Garage Sale woes....

[torinsmom]

Just had a yard sale on Saturday as well. I ended up making a little over $100--not much but I didn't have a lot major to sell. I didn't have a lot of annoying people at all. If they offered less than I had on an item, I either said yes or no. One guy wanted a like new UNC basketball for $1 when I had $3 on it. That one I wasn't willing to negotiate. I sold it a few minutes later for $2.50. I have two bags full of stuff in my trunk to take to the thrift shop, and I kept a few things I knew I could sell on ebay or Craigslist.

A few tips:

Run an extension cord out to your yard, so people can see things work.

Sell bottles of water. I bought a 24 pack of bottled water for $3 and sold them for $1 each. I believe I sold 8 bottles, so I got paid to drink the other 16. I had lemonade Caprisuns for 50 cents as well.

Sell homemade goodies. I made chocolate chip cookies from scratch and sold them 2 for $1. Made about $8 that way. I also had muffins(from a box) but noone bought them.

Hook up a fan to blow on you. That really helped me stay cool.

Use balloons in addition to signs to mark your sale.

 

[stitchlovestink]

About the underwear. Were they boxers or briefs?

Okay that just made me spit my Diet Dew everywhere!!

I just went through this. I had new with tags Gymboree and a lady walked away in a huff after I told her they were more then .25! <sigh>

Would that be all the stuff you bought with the gymbucks you have begged for here on the budget board?? I guess it wasn't okay to pay the favor forward to someone else? Seeing as how people GAVE you the gymbucks that they 'EARNED' by making purchases....

 

[Sinderelly]

Just had a yard sale on Saturday as well. I ended up making a little over $100--not much but I didn't have a lot major to sell. I didn't have a lot of annoying people at all. If they offered less than I had on an item, I either said yes or no. One guy wanted a like new UNC basketball for $1 when I had $3 on it. That one I wasn't willing to negotiate. I sold it a few minutes later for $2.50. I have two bags full of stuff in my trunk to take to the thrift shop, and I kept a few things I knew I could sell on ebay or Craigslist.

A few tips:

Run an extension cord out to your yard, so people can see things work.

Sell bottles of water. I bought a 24 pack of bottled water for $3 and sold them for $1 each. I believe I sold 8 bottles, so I got paid to drink the other 16. I had lemonade Caprisuns for 50 cents as well.

Sell homemade goodies. I made chocolate chip cookies from scratch and sold them 2 for $1. Made about $8 that way. I also had muffins(from a box) but noone bought them.

Hook up a fan to blow on you. That really helped me stay cool.

Use balloons in addition to signs to mark your sale.

I don't know what your local rules are but here we are not allowed to sell "homemade" baked items for profit unless you have a liscensed kitchen (charities are an exception to this rule).

I mean no disrespect just trying to give people a heads up to check their local rules and regs before selling these items.

 

[timmac]

Much as I can appreciate the frustration of feeling like buyers are trying to get something "for free", the reality is that the only reason they come to a garage sale is because they're looking to get stuff for very close to free. It may be annoying to have someone try to knock you down on price from $5, for that "$50 whatever"... but that's also partly in the eyes of the seller. It may have been worth that much brand new, on the shelf at the store, but the item isn't brand new, and you aren't the store. Something is only worth as much as what someone is willing to pay, presuming you're even willing to work in some venue that allows you to meet up with that potential buyer. A yard sale is generally not the place to meet high-dollar buyers for anything. Things like eBay may yield higher selling prices, but there's fees involved, and a non-trivial amount of effort that almost certainly eclipses the time-cost of selling through a yardsale.

All of that said, I am not a fan of yard sales (as a seller)... the few times I've tried there just simply hasn't been enough money made to justify the effort, despite being one of the lower-effort means of selling stuff.

A simpler way to look at it might be to step back and ask what is the goal? If the goal is to get rid of excess stuff sitting around, then certainly a yard sale might be a good way to go, and any money made is icing on the cake. If the goal is to make money, then it may be better to seek out a more optimal way of attaining that goal.

 

[torinsmom]

I don't know what your local rules are but here we are not allowed to sell "homemade" baked items for profit unless you have a liscensed kitchen (charities are an exception to this rule).

I mean no disrespect just trying to give people a heads up to check their local rules and regs before selling these items.

Oh, I didn't know or maybe we don't have that around here. We have kids selling cookies and lemonade at stands in our neighborhood all the time.

 

[dogluva]

Ha! I work at QVC--my name is a bit of free publicity. I really love QVC because they have been good to me.

As far as kid clothes, I give mine to the various cousins. My DD7 is over 4'6", I know about growing quickly. She skipped entire sizes, and is now in 10/12 and size 4 shoes. As far as Christmas presents, I try to guide grandparents to not buy tons, and give suggestions. This past year, I shopped for my mother-in-law because she was too sick to do her own shopping.

Oh well. I've gone from liking shopping A LOT to pretty much not liking stuff anymore. My parents are borderline hoarders so that's probably why I have made the switch. Now, I use it and get rid of it almost immediately.

I used to like shopping-now that I am in my mid forties, not so much. I don't know why. My daughter loves to shop and I have to remind her to save part of her paycheck. I feel like you-I don't lilke stuff. I also don't like to hang on to things I don't use. I feel like a borderline minimilist. My mother, on the other hand, tosses everything. If you come to her house, don't take off your shoes or she will throw them out. Her mother used to save everything. I think I am somewhere in the middle.

 

[Jeff_G]

Oh, I didn't know or maybe we don't have that around here. We have kids selling cookies and lemonade at stands in our neighborhood all the time.

Yes what a total nanny state we have become. A few years ago in my city we had the public health department show up with three of their people and two police officers to shutdown a kids lemon-aid stand. They threatened the mother with all sorts of fines because they did not have a separate commercial kitchen to prepare the lemon-aid. It ended up on the nightly news...

This was the same year the health department announced they had a 5 year backlog on inspecting restaurants, and could not inspect every restaurant every year in the city!

 

[elaine amj]

Yes what a total nanny state we have become. A few years ago in my city we had the public health department show up with three of their people and two police officers to shutdown a kids lemon-aid stand. They threatened the mother with all sorts of fines because they did not have a separate commercial kitchen to prepare the lemon-aid. It ended up on the nightly news...

This was the same year the health department announced they had a 5 year backlog on inspecting restaurants, and could not inspect every restaurant every year in the city!

Thank goodness we are still allowed bake sales and such. They have cracked down a bit on informal raffles though - so no more raffles at fundraising days at my kids school. Paying for a license would eat up most of what we would make from the raffle! (which is mostly because the kids like having a raffle)


A few years ago, our overzealous health department decided that egg salad sandwiches made and sold by a local charity group at a local fair did not meet their standards. So they poured bleach over the whole batch. Oh boy did the news have fun with that!! They had to re-work their policies after that PR fiasco.

 

[MarriedToAPrince]

Isn't it annoying!?!?! The last garage sale I had was a couple years ago and it was the last. I had so many brand name clothes out and was asking really cheap prices, like $6 for a top and bottom set of Gymboree and no one was biting. I have found that for those types of things I send them to a Trading Assistant who sells them for me on eBay. I made quite a bit of money doing that. As far as everything else, including used underwear, we donate it to Goodwill.

 

[Zhoen]

Yard sale shopper here.

I'm aware that there are crazy buyers out there, I've seen them once or twice, but they are usually early-birds, so I don't run in to them often. I sometimes see them pulling away from the 8AM community yard sale at 805 with a trailer loaded up with stuff.

I can't say I love the way we're all being generalized about and looked down on on this thread, though. I can't speak for/to the others out there, but I never buy anything to re-sell it, and if something is priced too high, I leave it there, I don't haggle. Nor do I like sales where there are no tags. On the flipside, I've never understood people who price clothes for $.25 ... I've always wondered why they don't just donate it at that price... but for every person I've ever seen selling clothes for a quarter, I've seen four times as many trying to get high prices for things that aren't worth it. In fact, you frequently see stuff that is just plain garbage, and you wonder what on earth the seller is thinking!

I think there are just as many bad sellers out there as bad buyers...

And while I can honestly say I've never bought underwear at a yard sale, I HAVE bought bras and a swimsuit at a thrift shop... wash it in hot water, line dry in bright sun (swimsuit inside out) and get on with your life.

For me, buying things from yardsales and thrift shops IS partially about the price... I help my widowed sister and her four kids while raising two of my own, so every little bit helps... but it is also about the environment--buying secondhand means no new fuels and materials were expended to make the items, and none of my money is going directly to questionable factories overseas... it's going to charities or the nice family on the corner... what they do with it, I can't control... Buying from yardsales is a family affair, I take my daughters and we talk about wants and needs, about fair prices and sometimes walking away empty handed rather than buying junk we don't need. It's very educational... but honestly, y'all missed a major point...

...It's about the HUNT!!! It's about finding something fantastic. It's about the surprise and the thrill of the find. It doesn't have to be a coach purse for $20 or a pair of designer shoes... it's fun to see what serendipity brings across your path.

Going back to the original topic of what something is worth and whether or not a yard-saler will pay for it. It depends. Honestly, I bought two bags of clothes and junk from Justice last week for under $90. Dresses, shirts, pants, slippers, pillows, necklaces, all sorts of stuff. With the markdowns on the markdowns and my $25 of $50 coupons, most of it was $5 or less. So would I ever pay $5 for something USED at a yard sale just because it was "a good brand?"

Maybe. Depends on if it spoke to me or not. To each, her own. If you don't get the prices you want at yard sales, consignments are probably a better choice for you. Or donate it to charity, but preferably one that has sales, so I can buy your stuff on sale day... I only shop Salvation Army on half-price day!

 

[happygirl]

I guess I'm weird. I hardly ever pay what on the tag garage sales. I will offer less they either take it or I leave it

 

[rszdtrvl]

I called in our yard sale ad to the local paper today (cost was only $8 for 2 days) and I was the 3rd person to call in a Thursday yard sale. I was shocked, but happy, as the more sales on that day, the more people who will leave the house to go to the sales.

There are A LOT of yard salers in our area - lots of resellers and scrappers - so I think that they will all be out, regardless of the day.

 

[torinsmom]

I guess I'm weird. I hardly ever pay what on the tag garage sales. I will offer less they either take it or I leave it

No, you're not weird. Nearly everyone who bought something at my sale offered less than the price tag. Most offers I accepted, or I gave a counter offer. I think sellers expect that.

 

[2mnyprincesses]

I still feel totally disappointed by our last garage sale. Not only did everyone negotiate down my dirt cheap prices (maybe that is my fault because when I go to a sale, I either pay what they have marked or pass by the item), but I felt violated when an expensive item, I offered to sell for my friend, was stolen. Okay, so again, my fault for being so naive that I did not have it next to me; however, as I think back to the morning being super busy, my daughter selling lemonade and taking so much pride in ringing up each cup (with her toy register, I am pretty sure the thieves came with their children and then came back again with those children and asked to buy lemonade, as a distraction. How horrible that children were subject to this . I think I will just take the tax write off from now on or set it out for the scrappers that come by my neighborhood each week to raid the garbage...not that I have never picked something from someone's garbage (like a piece of old furniture for refinishing, but I don't routinely stalk a neighborhood to pull the cord out of an old TV). Sorry, just still extremely sad at the dishonesty. I used to be a garage sale enthusiast!

 

[cm8]

Would that be all the stuff you bought with the gymbucks you have begged for here on the budget board?? I guess it wasn't okay to pay the favor forward to someone else? Seeing as how people GAVE you the gymbucks that they 'EARNED' by making purchases....

 

[Eeyoreluver]

I had one this past weekend. I worked really hard all week long, but it was good. Made $900, I will be at Disney next week to spend it! I am happy! Really tired though taking this week to rest for next week.

 

[MaterializedHaunt]

Im from the 'other side'.... the Buying side! I love going to yardsale like I am sure all of you do. I recently drove 12hours to Ohio for the 'worlds largest' yardsale! I spent Thur/Fri/Sat/Sun going absolutly crazy! In the end I spent just about $400 and I came out with $1000's worth of Disney memorbilia! It was coming out of my ears!

Needless to say my mid-size SUV couldnt hold it all (packed up to the ceiling). So I ended up buying a cartop carrier just to make the ride home! So please have more sales for me! I love buying cheap Disney items! :

- MaterializedHaunt

 

[crisi]

I'm another who skips the sale in favor of the tax deduction. Last year we did a huge purge in our house - lots of professional clothes, books (which never sell at a garage sale), kids clothes, some toys, some old furniture - and I saved nearly $1000 on my taxes for a lot less work than if I'd made $500 at a garage sale.

 

[mombrontrent]

Im from the 'other side'.... the Buying side! I love going to yardsale like I am sure all of you do. I recently drove 12hours to Ohio for the 'worlds largest' yardsale! I spent Thur/Fri/Sat/Sun going absolutly crazy! In the end I spent just about $400 and I came out with $1000's worth of Disney memorbilia! It was coming out of my ears!

Needless to say my mid-size SUV couldnt hold it all (packed up to the ceiling). So I ended up buying a cartop carrier just to make the ride home! So please have more sales for me! I love buying cheap Disney items! :

- MaterializedHaunt

Ok you are nuts Really though 12 hours to browse through a bunch of peoples old junk I get that you love Disney and Disney memorbillia but where in the world are you going to display all that. To me the point of memorabillia is a piece or two that I bought as a momento on a trip. Like I just got back from Williamsbug and bought two display items that applealed to me and would fit in with my decor. If I went and bought a carload plus of someone else's momentos it wouldn't hold any sentimental value. I can see buying an old vintage Disney item or two that was rare or applealed to you in a nastoligic way but a carload plus, somehow I get the feeling that it's more of the thrill of the hunt fot you than the actual "treasures". I LOVE to get rid of things, I regularly go through my kids closets and toys and either pass down to my neices and nephews or donate to Goodwill. I had a garage sale once years ago as part of a steet sale but it was not worth all the effort. I feel such satifaction in purging my house. My life's moto is Less is More

 

[richmond282]

Ok you are nuts Really though 12 hours to browse through a bunch of peoples old junk I get that you love Disney and Disney memorbillia but where in the world are you going to display all that. To me the point of memorabillia is a piece or two that I bought as a momento on a trip. Like I just got back from Williamsbug and bought two display items that applealed to me and would fit in with my decor. If I went and bought a carload plus of someone else's momentos it wouldn't hold any sentimental value. I can see buying an old vintage Disney item or two that was rare or applealed to you in a nastoligic way but a carload plus, somehow I get the feeling that it's more of the thrill of the hunt fot you than the actual "treasures". I LOVE to get rid of things, I regularly go through my kids closets and toys and either pass down to my neices and nephews or donate to Goodwill. I had a garage sale once years ago as part of a steet sale but it was not worth all the effort. I feel such satifaction in purging my house. My life's moto is Less is More

She's probably going to sell them at a profit.

I had a lady ask me to go inside and find the shoes for the Barbie she was purchasing for a quarter. Um...No. It's a yard sale. You buy what you see. Sorry!