The Garage Sale

For months, there has been ongoing conversation around the house that included the ‘G’ word - and I’m not talking about my monogram.

I have never been a fan of Garage Sales. I don’t attend them and I don’t like to host them. But, as I told you a few weeks back, one of our goals this summer is, quite literally, to get our house in order. This has been the summer to recycle, reuse, and repurpose. It has also been a summer in which we have downsized, cleaned out AND reclaimed some valuable shelf space.

So, the more rooms we went through, the more it became clear. We had so much stuff - some of it with some decent value - it just made sense to invite folks over and see who might be interested in buying some of it.

Thus, Friday June 28 was circled on the calendar. Today was the day of our Garage Sale. Technically, though, the sale wasn’t held in our garage, it was in the front yard. I guess it was technically a Yard Sale.

But 'The Y Word’ just doesn’t have the same ring to it!

Anyway, the process started a few weeks ago as we were doing our 'cleaning out’ project. As we ran across more and more inventory, we set those things aside for the sale. Then, we started doing some research on how to properly stage a productive yard sale. After all, the goal really wasn’t to make money as much as it was to downsize.

We didn’t want to haul all that stuff outside just to have to haul it back inside later.

When you go online, you can find almost anything (as you know). When you start plugging in words in a google search such as garage sale pricing, you get lots of possible links. There were other links that gave good tips for advertising the sale and even things like how to arrange your merchandise.

To be sure, there was plenty of advice right at our fingertips.

When we got closer to time, we actually went through the process of pricing the items - making sure they were priced to sell. Then, we grouped the items by basic categories: tools, home items, toys and games.

Those were the three big categories. 

Then, when we got to this week, we arranged to borrow a couple tables to use for displaying the items and we went online to Craig’s List and the News Sentinel to advertise.

And, bright and early this morning, we began taking everything outside. Just then, the legions of customers began to arrive. The first few shoppers were serious about their business (and, as you often hear, they came before the published opening time). From there, a bevy of bargain hunters came throughout the morning in a steady stream.

The hard part was trying to explain all of this to Roger. He didn’t understand why all these strangers were coming onto our 'turf’ and taking away our things. It’s a concept that, I’m sure, he could just never understand.

At one point, he just stopped in the driveway and gave me a long, plaintiff meow. I shrugged and said, “Sorry buddy. Nothing I can do to help you out.”

Just then, he went down into the woods for a spell. About that time, there was an elderly couple arriving for the sale. After perusing the tables, they ran into old friends, another couple, who had just arrived. They chatted as they shopped.

Throughout the morning, a number of people came and went. There were moms. Grandmoms. Granddads. And just plain folk.

In short, it was a fun way to spend a steamy late June morning.

And here’s the best part: we basically sold out. There were a few random items that weren’t picked. We took a few of them back inside and loaded others up to donate to charity. Then we broke everything down, packed everything up, took down our signs, returned our tables and celebrated a very good experience.

Empty Shelves. A cleaner house. And a few dollars to buy lunch for the successful merchandising team!

JG

(Source: The Wall Street Journal)

Originally posted 6/28/2013