The neighbors were buggin' out and it was sad to see 'em go but along with selling their house they of course had to get rid of their years and years' accumulation of stuff. So why not add to the pile?
It was the neighborly thing to do.
So my partner and I took a long look around. It had been five years since our last yard sale and over time you find you simply gather stuff. People either give you stuff, you bring stuff home, or you buy stuff and then buy newer stuff to replace the stuff you have but a lot of that old stuff is still useful so you can't just give it away. Old stuff gets stuffed into closets, sheds, garages, lofts, and trunks. Boxes get piled onto boxes and clutter gets to be an issue.
But the partner and I, we're old pros at holding garage sales. When we hold one, we've got the process down- and it is a process.
First you have to go around and identify all the stuff you want to get rid of. This is no easy task! If you're serious about getting rid of stuff you have to look at your neighbor's holding a garage sale like it's an super rare opportunity, not to be missed. Yeah, there are people, you probably have them in your 'hood, that have ongoing garage sales, you know, every other week out comes the sign (where they're probably reselling the stuff they've accumulated at other garage sales to try and squeeze out a few more bucks). We're not that kind. We don't want unwanted stuff cluttering up our living space, not even for a few more weeks, and we certainly don't want to be gathering other people's stuff! We want space back in our house and garage.
Okay. That being said, the partner and I have by now identified all the stuff that is going up for sale. The next step is to separate the pile. What works really well is to create three sections: 'Free Stuff', 'Five Dollars Or Less Stuff', and 'Stuff Over Five Dollars'. This is easily done, and prepares you well for the next step, which is a most onerous and unpleasant one. Before we jump into doing that there comes some necessary procrastination time because we know we gotta do this next thing but we don't want to. Truth be told, we'd rather do anything else. However, experience has shown that this next step, if we want our stuff to sell, absolutely has to be done. We have to put prices on everything.
Why? 'Cuz people balk. They might want something, but they don't want to ask how much it is. You really can't make up prices on the fly if you want to make a reasonable profit. You have to have done your research and be somewhere in the garage sale ballpark, which is to price things about 50 to 75% less than what the item would cost new. Price things too high and people are only going to glance at it then give up on it or they're going to try and work out some sort of 'Safeway Deal' on you where you're going to have to quickly figure out some math.
"I see you're askin' seven bucks for this" they might say, holding up a pricey item. "How's about I give you four dollars for it? Oh wait- I want this thing too. Tell you what- I'll give you five-fifty for both of 'em"
They wouldn't ask you stuff like that if you'd have priced it right in the first place- usually.
Which brings up the subject of lowballers. These folks come to every garage sale and look for stuff they can resell. If you've done your homework you'll know the value of your treasure trove and can make smart decisions rather than uneducated hasty ones just so you can make the sale. It's another reason why you gotta price everything. Do that and at the end of the day you won't be walking around grumbling about letting something go for a ridiculously low price.
Another thing about pricing everything is it speeds up the process. It can get pretty hectic at garage sales and you won't have time to think when those first cars come pulling up and people are trying to get the jump on other buyers. They'll be grabbing up this and that and you'll have part of your mind on concluding transactions and the other parts of it on what is their kid doing with that (valuable) lamp over there, should you settle on the price someone yelled out for the TV, and maybe you should be answering the bothersome guy on your left that wants to know if the toaster he's looking at works and where can he plug it in to test it.
Who wouldn’t want a Cash album about trains and rivers?
Markus Spiske- Unsplash.com
Neighborhood garage sales bring out more buyers than individual ones so my neighbor's selling his stuff greatly helps me to sell my stuff. Our motivations for selling our stuff are very different, however. He's holding an estate/moving sale, and if the public feels that that is true, that he's actually moving (preferably to a foreign country) they'll know that he'll want everything gone but I'm just one of many others on the block putting my stuff out onto the driveway to take advantage of the situation. I want my stuff gone too, all of it, but I'm not just going to give it away. I can shove it back in the garage after the sale's over and wait until next time, or I can sell it piece by piece later on Facebook Marketplace, or on Craigslist.
As a casual seller, I know I can hold out on price. My value items, which are relatively few, have a bottom value. I'll start pricing high, but I can fudge. If any potential buyer offers me less than my bottom price I'll just keep the item rather than 'give it away', like my neighbor next door will be greatly tempted to do.
Another motivation for my partner and I in doing this sale is that all the items we sell go to good homes. Our aim is to disperse our unwanted stuff to people who will enjoy or need it. We find joy and happiness in availing our used-to-be treasures to appreciative buyers. It's very possible, we think, that the years these items have spent in our possession have also imbued them with our vibe and we want that good vibe to be passed on. We know we can't sell any bad vibe stuff. First, we won't have any on our sales floor, and second, if we did by chance uncover some long forgotten, ill-vibed item in our pre-sale archaeological dig, that would have immediately gone into the trash.
When sale day comes we know how it will play out, having done this many times. After the intitial morning rush there always comes a fairly steady trickle of people, then the gaps between buyers start to get get bigger and bigger. Soon will come the time when, in order to get rid of what's left, we'll have to drop prices on items that aren't moving. If you're having a sale you adjust the price drop like this: On a two day sale you hold out for the second day but if it's a one day event you have to drop prices about two-thirds of the way in. If you don't add that little extra buyer motivation you'll find that by the end of the sale you'll be stuck hauling a carload of unsold over to Goodwill or you’ll be reluctantly finding homes for your leftovers in the garage, these things to be dealt with later, because by closin' time you'll be jones'n for some booze to take the edge off of a long, long, day of multitasking, haggling, and mucho people contact.
Later you'll count the day's take but whatever the total is, on this you'll be agreed: You’ll feel the amount of dough you've made doesn't compensate for all the time you spent putting the event together.
Happens every time!
Just the way it is.