I Want to Garage-Sale Them
I've been quite busy over the past few weeks helping my Mom get ready for her annual Spring garage sale.
My Mom takes garage sales VERY seriously. She has a VIP list of people who get to come the night before and a cash register (my Dad gave her the cash register once as a gag gift and she loved it.)
Sofie also loves helping with the garage sales. She's even invented her own garage sale term "garage sale it." Whenever she outgrows a pair of shoes, she tells my Mom, "Grandma, these shoes don't fit anymore. I want to garage-sale them."
Just like Grandma, Sofie has always taken garage sales very seriously:
"I'm ready to wheel-and-deal, people. Make me an offer."
"Unacceptable. That offer is an insult."
Sofie drives a hard bargain. When she prices her shoes for 80 cents, don't even think about offering her 75 cents for them.
This was the first year she took an interest in putting prices on her own stuff and apparently 75 cents was not enough to charge, but a dollar felt like too much. So pricing everything 80 cents and 90 cents was the only reasonable option. My Mom made the mistake of letting my sister price her own stuff one year (she was probably 8-years-old at the time) and the result was that my Mom spent all day saying stuff like, "35 cents. Why on Earth didn't she just price it 25 cents." So that's Garage Sale tip # 1. When allowing your children to price their own stuff, maybe have a talk first about prices that make sense and prices that make no sense at all.
When Tyler came along, he was a little bit less enthused about garage sales than Sofie:
(Doesn't my Mom look happy sitting behind her cash register!)
Garage Sale Tip # 2, for those of you who want to have a garage sale but are overwhelmed by the task: I love sorting for garage sales. It feels so good to clear out the clutter, remove all the things I don't truly love so that I can more fully enjoy the things that I do. But, I feel a bit overwhelmed by sorting everything in my life all at once. And I absolutely loathe pricing all the items I'm getting rid of. So this year, I decided to get smart and sort a little bit at a time all throughout the winter. I kept a box in an out-of-the-way spot and threw things in the box as I got tired of them. Then, as soon as a box was full, I would price everything, put a big X on the box so I would know it was totally ready for the garage sale and put it in the basement.
When garage sale time came, I still did one final sweep through everything I own, to be sure I had gotten rid of everything, but it felt so good to not have such an overwhelming task of sorting and pricing everything all at once.
And Garage Sale tip # 3, coming to you straight from Sofie, is don't forget to have fun. Sofie was so excited during this garage sale because she got to try on all of the headbands Auntie Alissa was getting rid of:
My Mom takes garage sales VERY seriously. She has a VIP list of people who get to come the night before and a cash register (my Dad gave her the cash register once as a gag gift and she loved it.)
Sofie also loves helping with the garage sales. She's even invented her own garage sale term "garage sale it." Whenever she outgrows a pair of shoes, she tells my Mom, "Grandma, these shoes don't fit anymore. I want to garage-sale them."
Just like Grandma, Sofie has always taken garage sales very seriously:
"I'm ready to wheel-and-deal, people. Make me an offer."
"Unacceptable. That offer is an insult."
Sofie drives a hard bargain. When she prices her shoes for 80 cents, don't even think about offering her 75 cents for them.
This was the first year she took an interest in putting prices on her own stuff and apparently 75 cents was not enough to charge, but a dollar felt like too much. So pricing everything 80 cents and 90 cents was the only reasonable option. My Mom made the mistake of letting my sister price her own stuff one year (she was probably 8-years-old at the time) and the result was that my Mom spent all day saying stuff like, "35 cents. Why on Earth didn't she just price it 25 cents." So that's Garage Sale tip # 1. When allowing your children to price their own stuff, maybe have a talk first about prices that make sense and prices that make no sense at all.
When Tyler came along, he was a little bit less enthused about garage sales than Sofie:
(Doesn't my Mom look happy sitting behind her cash register!)
Garage Sale Tip # 2, for those of you who want to have a garage sale but are overwhelmed by the task: I love sorting for garage sales. It feels so good to clear out the clutter, remove all the things I don't truly love so that I can more fully enjoy the things that I do. But, I feel a bit overwhelmed by sorting everything in my life all at once. And I absolutely loathe pricing all the items I'm getting rid of. So this year, I decided to get smart and sort a little bit at a time all throughout the winter. I kept a box in an out-of-the-way spot and threw things in the box as I got tired of them. Then, as soon as a box was full, I would price everything, put a big X on the box so I would know it was totally ready for the garage sale and put it in the basement.
When garage sale time came, I still did one final sweep through everything I own, to be sure I had gotten rid of everything, but it felt so good to not have such an overwhelming task of sorting and pricing everything all at once.
And Garage Sale tip # 3, coming to you straight from Sofie, is don't forget to have fun. Sofie was so excited during this garage sale because she got to try on all of the headbands Auntie Alissa was getting rid of:
As you can see, I was getting rid of a couple of books that year. I like to sort through my bookshelves frequently and make sure I'm only keeping the books that I plan to read again.
If you have any garage sale tips or tricks, I would love to hear about them in the comments section!
Wow! So organized. I’ve only had one garage sale and it was chaos. I’d be way more organized if I ever did one again. A cash register would be awesome!
ReplyDeleteThe cash register is so helpful because we have several family members all bringing stuff. This way, we can assign different departments on the register to different people and it's so easy to keep everyone's money they earned straight!
DeleteI would have loved to come to your garage sale just to look through that table of books you were getting rid of! :)
ReplyDeleteThat would have been nice. Sadly, we didn't get very many garage sale customers looking for books.
DeleteSofie and Tyler are adorable. Great tips you have offered. We are downsizing and trying to sell the heavy furniture via fb marketplace. It's stressful! lol
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! And good luck with your downsizing.
DeleteEvery time I have had a garage sale, I ended the day vowing to never do it again. But then, of course, I did! Next time I will definitely contact you for advice!
ReplyDeleteI felt the same way after the end of the two garage sales. I'm glad that we aren't going to do a garage sale again until the Fall.
DeleteThat's a fun take on garage sales. At least your mom and Sophie are enjoying it. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI had moments where I enjoyed it too, but not as much as Sofie and my Mom did!
DeleteSophie is so darned adorable, that's what I'd want to get at the garage sale -- a cute little girl who clearly knows her own mind!
ReplyDeleteEveryone should be lucky enough to have a Sofie!
DeleteSophie's so cute!
ReplyDeleteI used to donate items, but since I've realized that there's corruption with charity organizers, I've decided I want to sell the items no longer in use (books, clothes, etc...)..
We don't , however, have (not that I know of) sales like you do. I think store owners and charity organizations influence the authorities not to permit garage sales or the like , here, where I live (Israel).
Thank you! That's such a shame that you're not able to have garage sales where you live.
DeleteAdorable children, who could resist buying something fro such a sweetie.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
DeleteI am just laughing about the garage sale and your mom's devotion to doing them "her way". Hysterical about the cash register. I gave up doing them a few years ago-it just wasn't worth it for me and I wasn't dedicated enough to the "art" of doing it right. lol
ReplyDeleteThanks for popping by my blog and praying for Kenny. I hope you have a good day! xo Diana
You're welcome, Diana. I was happy to do it!
DeleteI have never had a garage sale, but I think it's a great idea. Good luck to your mother.
ReplyDeleteIt is a good idea. I have not come across this type of sale:)
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by my blog!
DeleteOh my, Sophie is ever so cute! What a smart gal too. I have been helping with my friends late Aunt's estate. I have hosted 9 sales at my home. I love doing it, but alot of work. But I do follow the rule of having fun. The home is in a remote area that wouldn't get much traffic. I have gotten quite the following from her sales. (She had good stuff) We are finally hosting our last sale at the home. People have to drive 2 hrs. away, but say they will. I sure hope so! lol! We've organized alot, but there's also going to be alot of digging and picking going on. I love that your mom loves her cash register. She's a gal after my own heart!
ReplyDeletehugs,
Jann
Thank you! Oh my goodness, 9 sales. That sounds like a lot of work. Good luck with the final sale. I hope everything goes well!
DeleteAnother charming and funny story from you! Sophie is clearly a winner in this garage sale game.
ReplyDeleteThank you! Sofie was so cute when she was talking to customers!
DeleteI have two tips! 1) price everything in increments of 25 cents. Then you don’t have to mess with pennies, nickels and dimes. And easier to quickly add up if you’re busy. If something isn’t worth a quarter pair it with something else. 2 for .25!
ReplyDeleteAlso, sineage. Neon colors. all the same neon color. Lots of them. Cut the poster in 1/4ths. It doesn’t flop over that way. And just put arrows and address. That’s it. Think about what you can read while driving by in a car. Use bold marker too. And when the sale is over TAKE THE SIGNS DOWN FIRST THING! Then close the doors to the sale. Not the other way around.
Now I’m going to check out those potatoes. Thanks for commenting on my blog!
Cindy
Thanks for the great suggestions!
Delete