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.

The Positive Packrat-Or The Frugal Side Of Stuff

Recently I saw the above phrase from a book.  Later it occurred to me that the phrase Positive Packrat probably describes my home and life.

This past week, I freshened up my abode for spring and early summer. I put the Easter decorations away and lightened up.  I also made two gifts (one "crafty" and one not). I created a memory quilt, did some house repairs, and got ready to can homemade barbecue sauce. 

I share some of my week not to show how energetic I am (on the contrary, laid back is my name when it comes to getting things done, as a later missive will show).  The reason I mention some of my accomplishments is two-fold.  First, I managed to do all the things I needed to do without leaving my home.  I enjoy leaving my home on occasion, but when I choose to.  Leaving to run around and do busy work or last minute shopping is not my idea of a relaxing or fun time.

Secondly, other than some fresh produce, no money was spent  in these endeavors.  I managed to make a scrapbook page, do minor home improvements, create simple decor items, make a quilt, can barbecue sauce and do all these things with items I had on hand.

I guess you could say being a Positive Packrat is about the other side of "stuff".  Some folks would keep that word in huge capitals.  I say, keeping stuff on hand can save you time, and more importantly, cold hard cash.  For me, at least, some of the so called golden rules of decluttering kind of get lost along the way.  The idea that you should love everything you own/and or find it beautiful is nice.  But stuff (things, possessions if you will) enable me to live frugally, expending very little cash.

The same is true with the rules of use. Some years my canning jars get used once a year, others multiple times. The point (at least for me) is that the money I save by having a case of jars and canning supplies on a garage self is much more than the cost of the storage.  I've made food for my family, homemade gourmet items, and multiple gifts (ice cram sauce sets, for example) for pennies many years. 

Years ago, I decided that I could learn something from my kitchen pantry. If I was buying "staples" at discounted prices to make sure I always had what I needed on hand, why could I not do that with other areas at home.  To that end, when my kids were small, I would buy socks for a year at once.  I did this when there was a really good, unbeatable sale.  I shopped for items that I knew I would need eventually. I kept a list. I bought things not because I necessarily needed them at the time, but because I knew I would need them and use them at some point.  WhenI saw a basket for pennies at a yard sale, I scooped it up (even though I had no plan of what to do with it). Sewing fabric (assuming I liked it), the same way. Used flower pots, canning jars on sale, extra clothing since I have always spent time in two distinct climates-these are just a few of the thing that this packrat hangs on to.

Everyone has to decide what stays and goes depending on their own storage space and needs..  It's worth remembering though, that it will probably cost you more to replace something how that you disposed of six months ago. You'll also have to allow time to shop for ithe item as well as car expense.  For me, I'll try and hang on to those possessions that allow me to live my life more frugally.  A penny saved is at least two earned, after all.

Frugal Yes, Simple No

I'm a frugal person. I live beneath my means (and more), I make things last as long as they can, I buy mindfully and I look for new and better ways to do things. However, I don't live simply and I am certainly not a minimalist. For many people, these things seem to go hand in hand. But for me, being frugal is being able to live as bountifully as possible on as little income as possible.

A minimalist will have five tops in their closet, one for each day of the week. I on the other hand will have ten tops, all bought at yard sales and thrift stores, for half the price of the single shirt. These are generalizations, but you see the point. My goal is to have the things, the comfort if you will, for minimal expense. I'm willing to expend effort as needed to meet that goal.

One year, when my daughter was six, I was perusing a neighborhood yard sale. A mother with daughters who must have been seven or so had three large blankets full of size 6X clothes. Many of them were Sears mix and match styles (what us old folk had before garanamals and gymboree). She was more interested in getting rid of them than the cost, so for twenty bucks I got a huge deal. My child had so many clothes, I could wait two weeks or more to do her laundry!! A minimalist would clean out most of those clothes. but I got the clothes for a song, I had a place to put them, and she wore them.

Also, in my opinion, before one eliminates an item or items, one should consider the replacement cost. Now that I'm a widow with one at home child, I use a small crock pot. In fact, that's all I used for a year. I seriously considered eliminating my large pot.  However, in the past couple of weeks I have done two potlucks and had a request to make a large Boston butt.  All of these situations require a large pot. I cannot tell you how thankful I am that I kept my seven quart crock pot. If I'd followed the six month rule it would be gone, and there I would have been.

Now, I'm not advocating hoarding or keeping items one doesn't have room for. I've recently decided that I'm not buying any more bookshelves, and that means some books must go. I acknowledge that one needs a place for everything and that one needs to be able to find everything. Beyond that though, we each make our personal decisions. Personally, I'll be the gal with the dishes for Christmas, Easter, summer and fall (mostly bought at yard sales or on deep discount of course)!