Huge Yard Sale

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.