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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Tabitha on September 12, 2003, at 23:07:01
Well, I've spent the entire day prepping for a garage sale tomorrow. Man! what a lot of work. I've never done this before. It's a neighborhood-wide thing, dozens of sales, and I was just planning to toss everything out there without much prep, then the 'tips' sheet came by saying everything should be clean and with prices marked (is this true?) and you're supposed to have lots of small bills ready, and an electrical cord to let people test stuff, and batteries in things.. so I cleaned... and marked prices... and went to the bank..and dragged a huge dresser down several steps.. and it took all day.
Still have to get up at 6 am to schlep it all out to the end of the driveway, then sit there 4 hours.
If it all sells, I'll rake in, oh, maybe $100?
I know, the money isn't the point, it's supposed to be fun. I thought it might feel like grown-up version of a lemonade stand. But now I'm just tired, and eager to dump all this stuff that's been sitting around my house for weeks waiting on this sale. Oh, and I want to get my car back in the garage.
Posted by galkeepinon on September 13, 2003, at 2:21:35
In reply to Garage Sale, posted by Tabitha on September 12, 2003, at 23:07:01
Good luck!!!! I did the same thing, I layed out sheets, put stuff on them. Put shoes in a pile and labeled *all 50 cents*
Tab~this is a garage sale, if people expect it to look like a mall, nahhhhhh lol;)
You'll do awesome and I hope you make some dough!
Yes! when I had mine, I made sure I had lots of small bills ready and a lot of quarters for some reason. The electrical cord sounds like a good idea~I didn't have that because I was selling clothes, books, shoes, furniture, etc. Not too many electronics.
You're probably sleeping now~good:-) Garage sales are a lot of work!
It will be worth it~you'll make some $$$ And keep your eye on people~I had a few actually take some things from the garage sale I had before I moved.
Well.....the money IS sort of the point of course~but it IS fun too, and you'll get rid of the stuff you want to hopefully! We met a lot of nice people and they enjoyed our 'stuff'
Remember~~What is one's man's trash is another man's treasure:-)
Tell us how it goes k?:-)
Posted by Dinah on September 13, 2003, at 8:53:28
In reply to Garage Sale, posted by Tabitha on September 12, 2003, at 23:07:01
At least the communal aspect of it should be enjoyable.
Posted by Tabitha on September 13, 2003, at 14:19:55
In reply to Re: Good luck with it, posted by Dinah on September 13, 2003, at 8:53:28
I got rid of sooo much stuff. All but 3 small boxes of leftovers. I guess my prices were unusually low. There was a swarm of early birds.. I started setting up at 6:30 and one guy showed up, bought stuff as fast as I could put it out, then 3 or 4 more, they were waiting in a crowd as I pulled the boxes out my front door.. Like a feeding frenzy.. I didn't even spread the stuff out and half of it was gone. This was before 7, and the sale didn't start til 8.
Had I known how much people like to bargain, I would have set the prices higher to start. Just to give them the satisfaction. The asian folks especially insisted on bargaining. They seemed insulted if I wouldn't come down..
I couldn't believe the 'junk' that people bought, and were happy to find. Just when I thought I was down to the absolute dregs.. someone would come along and sweep up a bunch of it.
Everything sold briskly except books. The big colorful ones went fast, the others just sat there. But 2 bookophiles picked out a couple, and told me their story of trying to house their book collection.. made it worthwhile.
Jewelry didn't sell well either, til one woman came along and bought about half of it. I'll bet she's going to resell it at a markup. She just had that businesslike air.
The stuff I thought least likely to sell was the first to go-- My collection of old (30s 40s?) lab equipment from university.. a bunch of big heavy wood boxes with knobs and dials.. none of it works.. I paid a dollar each at university garage sale.. and have been carting it around for 15 years.. I gave it for 25 cents each to that first nutty guy who showed up at 6:30. He was thrilled.
The computer monitor wouldn't sell at 1 dollar, so I marked it 'free' and it went to the next person to walk by. Amazing how much difference over just a dollar.
One lady had 1.50 worth of stuff, asked if she could have it all for a quarter. I gave it for 50 cents, but felt a little cheated.
I only made between 100 and 150 dollars, but man did I clear out some space.
I had this vision of little girls buying my old treasures, that I bought as a little girl.. well there were a couple. One bought a music box, one bought a glass jar full of shells. One bought the 'grab bag' of tiny knickknacks.
I had a sock monkey, partly finished, that I marked 'Free to Good Home, Please Sew Up My Legs'. A little girl got that, but it seemed like her dad (the nutty first customer) was kind of pushing it on her.
It's good to release possessions back into the stream. This stuff has just been archived, or unused, taking up space. I don't want to save stuff anymore! Set it free. My new attitude.
Next purging project.. books! hundreds of books to dispatch. and Clothes! and that old cello. But I want $2500 at least for it.
Posted by Tabitha on September 13, 2003, at 14:38:38
In reply to Re: Total success.., posted by Tabitha on September 13, 2003, at 14:19:55
Posted by galkeepinon on September 13, 2003, at 14:59:28
In reply to Re: Correction.. I made $218! Go me. (nm), posted by Tabitha on September 13, 2003, at 14:38:38
Posted by fallsfall on September 13, 2003, at 16:56:11
In reply to Re: Total success.., posted by Tabitha on September 13, 2003, at 14:19:55
Sounds like you had fun and made money. What a combination!
Posted by Dinah on September 13, 2003, at 20:50:31
In reply to Re: Correction.. I made $218! Go me. (nm), posted by Tabitha on September 13, 2003, at 14:38:38
This is the end of the thread.
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