garage sale, thrift sale, rummage sale, or tag sale… no matter what you call it, the process always looks the same…
- spend monday-friday hauling boxes of old clothing, decorations, and toys out of the basement.
- price each item. debate between putting a $1 sticker or a $2 sticker on the old picture frame.
- spend friday evening arranging the garage, setting up tables, putting garage sale signs at strategic intersections in your neighborhood. get to bed around 1:00 or 1:30am.
- wake up at 7am on saturday for your 9am garage sale. look out your window to find scavengers already peering into your garage.
- spend all day saturday sitting on lawnchairs allowing strangers to haggle you down 50 cents on a 1 dollar item.
- wonder about your taste in home furnishings when some of your items don’t sell despite being marked down to 25 cents.
- box up all your remaining items and drive to goodwill.
- count up your earnings… $135.
- go out for dinner… spend $65.
- ask yourself, “why did we ever think this was a good idea?”
this past weekend, we held our second annual garage sale. we love getting rid of old items and creating new space in our home. and we especially love trading clutter for money. but the energy that it takes to pull off a well-organized garage sale is rarely worth the financial return. after this year’s garage sale, we packed up everything that was left and took it to the goodwill (5 large boxes full of old clothes and home decorations)… if i couldn’t sell it for 25 cents, why would i keep it in my house?
may the day come soon when i have no need to organize another garage sale…
related posts: