Yard Sale Recap

Well, it went a lot better than I thought, and I actually enjoyed myself more than I was expecting.

There could not have been two better days for a yard sale. (I’m gonna call it a yard sale, because, technically, all our junk was out on our lawn and driveway. The garage was where we hid the cash box.) Glorious brilliant blue skies with absolutely no hint of cloud anywhere. The crisp chill of the early mornings prevented me from breaking a sweat hauling all our boxes and big-ticket items into position. Then, the sun rose high in the sky and heated everything up, which helped draw out the bargain hunters. Also helped Little One’s lemonade sales, too. And towards the end of the day it cooled again, just in time for me to pack everything up that didn’t move.

And boy did we have traffic. Turns out we were the third house in a row on our block, and that was a big selling point for customers casing the town. I estimated that 200 people came by Saturday, and about 50-60 on Sunday. Our friends piggy-backed on our yard sale, and they managed to unload most of their stuff the first day. While we didn’t sell everything I’m happy; I guess we got rid of two-thirds to three-quarters of what we put out. For the first time in three years I can touch the back wall of my garage!

Money? Well, perhaps we were a bit optimistic aiming for $375 (half of what my neighbor said he made the year before). But we didn’t do too bad. First day we made $220, second day, $55, for a grand total of $275. Our friends made $205 and $14 for $219. And get this – Little One, manning her first lemonade and ice tea stand, brought in $38.75! That’s 155 servings she handed out. We’re super proud of her. What a great learning experience. Friday she spread the word among her school friends and even called their homes that night to follow up! Selling-wise, she started off shy, but by Sunday afternoon she was approaching browsers boldly asking if they’d like a glass of lemonade.

I learned that books and stuffed animals don’t move. Clothes and toys move a bit, as long as they’re in real good condition. Big items tend to go fast. Strollers, baby furniture, high chairs, glass tables, all go quickly. So do electronics and DVDs (though DVDs had a slow start). One guy just looked a box of DVDs of my friend’s and offered $50 for the whole bunch. Our only disappointment was a small but heavy computer workstation desk that’s been in residence in the garage for 5 years. One woman studied it for a half-hour, taking pics of it with her camera, thinking about getting it for her son in college. But it wasn’t to be. She said she’d come back, and we didn’t see her again.

Learned a lot about people, too. Some will nickel and dime you to death (Lady: “Would you take 50 cents for this hardcover book?” Me, thinking, “Really? Can’t hand me over a dollar for that brand new book I paid $10 for and read once?”) Some happily fork over the listed price without attempting to haggle. And half the time I can’t anticipate which category the person coming up to me will fall into. Then there were the “drive-bys”, especially on Sunday afternoon, who would slow down in front of your house as they drove by, quickly scan the remaining items on the yard, then forget you and floor it on out. Must’ve seen fifteen or twenty of them as the yard sale was ending.

Strangest moment: As I was beginning to bring items out Saturday morning, day one of the sale, 90 minutes before it officially started, some older dude pulls up and walks over to me: “Got any knives?” Uh, no. “Military knives?” Still no. “Military artifacts or antiques?” Sorry, no. Then, Sunday afternoon, as I’m packing the few couple of boxes to put in my wife’s car to give to charity, another older dude comes up and asks me the SAME EXACT QUESTIONS! Weird, this military knife subculture that must cruise yard sales internationally.

Had a normal looking middle-aged dad on the make for vintage toys. Also, a college kid looking like he was heading for Spring Break bought one of my friend’s wife’s scarves. And he was completely serious about it. Reminded me of the kid from 40 Year Old Virgin trying to buy those platform shoes, only less goofy.

Our friends, while we did help them make $219, were incredibly awesomely helpful to us this weekend. My buddy clipped our entire line of hedges, and man, this was rain-forest, need-a-machete thickness. And his wife, my wife’s good friend, brought us over pizza for Saturday lunch and cupcakes for an afternoon treat on Sunday.

Where was Patch in all this? My three-and-a-half year old had her ups and downs, but she charmed lots and lots of folks by insisting on wearing a bevy of Princess outfits as she bounced and ran about. We had a lot of children running through the front and back yards, all afternoon, and Patch stayed right in the mix with all of them. Sunday night my wife took the girls through a McDonald’s drive thru for vanilla ice cream cones – a favorite treat of theirs for some reason. Me, I soaked in a tub overflowing with Epsom salt, trying to get the knots out of my exhausted muscles.

It was a learning experience, we made some cash, we got rid of some junk, and we all had a good time, more or less. Probably won’t do it next year, due to the simple fact we won’t accumulate enough big-sell items, but I’m sure we’ll revisit the whole yard sale thing again at some future time.

The Princess

and the Entrepreneur