Adventures in garage sales part 1 – the good stuff

For the last few weeks I have been getting ready for a garage sale. It is just frightening to me to see the amount of stuff our family has amassed. I don't think of myself as a shopper. I really don't like shopping. But the amount of stuff we have must mean that I do shop (or maybe our stuff is breeding – that is very possible). As I sorted our belongings out I found enough Tupperware for 3-4 families, enough stuffed animals to open a toy store and enough Citrix (the company Pete works for) logoed shirts, backpacks and water bottles for an entire village. The bags and boxes of stuff just kept piling up. Books I'll never read again, clothes with the tags still on them, blah, blah, blah, just way too much stuff!

But as the saying goes, one man's junkola is another man's treasure.

After days of tedious sorting and pricing, Friday finally arrived. I love garage sale days. I love meeting and talking to complete strangers. I think it is so interesting to see what people buy and how much they offer for it. Friday's sale went great. We had crowds most of the day and sold so many things. Sarah and Emily sold donuts, juice and water. Emily was quite the forward saleswoman, walking around asking people if they wanted a donut. Sarah was mortified by her little sister's forwardness, but it paid off and they made $17. By the end of the day, I had made over $500! Who new my junk treasures could be worth so much?

Interested in having a garage sale? Here are my tips and links to two sites about having garage sales.

1. Make a lot of signs. I did bright yellow arrows that said "Garage Sale" leading to our house.
   
2. Post on Craigslist. I posted an advertisement on Craigslist, listing types of things we were selling, our address, and told people to follow the yellow arrows.
   
3. Keep the kids busy. Having the kids have their own sale really helped me keep them busy during the morning rush. They were very excited about making their own money.
   
4. Organize your items by category. Place all kitchen items on one table, baby things on another. You get the idea.
   

   Tips for having a sucessful garage sale or tag sale.
   10 tips to a wildly sucessful garage sale