Now THAT is a nice find!
Yes, finds like that is what makes yardsaleing so much fun. You never know what's at the next house.
I did a whirlwind trip around 7 neighborhoods today. I could never do that with my wife around because she likes to linger and look things over while I can decide in 10 seconds and move on. I got to see a bit of the best and worst of neighborhood sales and I'll give you some examples in case you want to organize a sale for your neighborhood.
Neighborhood A advertised on Craigslist and in the local paper to get the word out. When you arrived there was a large banner advertising the community yard sale, maps at the entrance plus small descriptions of what each house was offering so if you were interested in baby clothes you didn't have to stop at a house that was only selling tools. Maps not only show you which houses are having sales they help you find your way around the twists and turns of an unfamiliar neighborhood. Each street that had participating houses had a sign and each participating house had balloons on the mailbox so you didn't waste a minute
Neighborhood B also advertised and had a banner at the entrance but once you got in you were on your own. Some people put signs on their streets to direct in traffic but a lot of time was wasted going down streets that didn't have anyone selling. You had to keep a sharp eye out because if you didn't spot the setup you could go right by a house that was selling stuff. It was easy to get turned around and hard to find your way out
Neighborhood C apparently thought they were so good that they didn't have to do anything other than throw a banner out in front. In fact the only way I even knew they were having a community sale is because they were on my route to another neighborhood. I didn't even bother going in, I just kept heading towards my original destination
When my wife and I go out we bring a notebook along with us, actually an alphabetical address book. When we go to a neighborhood we grade it on a 1 to 10 scale, with every neighborhood starting at 5. Things that factor into our grades include the size of the neighborhood, how well they guide you to the sales, location, quality of the offerings, etc. We mark it down so the next time we have to choose which neighborhood to go to first it makes it easier to prioritize. We'll also put in little things to help jog our memory like "out near the Kroger" or "nice but way over on the other side of the county". We have a LOT of subdivisions in our area so this notebook helps us stay organized for our trips.
Anyway, in those 7 neighborhoods the only thing I bought was a Belle costume. That has been one of my main goals all along and I kept missing it (2 houses today sold them before I arrived, same as yesterday) but eternal optimism is key to yardsaleing so I kept asking. Finally one woman said she had a Belle costume in the house and would go get it for me
It took her quite a while to find it and when she came out I saw that it wasn't a genuine Disney costume but instead it was a Disney-authorized costume from Lillian Vernon, 2 pieces plus shoes. She only wanted a dollar for it and I bought it just because she worked so hard to find it for me. So Belle is back on the list for next week.
The one we saw at the Disney store was $40 and it didn't look as nice. We also have 2 pairs of shoes to send over. We also saw but didn't buy a Dyson DC14 for $15, the second one we've seen this season. Wifey got 2 nice Nutcrackers for a dollar each (she has about 50 others, none over a dollar) and a mess of clothing. Probably the 2 best clothing deals were a beautiful handmade toddler's dress and a Hartstrings cardigan for $1 each.
