Had our yard sale today

[disneysteve]

All week, the forecast was calling for intermittent showers, but we forged ahead and held our sale today. As usual, the forecast was wrong and it was a beautiful sunny day with a light breeze. We were very busy - first customer came at 6:50 AM. We finished packing up at 2:35 PM.

We sold a ton of stuff including quite a few larger items that were hogging space in our garage. Grand total was about $250 in sales. Not great but we really were aiming to clean out rather than make big bucks. We sold a lot of things really cheap. If someone asked about an item, we found a price they were willing to pay rather than wait and hope someone else would pay more.

Of course, right now the garage doesn't look much better than it did this morning but I know we didn't put everything away very compactly. I'm positive we emptied out numerous carton boxes because I packed several of them with customers' purchases. Next weekend day I've got free, I'll get in there and repack and stack everything in a more organized fashion. We rushed a bit because the rain was finally threatening after 2:00 when we started packing up.

All in all, a successful sale. We're both achy and exhausted but we know we got rid of a bunch of stuff and found it all new homes.

[Ima saver]

That is great. I need to do that myself!!

[Aleta]

I have to do the same thing. Am getting everything ready for it. Our rain starts in June so I have to hurry up.

[nitajaye]

My apartment complex had their community sale Saturday. I had three tables FULL of things clothing, toys and misc. I was hoping to make at least $100.00. I made $113.00. I was very happy. Not bad for four hours of work.

At the end I took 3 boxes to goodwill, this was stuff that had not sold on the last 3 sales. I have 2 small boxes that I brought home. Some of this I will freecycle and some I will keep for the fall sale.

I love garagae sales. I was very proud of myself I only spent $1.00 and that was for a friends daycare.

[disneysteve]

My apartment complex had their community sale Saturday. I had three tables FULL of things clothing, toys and misc. I was hoping to make at least $100.00. I made $113.00. I was very happy. Not bad for four hours of work.

That's great. I wish ours was only 4 hours of work, though. We were up at 5 am and finished cleaning up at 2:30 pm, so 9-1/2 hours for us.

[jodi]

250 divided by 9.5 hours = $26.32 per hour. Not too shabby!

[disneysteve]

250 divided by 9.5 hours = $26.32 per hour. Not too shabby!

Ah, but there were 2 of us, so actually 19 man-hours (or woman-hours) of labor. And we spent $30 on advertising - net was $220. That brings us down to $11.58 per person per hour. Not bad for a day when we'd normally make nothing but not spectacular either.

[Aleta]

Well, if you consider that you didn't have to dress up, use your vehicle, that might not be too bad. I think you did well.

[disneysteve]

Well, if you consider that you didn't have to dress up, use your vehicle, that might not be too bad. I think you did well.

Me too. Not complaining at all. Had we not had the yard sale, we probably would have been out spending money somewhere, so we definitely came out ahead by far.

[Fern]

i did 2 tag sales last summer, when i thought i was moving, and i believe i netted, after the cost of the classifieds, somewhere int he $100 range. I didn't really feel it was worth it, and sitting there all day is very tiring and unproductive plus i found that people will try to talk you down no matter how cheaply you've priced it.

[disneysteve]

i did 2 tag sales last summer, when i thought i was moving, and i believe i netted, after the cost of the classifieds, somewhere int he $100 range. I didn't really feel it was worth it, and sitting there all day is very tiring and unproductive plus i found that people will try to talk you down no matter how cheaply you've priced it.

We were totally exhausted afterward. We had planned to do something nice because our daughter was away for the weekend. We ended up showering and vegging on the sofa instead.

As for people haggling, we avoided that by selling everything really cheap. We made $250 but we could have very easily made twice that much on the same items. Our goal was totally getting rid of the stuff. We weren't concerned with the money at all. A lot of customers got some really great deals on Saturday.

[Aleta]

If I have a certain price that I want for a particular item, I try to stay with it. I will tell them that if it's there when they come back, that we will talk price then. That usually does it. If they really want it, they will commit right there or walk off. There are definitely certain items that I have a price on. There are times that I have stuff from my son and his wife, and I don't move the price around unless they tell me to.

Fern: $100. is a $100. Especially for people needing to get out of debt, starting an emergency fund, or whatever goal they have. I agree that it's a lot of work, but it really makes me think twice about buying stuff or as some of you say crap. When you realize how little your stuff get get in a garage sale, you rethink your spending habits. I think that it can be a learning tool, definitely a way to declutter, making a little extra money, and sometimes getting to know new neighbors.

[ithaca]

One other thing to consider.... you could have donated those items (and more) to Salvation Army, Red Cross, etc and taken the tax write-off. Probably would have ended up being an extra $200-$300 in your pocket at the end of the year.

[deca]

One other thing to consider.... you could have donated those items (and more) to Salvation Army, Red Cross, etc and taken the tax write-off. Probably would have ended up being an extra $200-$300 in your pocket at the end of the year.

But there's a limit of $500, isn't there, before you have to have more serious documentation than the little receipts those charities hand out. A deduction of $200-300 on your taxable income isn't the same as $200-300 in your pocket.

[Aleta]

That only applies if you itemize your deductions. If you take a standard, you can't deduct it.