A Yard Sale Tale or Two

We did it!  We had our yard sale!  After not enough preparation but plenty of stuff, my daughter and I went ahead with our yard sale.

I awoke to the sound of my annoying alarm and looked out into the darkness.  ANNOYING.  Who wakes up on a Saturday before the sun comes out?  Crazy people!  Fortunately, I did get to bed early (for me) and managed to sleep for 6 hours - not too shabby for a night owl like myself.

After a shower and some tea, I woke up my daughter and we went to set up the stuff. We had a couple hours before it officially started, right?  No.  I think my first "customer" arrived at 6:45am.  WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE?  Why do people willingly wake up so early?  Anyhow, they purchased $35 worth of stuff.  Mind you, while I probably could have asked for more, I was just happy to rid of it; and to be honest, aside from my daughter's scooter, a candle set, and a couple items of clothing, I have NO IDEA what the heck they put on the table. 

And we all know what that means, right?


I didn't need that crap in my garage or the shed, anyhow.  $35.00 for crap.  Go me!

Anyhow, our friends showed up shortly after our "first sale" and starting setting up their stuff, too.  It is always better to have yard sales with other people: aside from having more for potential buyers, it also makes the "downtime" go a lot faster.

At the end of the day, my daughter and I came away with about $200.  I don't know the exact amount because I don't know how much I grabbed from the house for change, so I can't recall the start amount.  Like I said, I wasn't all that organized this time. HA.  But that's okay, I will be more organized for the next one.

Yard sales are a little addicting, if you can get past the downside.  It's addicting because getting rid of unwanted or unneeded stuff while getting some money in the process is always a good thing - a cleansing AND financially beneficial undertaking.  I mean, who turns down extra cash?  However, the downside of yard/garage sales are the rude people who assume the sellers are morons and don't deserve the asking price. 

For example, I was selling a "like new" Step 2 Push Around Buggy, the one Amazon.com is selling for $55.00 right now.  I didn't think asking $25 was too much, primarily because most of these types of items sell for half price on craigslist.  She said, "That's too much.  How about $10?"  I replied that I was sorry, but it did cost over $60 when I purchased it after taxes/shipping and I wouldn't sell it for less than $20.  She snapped, "Well, it's USED NOW!" and walked off.  Um, okay.  Rude much?

And guess who had the last laugh?  Me.  That's right.  I sold it for $20.  So screw her.


I'm not exactly sure why yard sale buyers think they will be the only customer and that's it is the seller's loss if the bargained-down offer price isn't taken.  I mean, please.  I'd rather give it away than sell it to an a-hole.  And I have. I've actually told someone I wouldn't take her offer and then chose to give it away at the end of the day. HA.  But I'm stubborn like that.
 

The best yard sale tale is from a couple years ago.  I was selling a Little Tikes desk, originally priced at $50-$75.  It had a working light table, drawer, crayon holder, and chair.  It was fabulous and in great condition; we were only getting rid of it because our daughter had outgrown it and we were unsure about having a second child.  I had it out at a yard sale with a sign stating it was $25.  This lady said she'd give me $20; I said, "No, sorry.  The price is $25.  I feel that's a fair amount."  She left.  About an hour later, she came by again and said, "You still won't take $20?" and I said no again.  Shortly after that, another buyer came in, said it was a good price and paid the $25 asking price with no bargaining.  Toward the end of the day, the first lady came back (yes, for the THIRD time) and looked crushed when she noticed the desk was no longer there.  She asked, "How much did you sell it for?"  I said, "$25."  I've always wondered if she spent $5.00 in gas, driving to my house THREE TIMES.  Lame.

It's always like that, I suppose - there being positives and negatives of any experience - but if the upside results in over $100 in cash for getting rid of stuff, I'm all for enduring rude, annoying people asking to give me 50 cents for a porcelain doll my daughter was trying to sell for one measly dollar.  (!!!!!!)

At the end of our yard sale yesterday, we were exhausted but $200 richer and deserved a treat, so my daughter and I went to get pedicures.  The yard sale paid for pedicures...and will be paying for a movie day, too.  Not too shabby!  Plus, we'll probably still have a little leftover money.  How should we spend it?

Well, that's a tale for another day!