So...Moving into the pricing phase of the garage sale there are more interesting conversations.
Son: How much should I ask for this?
Me: I dunno. Two dollars?
Son: Two dollars!
Me: Too much? Too little?
Son: I don't know. I was just surprised.
Me: Hmmm...
... and...
Mr. Jenny: Why do you have $40 dollars on this Starbucks cappucino machine?
Me: I thought that seemed fair.
Mr. Jenny: Well, it's in perfect condition.
Me: I know...but it is a garage sale after all.
Mr. Jenny: Well, I think it was almost $400 dollars.
Me: And we got a lot of use out of it.
Mr. Jenny: Well, change the price to $60.
Me: OK.
Mr. Jenny: Well, maybe change the price to $80
Me: OK
Mr. Jenny: Well, change the price to $100
Me: Sigh.
Mr. Jenny: Maybe we should just keep it. (taking it back into the house where it will reside in the cupboard for another 2 1/2 years)
...and...
Neighbor: Hey, are you getting ready for your garage sale?
Me: Ummm....yea.
Neighbor: Well, do you care if I look at stuff?
Me: Ummm... well...ummm.... sure...
Neighbor: Hey, didn't you buy this at my garage sale for $5?
Me: I have no idea.
Neighbor: Well, you have $10 on it...maybe we should split the profit.
Me: Ummm...sure...ummm....I'll get back to you on that.
...and...
Daughter: Hey, does this say $7 ?
Me: Yes
Daughter: Why?
Me: Because it does.
Daughter: Well how much did it cost?
Me: I have no earthly idea.
Daughter: Well did you google it?
Me: ummm.... No.
Daughter: Did you look on e-bay?
Me: ummm.... No.
Daughter: Well how did you know to price it at $7.
Me: ummmm.... Go away now.
...
But my very favorite garage sale pricing story is when our oldest Granddaughter was two. I had read some silly book on organizing a garage sale with multiple people by color coding it. I got all these little round stickers in about 8 different colors and marked every single thing of my sisters and my kids and my parent's neighbors in different colors AND I made a little chart.
Julia, however, thought she would help by taking off about 80% of the stickers.
"Gwamma," she said proudly, grubby fists overflowing with crunched up color coded circles, "Look, I help you!"
I just sold everything, divided up the money and said "yea, that color coding system was not all it was cracked up to be!"
And now, I leave you with this...
An average garage sale in the United States nets $239.46. For about 30 hours of work. Netting around $7.98 per hour. Minus the emotional stress which puts it at around $3.60 per hour. Plus the fun of chatting with 100 total strangers which adds at least $2.00 per hour.
So for $5.60 per hour I am going to give each of my children around sixty bucks.
Hmmm...
If you'll excuse me I think I better go sneak that cappucino maker back out to the garage!
Happy Monday!
Sigh.
And all of this, Dear Heart, is why I never have a garage sale. >,-))))))
ReplyDeleteGood Luck! When is this fabulous yard sale?
ReplyDeleteGoing to garage sales is fun! Having them, not so much. Our last one, we sat outside for 2 whole days and made $35!!! I hope yours went better!
ReplyDeleteThey are sort of a pain, but we've had them a couple of times anyway. The kids always loved doing it, and there was something satisfying about watching someone else drive off with our "junk."
ReplyDelete=)
Ha ha! I just posted about all of the good deals I found at sales this weekend!
ReplyDeleteoh gosh Jenny you are a riot and it is so true...and I'm just working with one 12 yr old who thinks we should be charging retail!
ReplyDelete{and who, btw, has finagled (sp?) me into going halvsies with him even though I have WAY more stuff to sell!)
LOL
Your garage sale posts reveal the truth! Fun to attend, not so fun to hold.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a fun series of posts!! Cheered me up this morning for sure. :) I would totally come to your garage sales!!
ReplyDeleteI had one garage sale at my house that was enough for me. Good luck it sounds like your having fun already ;-)
ReplyDeletepersonally, I think they are way too much work.....my mom used to conveniently stage them at my house then leave me with all the junk that was left over......good times.
ReplyDeleteI usually end up giving things to people I know or donating to charity. I can't stand the thought of selling something for far less than I paid. LOL! I know, it's crazy, but that's just the way I am.
ReplyDeleteI'd rather give the thing away. ;-)
XO.
Sheila... who is up and blogging again. Yea! :-)
Love to go to them but hate to have one. Entirely too much work for so little return.
ReplyDeleteSome years ago I was having a yard sale (my very first). I pulled everyting out for the sale and people started showing up before I had everything. I sent my daughter to Hardee's to get some biscuits. Nothing like a good biscuit at a yard sale for energy. I had put out a bedskirt from my daughters bed. A lady came up to purchase the skirt but didn't want it without the comforter. I don't know what I was thinking other than I wanted to make as much as I could on this sale that took forever to put together. I went inside and brought out the comforter and sold it. About that time my daughter was back with the biscuits. She went to her room to put away her purse and discovered the comforter was gone and when I told her what I'd done she was furious with me. She was mad at me weeks. I did buy her another one though. We laugh about this now.
It seems so much easier just to give them away....or just keep them ...
ReplyDeleteI shall pray for you....
lots of work - price low and you'll get rid of everything :D
ReplyDeleteOh after a few attempts I have decided I would much rather go to a yard sale then host one. So much work... Hope yours turned out well
ReplyDeleteGiggling ... fun fun fun .... Mr. Jenny sounds so much like Vandy! He made 10 bucks off of a turntable. I made ummm, I can't say ... I bought things, you know how that goes!!!
ReplyDeleteI've been helping out with some garage sales for a charity organization I'm a part of...and oh my goodness, I've learned a lot about the creepy hoarders of the world. WOW.
ReplyDeleteSeriously glad it's you, not me!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I gave up on holding my own sale...now I just call for the Salvation Army and they come get it. I get a tax deduction. Works for me! But good luck to you...
ReplyDeletePrice it at $75 and let people haggle ;) Isn't that half the fun?!
ReplyDeleteYou always meet the strangest people at garage sales. And that is not always good. :)
ReplyDeleteI am coming and I am ONLY bringing 7 bucks. Just 'cause.
The only thing I ever liked about Having a garage sale is the new empty spaces it created around the house...yay! let's mess em up again!! LOL:)
ReplyDeleteUnless it rains that day and you only make about $70.00, which means you should have just donated the whole lot! ;-)
ReplyDeleteWe used to have one garage sale every year. The past couple of years we have donated everything to the high school band marching band... (every spring they have a garage sale.) They sell as much as they can in one day and use that money to purchase uniforms and instruments. Anything that does not sell gets picked up by a community charity. So NONE of it comes back to my house. That is a very good thing.
Oh my...I have not had a garage sale in years. If my girls don't need something we do not use anymore I stack it in the closet and when the closet gets full I pack it in the car and drop at Goodwill. Much less stress. Sometimes I see my daughters sell it in their garage sales. That is ok because they gave me grandchildren. Fair trade. Actually I am sure I got the better end of the deal.
ReplyDeletehehe cracked me up!! Ohh the pricing but doesnt it feel good to purge all of that craaaa uughh stuff you no longer need :)
ReplyDeleteOk I quit my stuff is going to the charity shop I cant cope with this level of stress just to get rid of unwanted items .
ReplyDeleteYou make it sound so funny
hope you take photos maybe you can link it to saturday cents
I'm pricing to sell and we will be having "special sales" too during the day.
ReplyDeleteI just want the stuff gone and the lady organizing the neighborhood sale is sending a charity truck to pick up our stuff nest week too.
Whoooo Hooo!
Melinda
It will all be good.....once it is over and done with. How about Craig's List for the capuccino machine?
ReplyDeleteWe had a family garage sale on saturday (2 days ago). You forgot one thing. Having Dad there to help and repricing stuff he gave me and my sister - PRICELESS.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHad to redo my post, so I hope I'm not duplicating.
ReplyDeleteJust wanted to say that I hope your garage sale is a success. They are much work but always fun.
I think you should serve cappuccinos! LOL!
hugs
Sissie
Great post. It made me laugh outloud!! I so hate organizing garage sales, it would probably be better just to pile it all in the garage, open the doors and let people make offers as they please!!
ReplyDeleteI want to make the kind of money they make on CLEAN HOUSE! But then I would need them here! And they would make me give up things I am attached to. Never mind, I will do it myself.
ReplyDeleteIf I price my stuff, and bring my own table, can I tag onto your garage sale?
ReplyDeleteHoping all goes well...at our last sale we priced everything at $1.00!!! or I should say my husband did...I stayed inside so I would not see all my "precious" stuff being hauled away...Once it is gone you don't even miss it!
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad i stopped by. I almost missed the Yard Sale. OMG! How fun. Now dont forget to take pics!!!
ReplyDeleteI once promised a couple of old standing lamps for $10 each to a co-worker. Then a friend told us we should get $100 each for them. Too late. I also sold 4 boxes of Nikko Christmas plates for $5/box. Years later I paid about $100 to fill out a set, because now I loved them and had room for them. Sigh. I get a visceral reaction reading your posts about pricing!
ReplyDeleteI did not have any luck at my garage sale Saturday. :(
ReplyDeleteMy garage sale pet peeve is stuff priced too high b/c "I paid (x amount) for it." I want to say...well noone cares what you paid for it...it's in a yard sale! Obviously you don't want it or it wouldn't be sitting in your yard! Mark that sucker down and move it! It's like I use to tell my exhub about his baseball/basketball cards...it doesn't matter what the card is "worth"...it's nothing but a piece of cardboard until you actually sell the thing!! It's not worth anything til someone gives you money for it, then it's worth what THEY determine it's worth!
I hate paying store prices at a yard sale, just as much as I hate to see "clearance sale" and find the price tag has only been marked down about 5-10%. That is not CLEARANCE. Clearance means, "we've got to get rid of it..it's dirt cheap!"
just my pet peeve..sorry to vent on your page....again! LOL
You crack me up! Funny conversations and it happens to all of us:) Have a sweet day my friend! HUGS!
ReplyDeleteShirley and I have had a couple of joint garage sales here in small town, small state....and I've had a couple with my neighbors.
ReplyDeleteI quickly adopted my own garage sale rules.
Set up early.
If things haven't sold by 11 am, load them in the car and take them to Goodwill.
Goodwill has gotten truckloads of really great vintage items from me.
I wish I could have a garage sale, but most of the stuff I have to get rid of is old toys. It would traumatize the kids to see someone else driving off with their junk. Bags of old toys are being whisked off to Goodwill under cover of night!
ReplyDeleteThis is going into my permanent file so if I ever again have the urge to purge with a garage sale, I'll have this to remind me that Goodwill really loves me.
ReplyDeleteI love the 2 year old not so much a helper helper. Is it over yet? or is it this coming weekend? I want to see photos of the caos if you took them? our last sale netted $600 our first over $1200 - (all the baby stuff!!) I really don't plan to ever have another one.
ReplyDeleteI have the mother of all garage sale stories. I sold my couch and loveseat to a couple. They paid me and said they would come back in about an hour and pick it up. About 45 minutes later they come screeching up in a truck and literally start throwing the furniture in the truck. Another truck comes screeching up, blocks their truck, man jumps out, grabs the woman and starts screaming. Turns out she was his wife, had taken his money out of his wallet, showed up at my garage sale with her boyfriend to buy furniture because she was leaving her husband and moving in with boyfriend. Hubs asked what we should do. I said pop some popcorn, have a seat and watch the show. Hey, the furniture was paid for, they can fight over it all they want:)
ReplyDeleteIt doesn't seem worth the effort does it? I think giving it all the GoodWill or The Salvation Army is the way to go (if they will accept the stuff, that is. They can be choosey too! lol!)
ReplyDeleteWow - my best garage sale ever, I only made around $150. Methinks I'm underpricing. Nah - it feels good to let the crap go FAST. Who wants to sit around all day waiting for someone to buy the last few neglected items?
ReplyDelete(And this is why I end up saying - to heck with a yard sale - give it to Goodwill!) :)
This is such a fun series of posts!!
ReplyDeletepost free classifieds
Oh Jenny, i envy you and I pity you! I actually like to have garage sales, but the set up can be endless! I think your family would have about drove me nuts too! Did you have the sale yet and was it worth it?!
ReplyDeleteI'm reading these posts backwards as I'm trying to catch up from being away for almost two weeks. I have to say, reading posts backwards is kinda fun! The colored stickers and your granddaughter story is hilarious! Bless her little heart...
ReplyDelete