2 for a $1.00

Just for the record - garage sales are hard work. I won't be doing one again for awhile (maybe ever) I'll gladly put things into someone else's garage sale, but its not for the faint of heart. Here are the things we never thought. Things to think about before you have your own garage sale:

1) Read your farmers almanac (and check weather.com) and then throw it away and ignore the forcast. Also, ignore your weather-man wanna-be friends (and husband). No matter how nice it can be all week (80 degrees) Nebraska can unleash a fury on you in just a matter of hours. See picture at left - we spent all day doing this. It just so happens that the rain had subsided long enough for us to set outside.

2) Price things ridiculously (sp?) cheap. Nobody wants to buy a gently used bicycle for $10.00 -seriously. The cheaper you price things - the faster they come running. Ignore the fact you spent hard-earned cash on a cute top and wore it once - bargain shoppers don't care. Also - scour your house for the things you would normally just throw away and put it in the garage sale. It doesn't matter if its burnt, water-marked, or broken - give it a try. Your junk is someone else's treasure - believe me.

3) Prepare to be "gyped" and "haggled with". We spent a good half hour giving a women a bulk discount as she "shopped" only to be taken by her husband. I think that family went away with $40.00 worth of merchandise for $20.00 - he even took the desk (as a "throw-in"). I got "HAD" - big time. We had to absorb $15.00 of errors across everyone because of that one. But - what else could you do though - either you sell it or you keep it. The stuff was on the garage sale because you obviously didn't want to keep it. I just wish I didn't feel like a putz in the process. I'll remember this next time (however - if you scroll back to paragraph one - you'll see that I won't be experiencing that feeling again)

4) Ignore #3 because if you're not willing to make a deal with someone - you'll get to keep your junk. No matter what - at the end of the day - you still don't have to deal with the old, stale blankets, beer signs, or purses that crowded your closets, spare bedrooms, and painted your college dorm room walls. Put tables together that say "ALL ITEMS $0.50 - this table" makes it alot easier.

5) Know when to call it a day. There's something to say about calling it quits when no customer's visit in 30 minutes. It's much warmer inside!

6) Finally - surround yourself with good people to spend your time with in these situations. If nothing else was gained from this adventure - I got to spend time with Ben and our friends laughing at customers and watch they purchase! All in all - I'd say it was a successful day - I think Ben made $5.00 and I made $21.00. Yeah - not great, but at least we can say we tried.

So grand total - our garage sale brought in $216.00 dollars - mostly from a few keys items people can't resist: a mini-fridge, discount Mary-Kay make-up, kitchen dishes, and old candles and some wedding decorations. Not bad for a days work.