Entering the Garage Sale Zone

Well folks, my less than pristine house is now a plethora of piles. That's right, it's garage sale time! This week, instead of visiting other folk's garage sales, I'll be holding one of my own.  Every year my homeowners group advertises two large community sales, one in the spring and one in the fall. Although it's legal to have sales at other times, I always have mine now.

In the interest of sharing yard sale tips both for the buyer and the seller, I thought I would share my techniques for holding a sale.  Everyone location has different rules and guidelines, but there are a few tried and true tips that will help you make more money - and let you be less than totally frazzled at the end of the day.

First let me gently say that as a yard sale shopper, there is nothing more frustrating than someone who has two sheets or beach blankets on their yard  with a few things strewn around. If that is all you have, do consider selling the items on craigslist, donating the items, or sharing with a friend, neighbor or relative. As a shopper, those are the sales I drive by. And frankly, unless you have Faberge eggs or electronics on those beach towels, your time/money/effort continuum will not be what you would wish.

Collecting the yard sale stuff. I've been going through the house slowly but surely, and have quite a few items to list. In our case, each time we went through a room, we neatly put those yard sale items in a location in that room, and made a working list.  Some folks may choose to put everything in their garage. In my case, I have a back (alley style) garage and my sale will be out on the front yard. I don't want the extra labor of moving things twice. Also, I like the idea of being able to double check and see if I have any second thoughts (rare, but it happens) Yesterday my son helped me go through the kitchen and one other room, eliminating all the extras and duplicates.  We did the garage last week. (note, if you are having a true "garage sale", find away to indicate what is NOT for sale, and/or put a table or barrier to the garage before people come. Otherwise you may get an offer on the extension cord hanging on the wall).

It's amazing how much stuff one can eliminate, even when one is not into the simplicity movement.  In addition to my downsizing, we have acquired some additional items. My son now has a "chore busters" business and although he's only had a few clients, almost all of them have wanted him to remove perfectly good items.  Those items now live in our garage, and will visit the dump if they are still let after the yard sale.

When it comes to pricing, every year I have the same debate with myself.  Price everything, or not. Every year I am somewhere in the middle. As a shopper, I am not put off by having to ask a price. Generally we price very small items (often bundled in groups), and leave the big ones for negotiation. In our case, with the exception of a few collectibles and more pricey items, nothing will come back into the house. That affects our pricing strategy.  Also, I am unwilling to go crazy with change. To that end, everything is a quarter, or a multiple of a quarter.  If it's not worth a quarter then it is free or bundled with something else.  As for how much, the old standard used to be that a pristine used item went for twenty five per cent of new. That no longer holds. In my case my goal is to make money. It is also not to have to haul items away or take them back into the house.  I've very flexible, and tend to accept reasonable offers.

My sale is very loosely organized in terms of how items are displayed.   Really, this area depends on you. In my case, I put like items in the same general area. I'm not obsessive about this. One table will have the two sets of glasses, the set of dishes, various kitchen stuff, all the tablecloths and other items I am letting go. The one place I do try to organize a little more is the smaller items. Ziploc bags are my friend. Jewelry pieces, small craft and sewing items, even groups of old DVDs go into bags to be sold as lots.

I always make sure I am (fairly) organized and comfortable. In my world, this means I have taken the most comfortable chair I can get on the front walk outside. I have organized myself in such a way I am not in the full sun. I have lots of change-in a designated container. Most importantly, I have at least one helper, so I can take a bathroom break, or show someone the inside dining table. Too many people turn the sale into a social event (not a bad thing, just not my thing).

Because I really want to make sure I get a good crowd, I always create my own listing listing on Craigslist as well as the community listing. One thing I have learned through yard-saleing is that people (especially us boomers) want to have a general idea of what is for sale.  When I put my listing up, I am always pretty specific. My current add lists the hours and then has three or four categories and some of the items I will have for sale. In my case this includes kitchen and household items, home improvement items and tools, three boxes of scrapbook supplies, fabric, a sewing machine, and outdoor furniture, and books (and more, my yard will be full).  While I cannot list everything, I try to give a good idea. A young mom scanning my ad would know that I don't have baby toys, car seats or other items, for example. Although, a fellow has already called and asked if my WWII memorabilia included weapons (not!).

Because I have many crafting items and a bunch of collectibles Department 56, world war II items, cookbooks from 1900), I also created two separate listing, one under collectibles and one under arts and crafts. This way people who are not traditional yard sale visitors can know about what I have that they may like and people who live near me looking for sewing deals may stop by or try to negotiate a sale.

Finally, my hours. WhenI place my own listing, I put my hours. These hours are driven by the neighborhood hours, but not in stone.  I always say that I will assume early birds are there to work. A friend's add says simply that every price is doubled before the hour stated. Whatever your method is, it's wise to somehow indicate that people should wait until the specified hour to arrive.  On rare occasions you will have twenty friends or family members helping with your sale. In that case you may wish to sell things as you put them out.  For the rest of us, it's very difficult to have people walking and looking while we're still trying to get things out (and drink our second cup of caffeine and wake up as well).

There you have it-the quick down and dirty on how I throw my annual garage sale. Last year I made three hundred dollars per day. I don't expect to do quite that well this year, but a good time should be had by all, and money will definitely be made. Coming soon-pictures of the process!

Disclaimer.........some of this advise will not apply to shared sales. For example, in that case you will want to price everything, probably giving each family a color code and removing it as the item sells.  The same is true of families where kids sell their own stuff-you either need to color code or give said kid his or her own money box, depending on age.

Fixed Income Living-Selling Your Stuff (Revisited)

Back in January, I wrote that one small stream of income for retirees and folks on fixed income could be selling their stuff.  I mentioned that I would be selling some possessions (both to make room and to increase income). Since then, I've sold a few things through various methods, and I thought I would share the positives and negatives of my experience.

My experience was not about starting an "EBay Business"  or a "Reselling Business".  My purpose was to sell good, usable stuff of differing value.  Most of it was the kind of stuff that is a little to valuable to drop off at good will, a few pieces were collectibles.  This was stuff that had minimal emotional value, and freed up space.  Saleable items ranged from Department 56 pieces, to Vera Bradley bags, to the pots and pans and appliance that were excess after three households became one (of course, then when my son moved away...............).  I did my reselling a few different ways, and thought I would share what happened and what I would do again.

• Ebay:  Although I sold my most valuable items on EBay, it's probably the last place I would go again.  My experience was not terrible, but as a small seller, I would try to sell locally first.  In answer to someones question in my previous post, the client pays shipping costs.  The price you set is what you get.  Overall I had good buyers, but for me, packing and shipping delicate valuable items would be a last resort.  I ended up selling 3 Department 56 Valentine Village pieces, and a 4th of July piece, all for close to $100.00 each.
• Craigslist:  I was surprised at how successful this was.  I listed my item with photos, my email was anonymous, and buyers were friendly. I would not discount this alternative, even for more valuable items. Note: everyone has to decide on their own comfort level.  For most items, I met in a neutral pace we traded cash and that was it.  However, one of the items I sold was an expensive sewing machine, that had to be tried at a table.  After some discussion, my son and I agreed that it was reasonable to have her in the house.  We were two adults, a barking black dog and a security system.  Had something looked "hinky", we would have suggested another alternative.  The same is true if I had been living alone.  I sold a fifteen hundred dollar sewing machine for six hundred dollars, a complete set of dishes, some purses and Longaberger baskets this way and was rewarded well.
• Yard Sale:  I always say that for yard sales to be worthwhile, you have to have children's items.  Fortunately, I was wrong in my case.  My neighborhood association has a sale twice a year, and I decided to participate, literally the day before. In one day, sitting on my front walk, I made three hundred dollars. Things that sold well this way were my purses and briefcase, dishes and pots and pans and linens, and old craft supplies.  While I would not attempt this one again without my twenty two year old live in (at the time) stevedore, it was a good alternative.
• Amazon:  This was where we sold our books, magazines, some DVDs and many video games and it went well.  While there are other alternatives, amazon is the elephant in the room so to speak, and they make shipping and sales extremely easy.  I pared down four shelves of books (leaving me with another four to five) .  We were so happy with our experience here that my son now buys and sells books on amazon (the profits of which he splits with me, the silent partner), but that's another story.

All and all I successfully eliminated many of items from my home, and in return received cash to spend on more important items.  I'll continue as I slowly declutter to look at selling rather than donating some items, using this as just one method to bring in a little cash flow now and then. 

Two final thoughts.  First, I still have piles of stuff.  It's doubtful that I'll ever be part of the minimalist or simplicity movement, and my children will still have more things from me than they know what to do with.  Second, after I started my purging and selling, I came across a book called "Stop Throwing Your Money Away, Turn Clutter Into Cash................".  I guess I must be on the right path!!

Casual Retirement Income: Part One-Selling Your Stuff

I have a lovely Dickens Christmas Village. For many years, my brother in law gave each family a village piece at Christmas. I love it, display it and will never give it up. Over the years, we have added small pieces on our own. Now that Bill no longer gifts us with pieces, I have decided that this year I will buy a church, as that is something I feel is missing in our little town.

Not to do anything by half, I then went out and purchased a Valentine village (candy shop, wedding chapel and card shop), Halloween pieces, Fourth of July pieces and even a collection of quilt houses because I am a quilter. Many of these were never used or displayed. I just figured if one seasonal village was great, one for each season was better. While a couple of these, including the Halloween house do get used regularly, many have simply sat in boxes on a shelf. Until I recently dragged the 4th of July house to the fore, my children never even knew I had the house.

What has all this to do with casual income? On a whim, I recently listed a couple of these houses on eBay. This took minimal time-I just took a couple of decent pictures and wrote up a quick listing. When the item sells, I will simply wrap them up and mail them. For this little bit of effort, one of these houses has now reached $70.00, and the bidding still has a ways to go. Even if the mailing process requires an extra half an hour of errand time, the ratio of money made to effort spent is sufficient to make the sale worthwhile.

I share this experience not to show what a smart cookie I am, but to show that one way to make casual income here and there is to sell possessions you or family may no longer use or need.

I certainly would not have sold these pieces if they had emotional value to me or my family (as does the Christmas Village, which will probably remain in the family forever). These are items which I used briefly, and to which other family members have no real attachment. I imagine that my family has the same amount of “stuff” as most families (perhaps a little more in some areas than others due to overseas travel). What amount is excess differs according to each person. I’ve made it clear before that I am in no way a minimalist, and a certain amount of that stuff will always be with me. Even I have excess, especially as I look to downsize. Some of that excess will be given to friends and family, some donated to various needy cause. But some items I will continue to sell, and reap those small rewards.

For those of us who need additional income (even dribs and drabs), small rewards like these are insufficient. That said, added to other small streams of income, selling some of your stuff is certainly one way to add a little cash to your pockets. And many pockets of cash add up to a decent income stream. Not only that, but in some cases selling your stuff can lead to a second income stream, or even a mini business. As we have slowly sold my plethora of books, my college aged son has managed the sales and reaped the rewards. He’s now looking at other ways to acquire books to sell, to continue his cash flow until he finds employment.

I encourage you to look through your unused possessions and see which ones might bring you a bit of money. If you’re unsure, a simple EBay search should answer questions regarding value and average sale. Good luck and happy streaming!