MESA, AZ — The online resale market is booming, but there's a Valley woman who's working to bring the popularity of garage sales back.
Tamara Rosas is a mom and entrepreneur. Her love for buying and re-selling started when she was young.
"We didn't want for anything, but we didn't have money," Rosas said. "We did a lot of garage sales, a lot of thrifting."
She continued that way of shopping into her adult life.
"Right now, it is so hard," she said. "My bills keep going up but my paycheck's not going anywhere, so that's why I hustle."
On top of her many different jobs, the Mesa mom also resells items she finds at garage sales and thrift stores.
A recent poll by Bankrate found the average American makes $800 a month from a side hustle and 23% say they're spending more time on that hustle because of inflation. Rosas says she wants you to be able to do it, too.
"I needed a better way to garage sale," Rosas said. "Currently, you drive around and hope you find some signs."
Rosas started the process of creating an app called "Sale Seeker." She says the design phase is completed, and she's in the process of raising money to get the mapping and coding phase done. While there are similar sites out there, Rosas is hoping to streamline the process with sales that update and expire regularly, allowing you to type in a zip code and find a sale nearest to you.
"I wanted to be able to find sales easier. I wanted to know what was at those sales before I got there," she said.
She says her goal is to help you make your own money or help you save — one trinket at a time.
"With the economy the way it is, everything is going up but our wages aren't going anywhere," Rosas said. "So this is a way to take what they've already spent and make a little extra cash."
To learn more about the app and crowdfunding process, click here.
