My Very Own Garage Sale!
I don't know why, but the idea of a garage sale has always kind of fascinated me. My parents know this, as I've brought the idea up for years. But I always got the same response: You'd have to clean the garage first. What would you even sell? Are you sure you want to do this all by yourself? (Okay, they had good reason to say this, I was maybe 12 at the time.)
And by the time I was old enough to actually have a garage sale by myself, I had too many school commitments to begin planning one. (Not to mention I always had some sort of practice on the city wide garage sale weekends.)
But this year I finally did it! I pulled through and boom─it happened.
I decided to finally have a garage sale for a few reasons:
a) I want money. I guess I'm officially a college student now, and in a few short days my money tree gets pulled from the roots. (Okay, this isn't completely true, but you get the idea. It's a sad day when you realize that things cost money─and you like things.)
b) I have a lot of stuff. A lot of stuff that I really don't need. But maybe someone else thinks they need it and would be willing to pay $3 for it?
c) I finally have the time! This is the first summer in four years that I haven't had to go to band camp. While my brother slaved away in the hot sun, I sorted old clothes in my air-conditioned bedroom. AND I had time to read a book too.
I held the garage sale at a bit of an odd time─Monday & Wednesday from 5-8pm. Yeah garage sales are usually on weekends, but I can safely say that a majority of the people I would consider my "prospective shoppers" are off work from 5 to 8. Wednesday was slower than Monday, but all in all, it worked out okay.
So with two days of sales under my belt, I've got a bit of advice. By no means am I a garage sale expert, but maybe you'll be able to find something useful for your own garage sale in the future.
Here's my advice (in no particular order):
1) Do it with a friend. This is actually what encouraged me to finally have the sale. There's just something about teamwork and accountability that really motivates you to prepare for the sale. (All you have to do is label the price stickers with your initials, and the profit is easily split.) And it's always nice to have someone to talk to when business is running low.
2) Beware of roaming children. Maybe it's just because I live in a small town, but we had a lot of unattended children roaming around on their bicycles. We had toys at the garage sale, so I was very much hoping that a few kids would stop by. However, I think a line needs to be drawn as to the age in which children are allowed to wander any store unsupervised. These kids found the box of free stuff, and they helped themselves. Then they rode off and found their friends. And then those friends went and found their friends! I think it's safe to say there was point in which we had over ten bikes on the driveway. (This isn't all bad─a few of them purchased from the $.25 toy bin) but was that $1.25 worth the hassle of watching them throw around the merchandise? Ehh─probably not.
3) Make some baked desserts while you're at it. People like desserts, right? I recommend something with chocolate. The chocolate scotcheroo bars went much faster than the muffins and breads. And if you have too many desserts leftover after the sale? Bring them to neighbors, friends, or family. Free food usually makes people pretty happy. And I'm guessing they'll be glad to know that you've thought of them. (Okay─save a few for yourself too.) 
4) Advertise. One week prior, we put an advertisement in the newspaper with a brief description of the items we were going to sell, and we posted a list of items (along with a few pictures) on local Facebook swap shop pages. The morning of the sale, we purchased four sturdy posters to set on street corners. On each sign we made sure to include our location, the times of operation, and a big arrow with the words "garage sale" (of course). One woman even commented on our signs and said they were very easy to read. (Thank you, kind lady, that was very nice of you to say.)
5) Price items reasonably. If you aren't willing to pay the price yourself, chances are others won't be too thrilled about it either.
6) Set out a box of free stuff. As I said earlier, people like free stuff. Advertise that you have some free stuff and maybe you'll attract a few extra customers! (On a side note, only advertise if you actually have free stuff. Don't just say you do. That's not cool.)
7) Turn on the radio. Sometimes garage sales can be awkward. You basically sit there and watch people touch your stuff. You might say hello, they might say hi back, then you catch onto behavioral cues and realize they don't want to talk...so you sit there. And you keep watching them. They look through your clothes. They look through your books. They casually look through the box labeled "free" and you notice they are slowly but surely making their way to the exit. So you offer a pleasant thank you! and they make a dash for the car.
Okay─I'll admit that this isn't the case with everyone. However, if you've ever had a garage sale I think you'll agree that at some point it's bound to happen.
So go ahead, turn on the radio. Liven the place up a bit. While I do appreciate the good old sound of nature, I'll admit that sometimes it's nice to hear a little something more than the sound of chirping crickets.
8) Prepare ahead of time. Weeks leading up to the sale, I went through the various rooms of our house to find things we could get rid of. And I continued to do this every once in a while until the exact hour of the sale. (And you know what, I found something new every time. Crazy how that works.) I set aside the guest bedroom to store all of my findings, and when I had the free time, I'd go in there to sort, organize, and price everything.
 |
| Look at these delicious cookies. That I prepared. One day ahead of time. Yes─they tasted good. They tasted very good. |
So there you have it folks.
My first ever, all by myself (plus a friend), out of my own (out of my parent's) garage, garage sale. And hey─now I can buy myself a new textbook for the school year AND I even have money left over for 2 cups of coffee! Score.
[Interested in reading more? Check out the Blog Archive to the right to find links to my other posts.]
If you liked this post, you might like...
Packing Up & Moving Out! (Sorta)
Curly Hair, I Am Sorry I Have Not Always Loved You
Like the post? Have a question for me? Express your thoughts in the comment section below, I'd love to hear from you! Think your friends might like it? Feel free to share the post with others by clicking on one of the social media icons below.
Comments
Post a Comment