Garage Sales

[Maister]

My sister in law just got done with her quarterly garage sale. Grossed I think somewhere around $118. Not bad for 8 hours of sitting in the hot sun, practically giving away cherished (maybe not) household items you paid 30 times what you sell them for. Not bad for enduring 38 episodes of dickering over a perfectly functional toaster 'its worth $1.50' 'no it should only be.75 cents'. Not bad for 4 hours of hauling tables, sorting items, tagging items and setting up. Not bad for hauling the same tables and unsold items back down into the basement..........why would anyone want to hold a garage sale when one could with far less effort haul all the things you don't want anymore down to the local Goodwill store, dictate your price, write it off on your taxes and be done with it?

 

[Michele Zone]

A) some folks don't make enough to write it off on their taxes
B) some folks find it "fun" (not me but I know people who do)
C) I made several hundred dollars when we held our first yard sale -- on a remote military base and I was selling a lot of furniture. Goodwill did not pick up and we were 39 miles from town. A yard sale was about the only game in town. After it was all over, we hauled a carload of stuff to the donations box at the second store on base and hauled left over furniture to the curb. Most of it disappeared before the moving truck was full. (Our yard sale did not last 8 hours -- on that base, they generally ended around noon.)

 

[Cardinal]

As I was cleaning out the house, workshop, and barns in anticipation of my upcoming move, I began stacking items I will not need on th efront porch, thinking I would have a sale. I even went so far as to make up a few signs. But when time is so short and I have so much to do, why in the world would I want to spend a day outside in the humidity, with swarms of mosquitos, even if I were to make a couple hundred bucks? I gave some to a nephew in college, some to friends (I won't be needing both humidifiers in Colorado) and will give the rest to whatever charity wants to take it.

 

[boiker]

My sister in law just got done with her quarterly garage sale. Grossed I think somewhere around $118. Not bad for 8 hours of sitting in the hot sun, practically giving away cherished (maybe not) household items you paid 30 times what you sell them for. Not bad for enduring 38 episodes of dickering over a perfectly functional toaster 'its worth $1.50' 'no it should only be.75 cents'. Not bad for 4 hours of hauling tables, sorting items, tagging items and setting up. Not bad for hauling the same tables and unsold items back down into the basement..........why would anyone want to hold a garage sale when one could with far less effort haul all the things you don't want anymore down to the local Goodwill store, dictate your price, write it off on your taxes and be done with it?

In my screwed up world you'd also have to pay $95 for a garage sale permit.....from the zoning department. Thank you City Council. I'll let you guess how many I've issued and many "violations" I've enforced.. the answer is an integer between -1 and 1. Maister, I don't believe this should be handled by zoning...it should be licensed with a reasonable fee by the clerk since it is a temporary event.

 

[Tom R]

dav

In Akron the Disabled American Vets will pick up stuff. They call me about every 3 months to see if I have anything to put out on the stoop.

 

[Maister]

In Akron the Disabled American Vets will pick up stuff. They call me about every 3 months to see if I have anything to put out on the stoop.

I think that if more folks were aware that organizations like DAV will pick up your stuff, I think we'd see more write-offs and fewer garage sales. I think in zoningworld that the absence of garage sales is a desireable thing - no more 68 garage sales a year at your single family use drawing people in from as far as 2 hours away to park in the residential streets/congest for 8 hours/day. No more "oh, this isn't a business, it's a hobby "......a guy can still dream.

 

[michaelskis]

Many churches will have annual garage sales to raise funds for some project or another. I “donated” several things to mine for their annual garage sale. As for other things, I tend to give things to people to need them. I have a in a storage closet if anyone needs one. Also I am a full supporter of goodwill. They do great things for communities, *such as employing people with little to no job skills to teach them about business.

 

[Miles Ignatius]

You Can't Go Wrong...

...it's a opportunity to "bond" with your fellow human beings. When I moved from Arizona to Colorado, I had one to purge the excess I didn't want to load up in the U-Haul. I'd advertised it to start at 8:00 am, when the balmy summer temps were a mere 110 degrees. Right at 6 am sharp, the doorbell started ringing along with the recurring mantra, "Yuh got any jewelry or guns?" :-\

 

[Downtown]

ugh. we had a garage sale after we got married to purge our household of all the things we had in triplicate (we each had our own households before getting hitched, so we unloaded the "yours" and "mine" and kept the "ours". We did pretty well, but also did it with two other families to make it worth it. That said, I hope to god we never accumulate enough crap to do it again.

Our town has an ordinance that residents can have 2 garage sales per year. It's basically enforced by neighbors tattling on each other. One of the building dep't secretaries is a serial garage saler, every single weekend she has one, but has gone unreported thus far. My DH hates her (she's in our neighborhood) and during every saturday morning dog walk, begs me to let him report her. sigh.

 

[Michele Zone]

That said, I hope to god we never accumulate enough crap to do it again.

The way to not accumulate enough crap to do it again is to keep a box or paperbag near the front door for "donations". Anytime it gets full, haul it off to your favorite cause. Mine is a local homeless shelter where I did an internship. (Other family members can be trained to cooperate. :-D )

 

[Zoning Goddess]

My mom and I had a joint garage sale 2 years ago when she moved, just because she had soooo much stuff to get rid of. It just wasn't worth the hassle. Other than that anomaly, I've donated "extras" for years to her church's twice-yearly sales.

 

[Downtown]

The problem is that Rob is such a pack rat - it is painful for him to give up ANYTHING. he has a WHOLE DRAWER of tighty whities, he has not worn a single one in the 7 1/2 years we've been together, and keeps insisting that he's saving them to use for washing the car. B-)



*note - we would NEVER sell his tighty whities in a garage sale, or donate them, I'm just using this as an example of how hard it is for him to let things go.

 

[Maister]

note - we would NEVER sell his tighty whities in a garage sale, or donate them, I'm just using this as an example of how hard it is for him to let things go.

That's a shame, I'm sure that my grandmother would be the first in line to buy them for me as a birthday present. She gets me lots of interesting stuff like that, you know.

 

[Gedunker]

Didn't George Carlin do a bit about stuff - with the idea that we acquire stuff in direct proportion to our ability to store the stuff we collect?

That's why I keep letting Mrs. G. just dump stuff in the basement/garage/attic until they are full. Maybe then we'll stop acquiring stuff. If we have a garage sale or donate it to a worthy cause, wouldn't she just get started all over to refill the now-empty space? ;-)

DISCLAIMER: I also am a pack-rat with one obvious difference. I insist on order -- the old "a place for everything and everything in its place".

 

[Floridays]

My family had a garage sale about 10 years ago. One word: NIGHTMARE!
These people show up at the crack of friggin dawn and start pawing though your stuff like out of control beasts. Then they be-yotch because the ad said it was a "3 family" sale and there wasn't enough stuff! Sheesh!

You'd think I'd learn, but my SO and I plan to have a yard sale in August or September. :-$

 

[Michele Zone]

Downtown, I am genuinely sorry to hear that your husband has such a severe case of pack-rat-itis. My husband did too when we married. He has improved somewhat. He also infected our kids. They are completely cured, thanks in part from moving from 2200 square feet with a yard and garage to 955 square feet with a patio and storeroom. We had 4 yard sales and hauled a carload to the second hand store afterwards and hauled furniture to the curb and we were trashing things as we unpacked just to make room. I bribed my kids into giving up a carload of toys just so we could unpack. (A $15 "secrets guide" to one of their video games and they remember about 2 toys from from the 7 boxes I hauled to Goodwill that day.)

I would attempt to give you sage advice but.... I really don't want to revisit the years of wrestling with hubby over such issues. I just want him to get a storeroom and start removing his semi-packrat collection of stuff from our apartment. 8-!

Hopefully, you are smarter than me anyway and married someone whom you don't mind putting up with.

 

[SlaveToTheGrind]

I stop by a garage sale if I see some old golf clubs. In the town I live, every saturday, cars are lined up on Main Street with tagboard attached pointing the way to the garage sale. I'll have to take a picture this weekend.

 

[Downtown]

I would attempt to give you sage advice but.... I really don't want to revisit the years of wrestling with hubby over such issues. I just want him to get a storeroom and start removing his semi-packrat collection of stuff from our apartment. 8-!

Hopefully, you are smarter than me anyway and married someone whom you don't mind putting up with.

hee! fortunately, Rob is compulsive neat freak, so there isn't any clutter. But all of my clothes are in the baby's closet, and once he gets bigger, Rob really will have to start getting rid of golf shirts he's not worn in 6 years, and pants that he can only dream of fitting in again.

 

[BiteMeElmo]

If you decide to go the way of a yard sale, see if you can get some family members or neighbors to join in. When you advertise as multiple-family, you tend to draw more people, and therefore potentially make more money.

If making money from it is not your priority, do the donation/give away thing. Having a yard sale is a lot of work for the meager return you usually get.

 

[michaelskis]

Bump a decade old thread.

In June, our neighborhood is having a massive garage sale. It seems to be very well attended and we have bought stuff in the bast. This year, the wife and I think we will participate because there is so much stuff that we want to get rid of in an attempt to declutter our life. It is fighting the number of small appliances that my wife has collected over the years (Think Ronco). We have a rule that what ever does not get sold, gets donated to the Salvation Army or brought to the consignment kids store.

What are your thoughts on yard sales?

 

[Vancity]

In June, our neighborhood is having a massive garage sale. It seems to be very well attended and we have bought stuff in the bast. This year, the wife and I think we will participate because there is so much stuff that we want to get rid of in an attempt to declutter our life. It is fighting the number of small appliances that my wife has collected over the years (Think Ronco). We have a rule that what ever does not get sold, gets donated to the Salvation Army or brought to the consignment kids store.

What are your thoughts on yard sales?

With the rise of sites like Craigslist, I think they're almost a thing of the past. I see the occasional yard sale sign around, but I remember more in the 90's.

I use craigslist a tonne. I've never gone to a garage sale: I work weekends.

 

[WSU MUP Student]

The neighborhood-wide ones seem to be an excuse to just transfer everybody's unwanted junk to their neighbors.

In the summer when I am out running I will slow down and take a look if I pass a house with a garage sale. A few times I've asked the owners to hold on to something for me and I'd return with the money after my run. But those instances are few and far between as I rarely find things I want to get. (I'm usually looking for tools and lawn care stuff that I know I will only use a few times and don't want to waste the money on buying new or sometimes old furniture).

My wife enjoys yard sales and garage sales more than I do and has found they are really good opportunities to find things for our daughter (clothes, books, toys...).

As for holding one of our own - I'd rather just pack up everything and take it to Goodwill.

 

[Linda_D]

With the rise of sites like Craigslist, I think they're almost a thing of the past. I see the occasional yard sale sign around, but I remember more in the 90's.

I use craigslist a tonne. I've never gone to a garage sale: I work weekends.

Well, maybe that's hip Vancouver but New York State's Southern Tier is at least a decade behind the times (in some ways, it's probably five decades behind but that's for another thread), so garage sales are plentiful in this area. Since this week is "Spring Clean Up" by the Board of Public Utilities, private garage sales and church rummage sales sprouted like dandelions on Friday and Saturday (the 11th commandment, Jamestown and environs style, is "thou shalt not hold garage sales on Sundays").

I held a garage sale once, and my motto is, "Never again!" To make it "worth it" to advertise, two of my girlfriends joined me. Since it was at my house, I had to rearrange the garage or empty it out to make room, including moving my gardening/lawn equipment out to the yard (understand I have a lawn tractor, two lawn mowers, a snowblower, a rototiller) plus some other bulky stuff like a large, non-folding dog crate, several sizes of "have a heart" animal traps, and a portable air compressor). They helped me set up tables and make more tables by using plywood on sawhorses (both supplied by me). After spending two days selling stuff, we had to pack all the unsold crap except books into my vehicle (I had an SUV, they had cars) on Saturday afternoon to take to the local humane society thrift store. One of my girlfriends packed up all the books and hauled them off to the public library to be sold at their big used book sale. Now, with rain threatening, I had to take down tables to have room to put all my stuff back into the garage.

I made around $75. If I had made 3 times that, it would not have been worth it to me. Now, I just donate my stuff. I donate my time, money, and goods to local organizations/charities because it's the right thing to do and because I support their programs/purposes, not because I can get a tax deduction.

 

[DVD]

I'm all for taking it to Goodwill, saves me hours of watching people pick over my crap like it's not good enough for them at $1.00.
My kids have discovered yard sales and love to take a couple bucks to buy some broken kids toys or games with half the pieces missing. They did get a great deal on a couple light sabers though.

 

[mike gurnee]

I would be embarrassed to let people know that we are semi-hoarders . Go to sales in "better" neighborhoods: find out they have the same crap as everyone else.

 

[Whose Yur Planner]

I avoid them like the plague. I don't Craig's List either. Salvation Army or the equivalent is as for as I go.

 

[kjel]

Not too many garage sales here in the urban 'hood. There are flea markets on Saturdays that are typically held in church parking lots and they get a lot of traffic. I am a natural declutterer so I tend to sort through things twice a year and purge whatever hasn't been used and/or will not be used any time soon. I did an "estate sale" when my mom passed away, but I wasn't selling crap so it was worth it. It did take about a week to prepare for it and 4 people to work inside and outside the house while buyers were there. For ho hum household goods, I will take a pass and just give away or donate.