much try on anything. most places are cash only, but there were a few taking credit cards. I like to go on Sunday afternoon when everything is marked down as low as it will go. That way, if I fall in love with something, I can probably afford it. They lose a star for the $ 10 cover charge, but other than that — the deals at Le Garage can’t be beat.

Just think of it as a $ 17 admission fee — $ 7 to park, $ 10 to get in. Then apply a fraction of that amount to every item you plan on buying. I figured even with the discounts, the only way I was getting my money’s worth was if I bought at least 3 things, preferably more like 17 things.
Unfortunately, after spending the better part of a day here, I basically ended up paying a $ 5.67 premium on each item I bought.
On tax free weekend.
When I wouldn’t have been shopping otherwise.
When I definitely didn’t need to be shopping
I got three great, unique things — some $ 20 (make that $ 25.67) gorgeous green suede clogs (were about $ 100 before), a $ 10 … err, $ 15.67 … red three-​strand beaded necklace (marked down from something like $ 50), and a $ 22 black, lacy skirt (was tagged for $ 89 at the store, but I guess it was actually $ 27.67 to me) — none of which I needed in the slightest.
I was astounded to see some 60-​percent markdown purses that were still almost $ 500 and dresses in the $ 300-​and-​up markdown category. A lot of stuff was still way out of my price range, I’ll just say. I’m more of a TJ Maxx shopper most of the time, and I thought this would be a good excuse to get some designer items in my wardrobe, but it wasn’t quite the steal I imagined it would be.
Anyway, enough penny-​pinching.
Also, it’s REALLY chaotic in stages. So much so that I felt my head spinning and browsed the baby items (adorable stuff, just not for me) just to get some air space. I can’t imagine trying to try on jeans in that crazy crowd. I could have walked away with any one of my purchases and not been noticed by a salesperson, it was that bad.
If you’ve got plenty of cash (yes, cash!) to burn and the foresight NOT to park in the Palmer garage, go for it.
I won’t be back (or venture to any of the boutiques whose stuff I discovered at this event and LOVED, despite the expense) until I get a serious raise.

This is a great way to cover all Austin boutiques at once! I took some out-​of-​town girlfriends here, and we sipped on mimosas while shopping (rather brilliant to have a bar handy as you shop). FYI you can try the clothes on in the Palmer Events Center’s bathroom, you just leave an ID with the vendors. It’s much easier to try stuff on in the bathroom than some of their itsy bitsy curtained changing rooms that decide to open up as your pants are around your ankles… yea, that’s no good.

Le Garage Sale happens twice a year, when all the Austin boutiques come together and discount their inventory all in one place over a weekend. The downside is that you have to pay $ 10-​$ 15 just to enter Le Garage Sale, so I always feel pressure to buy something when I have already invested in entering the sale. And I find myself buying stuff that I don’t need, because a dress marked down from $ 400 to $ 75 seems like such a bargain, then I get home and I realize I have nowhere to wear this! Why did I think it was a good idea to spend $ 75 on something I’ll never wear?
It’s a bit of a cluster, but you can find some pretty good bargains. My favorite stop is the Fetish booth, because they have ridiculously expensive shoes marked down to less shocking prices.
I go almost every time this is held and have found it is really hit or miss. It’s totally worth the cover charge and fighting the crowds if you find some really good deals, but it’s not guaranteed that you will.
There are also no dressing rooms, so that makes things a little harder too. I suggest wearing clothes that make it easy for you to try to stuff on over.
If you go, go as early as you can on the first day, before all the good stuff is gone!

Totally agree with Chewy — this is a sale not to be missed. If you get on their mailing list, they’ll e-​mail you when they have sales — usually twice a year. Basically, a bunch of the higher-​end boutiques in town get together and sell all their end-​of-​season stuff at way discounted prices. Some of the stores that usually particpate include Big Red Sun, Wildflower, By George, Shiki, Scarborough’s, SoLa, Zanzibar, Moxie and the Compound, and many, many others!
I’ve been to Le Garage Sale maybe 8 – 10 times over the years. At this point, I have so much stuff that I usually go at the end, when everything is marked down as low as it’s going to go. A couple of sales ago, my friend got this beautiful $ 450 evening gown for $ 45. One time, I got several pairs of $ 145 shoes for $ 10/​pair. I even have this crazy pair of black and white leather pants from Gomi that I got at this sale for $ 1. Yes, One Dollar. OK, so I’ve never worn them… but they were a dollar, by god!
They do charge you to get into this sale, and the cost varies from time to time — usually somewhere between $ 5 and $ 10, depending on the sale and which day you go. But it’s worth it. Also, the last maybe 4 – 5 sales were at the Austin Music Hall. I think they held it at Palmer this year because the AMH is being renovated — but it may be a permanent location change. I liked it at Palmer — there was a little more space and it was a little brighter; the AMH tends to be a bit dark.
One other tip — wear something that facilitates trying stuff on — there aren’t always dressing rooms. I usually wear a skirt and a camisole or something so I can pull things up under the skirt or try things on over the camisole. I’ve seen people there in biking shorts, too, which works.