Yardsalin'

So, this weekend I had a yard sale with my friend Bree and her mom.

I have wanted to have a yard sale for quite a few years. Just never had any idea how to go about it, and where I currently live is not the most desirable location...back road that no one travels on except people who live here, and a long steep driveway that would probably deter customers. Or, they'd walk down and then have a heart attack walking back up, and that would just be a mess. So no yard sale for me.

But, my friend was having one and since she knew what she was doing in terms of advertising, putting up signs, and pricing, I figured I would haul all my stuff over to her house and join in on the money-making. Here are a few things I learned this weekend:

1. Having a yard sale is a shitload of work. A few weeks of getting stuff together. Pricing everything. Loading up my husband's truck with everything. Unloading at Bree's house. Storing everything. Bringing it out and packing it back up 3 days in a row. Going to get tables (which a friend of hers was kind enough to lend us.) Making and hanging up signs. A lot of work. I do realize that it would not be as much work if I was having it at my own house, but still.

2. Having a yard sale during hurricane season is stupid. After postponing one weekend and wavering for 3 days over this past one, we finally took the plunge and it was a bit of a gamble that sort of paid off. Friday was great for the first two hours...then it grew cold, blustery, and drizzly...eventually turning into a steady rain. Which meant moving EVERYTHING inside. Did I mention that we each have a toddler? So, doing all that while chasing after two cranky munchkins. Saturday we had better luck, and ironically, Sunday--the most beautiful day of the weekend--was the least profitable.

3. People buy weird stuff. While no one wanted to buy any of the nicer jewelry we had, they snatched up the cheap costume jewels like it was candy. Large ceramic elephants from Bree's grandmother's house sold much better than brand new bedding sets and practically brand-new fishing boots. People bought up the cheap, ugly, cracked picture frames but no one wanted the stunning, well-made, multi-photo Crate&Barrel frames. I find this puzzling.

4. Our baby items didn't sell very well. Also puzzling, since I always thought that was one of the big-ticket yard sale items. I myself purchase baby items at yard sales.

5. You have to get up really freaking early to prepare each morning. Especially if you have to travel to the yard sale. Like, 5 in the morning early. Yuck.

6. It was a lot of freaking work. (Oh wait, did I say that?)

So the grand total for the event was $125.00 (for me, Bree and her mom each made roughly the same.) Now, this is great. But was it worth all that time and effort? Probably spent at least $20 of that on supplies, breakfasts, gas, etc. And now I need to make two more trips (to Goodwill and to the consignment shop) as well as storing the stuff I didn't sell that I may want to try and sell at a future yard sale.

I do feel it was worth it, despite the hassle. Had it not rained I think Friday would have been a lot more profitable. It was fun to hang out with my friend, and our kids got to play together a whole bunch. Most importantly, I got rid of "most" of my big, space-taking items like butt ugly lamps (which were snatched up right away), flower boxes, old stereos, a kid's archery set, etc etc.

And, next time we could always try my husband's idea of offering free beer with each purchase to increase sales. I tried to point out that yard sales generally start at the butt-crack of dawn (aka not prime drinking hours) but he seemed too proud of his suggestion to bother listening...