Everything Must Go!

The hot pink neon signs were hung in the fog and dampness of the early morning in prime locations giving directions to our garage sale.  I was a bit nervous as it was grey and wet and the possibility of thunderstorms loomed over the mountains early on.   I’m sure the neighbors didn’t appreciate my dragging boxes over the cement at 6:50AM on a sleep in day, but I had to do it. Our garage sale was about to begin.  I arranged all the wonderful trash treasures in two lines down the driveway and topped off the display with a creative semi-circle at the top of the driveway.  I had my cashbox that my best friend loaned me, so our operation looked very official.

My goal for the sale was simple.  Get rid of everything!  I wasn’t in this to make money at all (which was quite the contrary to my boys’ goal).  I wanted the junk treasures gone and to be left with very little to pack up for ARC to pick up on Tuesday.  Everything was priced to sell.  $.50 Books, $1.00 VCR, $20 treadmill, $1.00 Christmas décor and $.50 Halloween chachkis were among the wide assortment of trash treasures.  We covered every department; clothing, household décor, kitchen, bedroom, travel, organization, toys and the like.

       

       

7:00AM rolled around and not a sole was to be seen, except for the avid joggers and dog walkers, which were on a mission and not interested in our used Christmas garland or plastic plants.

7:35AM and the first customer arrived in a pick up!   I was excited and hoping one of the big-ticket items would be gone right off.   She looked too old to have a need for a crib and didn’t look like the table refinishing type, so was holding out that she was in need of a treadmill.   Sure enough, after looking for 15 minutes (way too much time if you ask me) at all the items, she had an assortment of goodies and asked if I’d take $10 for the treadmill.  Sold!   I helped her carry it to the truck and load it into the back and off she went.  I was $13 richer and down one big item!  I was thrilled.

The sun eventually came out and as soon as it did, the garage salers were out in full force.  You see all types at a garage sale and we took great amusement in watching each of them scour over the goods looking for their “special” treasure.   The boys and I would make a guess as to what we thought they would buy as they pulled up to the driveway, and most of the time we were wrong.   Who would think that a 72 year old man would only buy a $.50 toy canteen or a 19 year old young man with his friend would buy Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Street Fighter VHS movie and two poinsettia plants?  Go figure.  

As the morning became afternoon and our inventory looked picked over, my oldest decided to have a featured item of the hour.  He grabbed the fancy purse Grandma donated to the sale and labeled it as the “Featured Item” and put it right in the middle of the driveway and turned his smile and salesmanship up a notch and tried to sell it to every woman that even so much as looked at it.   He must have tried for two hours to sell that purse, but couldn’t find a taker.  (He’s opted to try and sell it on eBay after doing some research on it and thinks he can triple his profit by doing so.  Gotta love the determination.)

By the time 2:00PM rolled around, the clouds began to look heavy and dark, so called it quits and boxed everything that remained into three boxes for ARC to pick up.  It was a huge success.  Only one big ticket item, the old oak table, remained and the rest fit neatly into three large boxes which are now sitting out at the curb awaiting a new home.

As the garage door went down, the rain drops began and my oldest began counting the profits and was very surprised how quickly $.50 books and $1.00 Christmas decor added up to hundreds!   And, the trash treasure was gone.  Goal accomplished!

New Found Treasure Up For Grabs

We recently sold our house, barely a week ago, and are now moving into the next phase of many, many phases in the house selling/buying process.  It’s called, the “I don’t want to move any junk to a new house” phase.  So, you know what that means.  Yes, you know.  Garage sale.   It has to happen, because I am not going to move one item that does not have a purpose or value in our new home.   It’s a sticky situation though and has to be handled very carefully because one man’s junk is another man’s treasure.  We’ve all heard that saying, but it becomes very real when you have people in the house who do not believe their “stuff” to be “junk”.  It’s a very fine line you have to walk and all the appropriate questions need to be asked to evaluate the said items. 

When was the last time you played with your box of plastic dinosaurs?  How often have you needed 187 stuffed animals in the last six months? Year?  When was the last time you wore that to work?  The list goes on and on and of course, I have to ask myself those same questions.  Does a girl really need to have 4000 sheets of craft paper or 60 rubber stamps she doesn’t use anymore?   Why do I keep dishes I don’t use? 

Now is the time to use it or lose.  It’s going to be a big one and will probably place an ad for it in the newspaper to be sure and alert all the garage sale goers.  We will have quite the variety of goods to be had.   And, don’t tell the boys, but almost all of it will be $2 or less.  I want it gone.  Goodbye.  So long.   Why pack it all up and move it only to waste time and space?  I say, “Get rid of it.”

Here are some of the items I expect to be on our driveway with an orange sticker very soon:

Dishes

Crafting supplies

Dinosaurs

Hot Wheels

Magazines

Bread maker

Games

Stuffed Animals

Cook Books

Back Massage Chair

Flower Pots (I can’t grow them, but think I’ll try every year!)

Sports equipment

Be sure to come early as it’s all going!  I’ll have lemonade and cookies for you, so bring your quarters and your bags to carry away all your new found treasures.  See you on a Saturday in May!