We finally pulled the trigger and had a yard sale. I say yard sale because we didn't use the garage. I didn't want anyone in there.
I had done my research on how to have a successful sale but Brooke hadn't read them so they had minimal impact. One useful tip was to have a fanny pack to carry your money in. Of course you want good signs and enough change to get started. Another good one, don't badmouth your items. One thing I read that I thought was good, was to think about your goals before you start, and let everyone who is helping know what those goals are. Mainly, are you trying to clear out your house or are you trying to make money.
I'm not sure that we really defined that to ourselves. I'd say eighty percent was getting rid of things and twenty percent higher priced things to make money. The great thing was we sold almost all of the bigger items. We sold a set of chairs that I had been storing in the garage for ten years. I also sold two dressers. One was from the basement and was small, cute and painted...$50. The other was an Eastlake style that Brooke had picked up at a church sale for $60. I tried selling it on ebay but didn't get much interest. It just happened that a young man stopped by and was very interested. He was going to get it for his mother. I was showing it to him and at the same time, an antiques dealer from Montana was looking it over too. The antiques dealer, graciously took over the presentation. He made many of the points that I had made and in the end said the price was fair for that piece. That sold for $325.
We had some items that we didn't know what they were until the customers showed us. The antiques guy, again, bought a little wooden box Brooke had collected because there was a little wooden bird that popped up when the box was opened. It was a Japanese cigarette dispenser. Another item was in the shape of a rectangle with alternating plastic geometric pieces. This turned out to be a Rubik's toy that you could make into various shapes...a cross, snake etc.
There were a lot of little vignettes with people, families, experiences. People were generally chatty and in a good mood. We had a lot of fun ourselves and worked well together.
We sold a sterling silver ring for 25cents. Brass candle holders 25 cents each. Many other bargains if you looked carefully. I served cold watermelon on day one and cold strawberries on day two. How many yard sales serve hors d'oeuvres ? Do you know what an hors d'oeuvre is? So, these weren't technically hors d'oeuvres.
A kid of about 13 who had Down's Syndrome showed up with his sister. The sister was probably 16 to 18. The boy's name was Patrick. He was wearing a t-shirt that read, "I DECIDED TO PUT MYSELF IN CHARGE." We sold him a necklace with a moon on it. He liked it so much he gave me a hug and Brooke a hug. Later Brooke gave him another necklace with a starfish on it. He may have been our most satisfied customer.
I don't know if we could duplicate this sale. I doubt it. The weather was perfect, other people were having sales and there were other activities(like the Crim) that were going on.
This was the perfect way for Brooke and me to spend our anniversary.
Sunday, August 26, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
The Lamson Cup
My brother Tom and his wife Rita spend their summers in Michigan and their Winters in Viero Beach Florida. Tom is 11 years older than Kay and I. So in the family dynamics he's part of the first family.(explained in another blog)
He called about a week ago to see if I'd like to play golf on the 14th. I told him I had only played early in the season and not since, but I'd love to play. I mentioned the lack of play only so he would know I might be an embarrassment on the course not to gain any betting advantage. He said,"Then this will be for the Lamson Trophy." Years ago I bought an old bowling trophy at Salvation Army and made it into what I called the Lamson Cup. I thought we could play each year for it and that would assure that we would at least play golf once a year. After a few years we let our Brother-in-law Harold in on the competition and he always won so we quit playing for it. Now, Harold has passed on so we can restart the tradition. That was the joke. We really just played for the chance to get together.
I got on line to find a couple of golf jokes so in case the opportunity arose I'd be prepared. When I arrived at Tyrone Hills, Tom was already there and had got a golf cart and was practicing putting. We greeted on the practice green and I practiced a few putts myself. I had a different putter I had never tried before. Soon we were teeing off on number one and catching up on each others health and families etc. The golf was pretty good and it was just a beautiful day. On the 12th green you can look out over the course and I took a few seconds to take it in.
Tom had brought along a small insulated bag. When I saw it I thought he might have a couple of beers in there. It's a sign of our age though that he had a couple of waters and two Five Hour Energy drinks. He had bought them to try out because Rita had been in an accident awhile back and had very little energy while recuperating. She refused to try them so we each had one. I think they affected my game negatively. I don't think I'll use it again.
After teeing off on 13, Tom noticed some mushrooms out front of the tee. We checked to see if they were non-poisonous and they were. We picked a nice batch of them and later found a few more. I told Tom that I remembered picking mushrooms with our Dad. We would walk though the cow pastures and find the same variety there. Tom said now he would have to buy an expensive steak to use his free mushrooms on.
We said goodby and promised to play again before the weather gets cold this Fall. I'm really glad we found the mushrooms. It made it more than golf.
I fried up my mushrooms and mixed them with some left over ground beef that we had had the day before as taco meat. There was more than I could eat. I hope Tom enjoyed his mushrooms. I'm sure he did. He was so happy to find them and was really anticipating dinner.
He called about a week ago to see if I'd like to play golf on the 14th. I told him I had only played early in the season and not since, but I'd love to play. I mentioned the lack of play only so he would know I might be an embarrassment on the course not to gain any betting advantage. He said,"Then this will be for the Lamson Trophy." Years ago I bought an old bowling trophy at Salvation Army and made it into what I called the Lamson Cup. I thought we could play each year for it and that would assure that we would at least play golf once a year. After a few years we let our Brother-in-law Harold in on the competition and he always won so we quit playing for it. Now, Harold has passed on so we can restart the tradition. That was the joke. We really just played for the chance to get together.
I got on line to find a couple of golf jokes so in case the opportunity arose I'd be prepared. When I arrived at Tyrone Hills, Tom was already there and had got a golf cart and was practicing putting. We greeted on the practice green and I practiced a few putts myself. I had a different putter I had never tried before. Soon we were teeing off on number one and catching up on each others health and families etc. The golf was pretty good and it was just a beautiful day. On the 12th green you can look out over the course and I took a few seconds to take it in.
Tom had brought along a small insulated bag. When I saw it I thought he might have a couple of beers in there. It's a sign of our age though that he had a couple of waters and two Five Hour Energy drinks. He had bought them to try out because Rita had been in an accident awhile back and had very little energy while recuperating. She refused to try them so we each had one. I think they affected my game negatively. I don't think I'll use it again.
After teeing off on 13, Tom noticed some mushrooms out front of the tee. We checked to see if they were non-poisonous and they were. We picked a nice batch of them and later found a few more. I told Tom that I remembered picking mushrooms with our Dad. We would walk though the cow pastures and find the same variety there. Tom said now he would have to buy an expensive steak to use his free mushrooms on.
We said goodby and promised to play again before the weather gets cold this Fall. I'm really glad we found the mushrooms. It made it more than golf.
I fried up my mushrooms and mixed them with some left over ground beef that we had had the day before as taco meat. There was more than I could eat. I hope Tom enjoyed his mushrooms. I'm sure he did. He was so happy to find them and was really anticipating dinner.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
