I've been to yard sales that were in yards I guess you'd say, but I can't recall ever having gone to a sale inside a garage. Does a carport count?...
Garage Sales
There have been a few liquidation sales in my life. Things piled up so much and due to circumstances I had to get them out of my possession somehow. As a young man I left some stuff at my parents' house. But at times things have gotten to the point where things had to go.
Rarely have I made much money with a sale at home. Once I tried going to a flea market and didn't do much better there. Maybe I should come to the conclusion that I've got a lot of stuff that people don't want or perhaps that I'm just not reaching the right market for what I have.
The latter is probably true. I haven't done too badly on Craigslist, but Craigslist is as far as I want to go for now. There are still a number of things that probably could go on Craigslist. I'll be working on that.
In the meantime, there is a community yard sale coming up in a couple of months. I might do that or maybe not. But I better not keep avoiding getting rid of stuff. The garage is poised like a sleeping beast to begin growing anew. I can't let that happen.
Sell, sell, sell! That's my first focus. But I think a lot of stuff will be given away or tossed.
Except for the stuff that I will keep for the time being.
What do you have that you can't bear to get rid of? What is the dumbest thing that you hang onto? Have you ever been successful with garage sales?
I hate yard sales. We just donate everything or see if someone at church wants it. In the case of something big or expensive, we'll sell it for a couple bucks, but for the most part we just give to friends.
ReplyDeleteAlex, I have mixed feelings about yard sales. If business is good and you make some money then it's worth it. Where I live now it's a time to meet neighbors who I rarely see and mostly don't know. For me I think of it as setting up a show like I used to do and then hanging out for a few hours when I pack it up. Recent community sales I participated in was because I was cleaning my garage and getting ready to take a load to Goodwill. I figured on trying to sell some of it and still donate the rest.
Deletelee
We are in a big purge mode too, and after hosting a few yard sales, we've decided it's not worth it. We are going the donation route.
ReplyDeleteLiza, yeah, after a few sales most of the stuff people really want is gone.
DeleteLee
There was a time when we did fairly well at yard sales we held before we had to move due to my hubby's job, but nowadays, not so much. We've found it takes much more time than it's worth. People think they are going to find a hidden gem or get you to sell a Shop-Vac for .10. I'd rather donate it than sit in my driveway for five hours.
ReplyDeleteElsie
Elsie, years ago I had a few really good sales in TN and the sales we had in CA were not bad when my daughters still lived at home and helped me. Now I'm likely done with them--unless it happens to be convenient and doesn't require a lot of effort.
DeleteLee
I throw a lot of stuff away. Everyone tells me I should donate it instead, but my brother worked at a second hand shop for years and said that the shop threw away 40% of the donations because they weren't any good.
ReplyDeleteHarry, I'm sure those donation places get a lot of worthless stuff. They have probably thrown away some of the stuff I've taken there.
DeleteLee
The most popular way of getting rid of stuff in the UK is by going to a Boot Fair - I guess you would call it a trunk fair - where you load up your car with stuff and join loads of other cars in a field!
ReplyDeleteI'm doing one in a couple of weeks.
My Friend Rosey - G is for Grannie
Keith, I heard of those types of sales. I think they are sometimes done in the U.S. in certain places. That might be fun especially if you had a lot of people looking and buying.
DeleteLee
We give it away or get a dumpster and toss it. Then the empty space gradually fills up again. I blame my husband. He will save anything and everything.
ReplyDeleteKristin, maybe he's dragging the stuff back in that you thought had been thrown out.
DeleteLee
We've never had a garage sale and have only been to one, when it was right down the street. I have a friend who had one and said she was getting calls ahead of time from people who wanted to come by before everyone else and rummage through the stuff....
ReplyDeleteJohn, it was like that in TN. We didn't put out our phone number, but a few people would stop by the day before or early morning before we were supposed to open. Those folks are usually the pros who are reselling the stuff at their own venue.
DeleteLee
Here you have to tell the town when you are having it and there are a few other criteria you need for the town so it's just easier to bring all my unwanted things to Salvation Army than have a yard sale. I went to lots of garage sales in San Francisco cause no one had a yard. haha
ReplyDeleteJoJo, we are in theory allowed on 2 sales per year. I'm not sure how they monitor that or if they even try. I see houses that seem to be having yard sales almost every weekend.
DeleteLee
Hi Lee - I saw garage sales in England ... often kids doing a bit of selling; but I've never done it myself - always thought time was more important and would rather give things away ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteHilary, time is more important to me as though. However, if I have some cleaning or organization project underway and things are out anyway and it's a Saturday morning when it's not so bad to hang out for a few hours then I don't mind the garage sale.
DeleteLee
My ex has a lot of garage sales, partly with stuff around his parents' house, partly with things he can't sell on eBay. He's also found intended garbage around his parents' neighborhood, sitting on people's lawns and curbs, and taken it either for himself or to sell at garage sales. Probably the best such garbage he found was the Van Halen album 1984, on vinyl, in pretty good condition. He gave it to me, since he knows I love vinyl.
ReplyDeleteCarrie-Anne, I've never gotten things out of yards or dumpsters, but I've known people who have and they've done some pretty neat things with what they got or sold it. I'm going to stick to just getting rid of my own stuff.
DeleteLee
We've had a couple of successful yard sales and have taken things to a flea market as well. Depends on the things we have how well we do. Little kids clothes was a big seller for us one time. What I've done the last couple of yard (garage) sales we've had is make arrangements for the Salvation Army to come by the next day and pick up anything that's left. If I was ready to sell it, I don't want it back in the house so donation is the next step.
ReplyDeleteJanet’s Smiles
Janet, kid's clothes and tools are almost guaranteed sales. I've never done well with books and that's usually mostly what I have to sell. I wish I had some of those books I sold for a quarter or less.
DeleteLee
I've had some success with garage sales, but only when I had some major items to sell. Where we currently live, the local newspaper has a wonderful on-line classified section to list items for sale. I've sold a lot of stuff through KS.com rather than having garage sales. We are moving to another state in a month, and I hope that area has something similar.
ReplyDeleteTrudy, I did best with Craigslist. I don't know if we have any papers around here that would put in ads for free. Online sounds like that best bet these days.
DeleteLee
In my earlier comment, I accidentally left off the L in KSL.com (the free on-line classified for this area). If the area we move to doesn't have something similar, I will use Craigslist to sell stuff.
DeleteI don't think I've ever done a garage sale on my own, but I have joined in with my neighbors a time or two. My next door neighbor right now usually has a garage sale every year, but it has been quite a few years since I've been enough on the ball to actually get anything out to sell. Like many have already commented, I do best by donating. Right now I have a box of old shoes in my car trunk waiting for me to remember to take them to the thrift store.
ReplyDeleteMarcy, I've done collaborative yard sales at my mother's house with my siblings and a few others. There was a lot of stuff and a nice amount of money for each seller.
DeleteLee
Great "G" post Lee.
ReplyDeleteWe always donated rather than have a sale ourselves.....now I just keep all the clutter, lol.
Yvonne.
Yvonne, we donate stuff to charities every year to help with tax deductions. Each year we've had less to give away.
DeleteLee
Lee,
ReplyDeleteWhat do you have that you can't bear to get rid of? Our children's clothing from infancy to toddler and many of their toys. A lot of this stuff is sitting in a one of my in-laws' storage building which we're now forced to get or risk losing it all in the recent passing of my FIL last month. I reckon, we'll load up the stuff we want to hold on to and store it in a facility in town until we get a bigger place or until one of our kids wants any of it.
What is the dumbest thing that you hang onto? Well...it's not my husband. I love, love him to pieces! I'm not sure but I'm fairly certain I have lots of stuff that fall into this category. I just can't seem to remember what they are. I guess that's a sign that I need to get rid of those items when I come across them next, huh?
Have you ever been successful with garage sales? The only time I had any success with a garage/yard sale was when I was younger (teens). There were a few summers that I sold my clothes and miscellaneous items my mother didn't want to raise money for new school clothes. I think the reason I did so well is I let things go dirt cheap but I got enough in return to get what I needed, so everything worked out well. Heck that was in the day when $100 seemed to go a lot further or am I just remembering wrong? :)
Curious as a Cathy
iPad Art Sketches 'Goofy Faces'
Cathy, I've gotten rid of nearly all of my kids' things, but I mostly did it on an ongoing basis when they still lived at home.
DeleteThe "dumbest" things we keep probably don't seem all that dumb to us. Those are our meaningful treasure that most other people can't figure out why they mean so much to us.
$100 did used to go further in many ways. But since we were mostly paid less, $100 seemed like quite a lot. I still remember when I was making $1.75 an hour and when I got a nickel per hour raise it felt like a small fortune on those paychecks.
Lee
I've shopped at a few flea markets. Never had a garage sale. Not trying ebay or Amazon to sell items? I'm not much of a hoarder. There's a rock I really like.
ReplyDeleteJ, I started to put things on ebay but I never got past the PayPal thing. I did have some stuff on Amazon, but it was likely priced too high I guess--never got a bite, but then it was obscure vinyl that I guess no one was looking for when I had it up.
DeleteI have a few rocks tucked away in my stuff. They aren't valuable or collectible rocks, but they just had significance to me.
Lee
Over the years, I've held and attended many yard sales. Mine were typically just before and/or after moving. I've also sold a lot of stuff on eBay, usually motorcycle gear, camera or electronics.
ReplyDeleteNow that we are living more rural, I won't bother. LOL!
Donna B. McNicol|Author and Traveler
DeleteA to Z Flash Fiction Stories|A to Z of Goldendoodles
Donna, maybe I should give eBay another shot. But I guess I'd rather not have to sell too much more.
DeleteLee
We'd prolly be better served with a contribution to a rummage sale. Laurie has tried to encourage my son's gf into doing a GS, but it ain't looking likely and we just don't have enough for our own.
ReplyDeleteCW, really I don't have enough good stuff for a garage sale, but I just put out what I have separated to see how folks will react. Each sale I've sold less.
DeleteLee
I find having a garage/yard sale is a lot of time getting it ready, dedicating most of the day to the sale and selling very little. We tend to just take stuff to Goodwill or other charity and put it on our taxes. The tax benefit may be gone with the new tax law but we shall see.
ReplyDeleteMaryann, if it weren't so convenient for me to do my sales when I do them then I wouldn't do them. Even if I can't take the deduction, I'll still probably give my stuff to some kind of charity.
DeleteLee
I have had plenty of yard sales because my mom had so much and she would get upset when people wanted less for an item. Sometimes I agreed with her when one guy tried to get $.05 for a cracked coffee mug when i had it for $.10..i told him if he doesn't have a lousy .10 cents then he can go. The cup was still usable but it looked ugly with that crack. The crack was there for years. I will say we did well on the sales but it was a ton of work plus one gets the antique buyers who come at 6am and want something for nothing. Once the guy asked if we had anything in the house and named stuff! We told him we are not stupid and the sale opens at 8am...he left and never came back. after all that work, I just bring it to the Salvation Army. I will never get rid of my old book my brother gave me, my 3 ugly stuffed animals nor an angel bust i have had since I was a child.
ReplyDeleteBirgit, I've welcomed the early-comers when they show up--if they buy something. I'd sell it all for the right price if it meant me not standing out there any longer.
DeleteLee
In trying to declutter I mostly donated or gave to friends, but I could probably have made some money having a yard sale... but you need a place to hold all the unwanted stuff... and I had no such place. Hubby and I do enjoy going to yard/garage/tag sales... depending on what part of the country you live as to what they're called. Estate sales are the best as you get to wander through someones home, open drawers and peek into their lives and what they collected. And bring home some of their stuff. Me, I head for their bookshelves, hoping to walk in and find a wall of Nancy Drew books...hasn't happened yet, but I'll keep looking and writing All About Nancy Drew over at... https://everyonehasafamilystorytotell.wordpress.com/2018/04/09/2018-a-to-z-h-all-about-nancy-drew/
ReplyDeleteJeanne, there are always dream items that I'd like to find at a yard sale, but I doubt that I will so don't bother going to any sales.
DeleteLee
Never done a yard sale.
ReplyDeleteMike, you might want to try it some time if you live where you might get a lot of visitors. But it can be a lot of work.
DeleteLee
I stopped by my brother's garage sale. I found a cool picture frame and made him an offer. He pause for too long, and finally said, "I can't sell you that." A little perturbed, I said "why not?" Because you gave me that frame 2 years ago when you were trying to de-clutter and clean out your basement" he said. Whoops!
ReplyDeleteZulu, I've thought about things like that happening when I've done yard sales, but where I am now it's not going to happen.
DeleteLee