Since we now have a garage and Baby Sam has outgrown some clothes and I no longer needed my maternity things, we decided to have a garage sale. Well, actually the community council planned a neighborhood sale, so we signed up. It was dreadfully hot, and JT is a terrible salesperson. (Actual conversation - Nice Older Lady: How much do you want for this Steve Irwin doll? JT: (Silence) Me: How much do you think? Maybe 50 cents? JT: No, less money. Free. NOL: Surely you want some money for your piggy bank. Me: 50 cents is more than free. JT: (Acting shy and annoyed simultaneously and whispering to me) I want money. No, go away. 50 cents.)
Besides that, we didn't get much foot traffic. Mostly it was people driving by looking for particular bargains. No one wanted our jogging stroller (the buckle is broken and needs to be resewn, and I never liked how JT was thrown around in it), one man offered 15 dollars for my beautiful rocking chair that Mr. Burli insists needs a different home since it is uncomfortable (I refused to see it for such a lousy price, after all I spent at least 60 dollars on restoration materials!), and I gave away most of the maternity clothes to my neighbors, two of whom are pregnant and came to tell us the news.
So, maybe we made 30 dollars. We drank all the lemonade ourselves and ate most of the cookies. They were good.
And so another week has passed. Mr. Burli went to Mexico Monday and returned Friday, thus causing much annoyance as our credit card was rejected at Home Depot and Target. Alright, perhaps it was nice of them to want to verify that we bought things in Mexico, but really, I didn't need the humiliation of card rejection. Twice. (The second time was really overkill. Apparently I had to verify another purchase which posted a day later.)
We also went to the lumber store to see the beautiful hardwoods for the deck, but it looks like we will go with redwood, which is nice, too, and not nearly as expensive. Besides, as Mr. Burli pointed out, it wouldn't make sense to have nicer decking than the floors inside the house, and besides we need some of our Obamabucks to go to Austria next summer. Oh, and mom was right (as usual, she knows all sorts of odd things), the tree I once asked you to identify is indeed an ipe tree, a pink trumpet flower tree. So maybe I should grow my own hardwood! (Oh, woe is me. I keep adding plants to my list of 'plants wanted for yard' list, but my pocketbook is empty. My latest addition: cup of gold vine. Anyone have a cutting of one for me?)
4 comments:
My, those brothers look so alike! The yard sale setup looked good, but I agree with JT that it is hard to set a price and make a sale. I worked our missions yard sale Friday--how much for this, or that? Even though it wasn't my stuff, I still wanted to get a good return and keep the customers happy, too.
Hope you keep cool this week--it looks like SoCal will be hot! (Here the yards are turning into lakes--such a big change from the drought.)
Love to all, momsie/gma
What a cute picture of the boys. Are SJ's eyes still blue? You were brave doing a garage sale. It's lots of work for one alone.
gma/gt gma
Yeah, garage sales always seemed lie too much work. We usually donate the small items and then Craigslist anything that might be more than about $10-$15. That way you can find someone that might be looking for your specific item. For clothes/diapers, if you have certain brands, you can sell online and do pretty well.
garage sales are so much work and as you found out not always a good return. i prefer sending my unwanted things to the consignment store and then the reject i give to our housekeepers and the returns from the consignment (things that don't sell) i give to goodwill. i make a few bucks, don't have to do anything but drop off my items and pick them up. it's a win win.
funny story about your not so budding salesman.
k
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