Jump to content

Having a Garage Sale Tomorrow Morning


Recommended Posts

Any last minute tips?  Planned start is 8am so totally expecting people to start showing at 7:30.  Every item is labeled with a price tag unless it's less than a $1.  My Spanish is decent.  I have enough singles to put 2-3 strippers through college.  What am I missing?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Remember that the objective is to get rid of all your shit that you don't need.  Don't be a hardass when people inevitably want to haggle on prices.  Just make sure that they buy a bunch of stuff.  4 for the price of 2 and such.  You don't want to have to haul off all that shit or put it back into storage.  Vaya con dios. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Solid advice. Ive done one of these, with wife then gf... her friend and her bf now husband. We set up until like 3 a.m. and the doorbell rang at 630 asking to buy some tennis rackets.

Mfer spent 8 bucks when he couldve walked off with them plus anything else we had outside.



Dont the surly higher ups get to you. Garage sales are actually pretty fun... especially when you're raking in over a grand

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I 100% guarantee your wife will be the biggest problem here.

If you have toddler clothes or a onesie that she bought for your college aged kids & she ABSOLUTELY knows it cost $ 15.00 new, she will want $ 12.00 for it, even though they are both over 10 years old now.

If you have a stuffed animal out there, your wife will wonder what the fuck it's doing out there because gawd knows, it's not going ANYWHERE, you motherfucker, & she doesn't give 2 shits if that asshole cat pissed all over it 14 years ago... she's had that fucking thing since she was 10 & got it @ Aquafest.  Don't you know that they don't do Aquafest any longer?  You sorry sonuvabitch, what the fuck is wrong with you??

& That blue Jeep Pack 'n Play?  That thing had better sell for $ 75 or it's going back into the garage & that's the end of that.

...Or something like that.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I helped my wife organize one garage sale about 15 years ago.   After the early birds showing up the day before knocking on our door (classified ad said no early birds)  and two hours before the published start,  I said no mas.   If she wanted to do another one, I'd have absolutely no part in it.   Fifteen years later and we've had zero garage sales.

One thing that has probably helped is posting stuff with some value on line to sell via Facebook and other sites.   The nickel and dime stuff like clothes will go to charity.   But when everyone in our household gets notice to clean out their closets, she will take all the clothes to resale or consignment stores to see if she can get some cash for some of the pieces first.  A couple of these stores have paid her some good cash for clothes they still deem in style like Under Armor golf shirts, teen brands, and even some worn shoes that are trendy.   I'm pretty sure more cash than she would have received at a garage sale.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Garage sales are not worth the work required. I was so fed up with it by 11am, I ended up selling everything remaining for 20 tacos and $20 to a guy that pulled up in a taco truck. I think we made $400 but that’s only because there were a couple of high dollar tools in there that accounted for half of that amount. I should’ve dumped it all at Goodwill and claimed a $4000 donation on my taxes like a good American.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One guy will occupy you while his friend steals your stuff. 


This. My parents speak Spanish fluently, but don’t look like it. People would show up and discuss plans to distract them right in front of their face so their kids could steal a bunch of stuff
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My wife's grandmother got infirm & had to be placed in a nursing home.  That's when my wife's niece moved into the house with her family of 5 & started having yard sales & was selling off all the knick-knacks & shit that collects dust from over 45 years of living in the same house.  Crap the niece had no attachment to because 1) she is a millennial who is much more about experiences then 'things' & 2) she didn't grow up in that house & isn't invested in that great grandmother.

& THIS is where my wife started going apeshit because it was like small, tiny parts of her childhood that my wife also considers to be highly collectible if they were properly marketed [via eBay or whatever] were being given away for nearly free.

So I have that going for me as my wife borders on hoarderism.  Me, I am primarily interested in tool acquisition & not shit to hang on the walls or decorate with.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Watch out for counterfeit bills.  A guy in South Austin a year or two ago was hitting up sales with fake 10s and 20s, buying a couple dollars worth and getting change.  

How many were you able to pass off & did you use more than 4 or 5 different serial #'s?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Lobo

So you can either donate the items to people who really need it (and get a nice deduction) or you can just give it all away at your curb and save yourself all kinds of time/headache.  

But people consistently opt for neither.  Let's not help people who need it and let's waste several dozen hours of our family's time...all to make maybe $50 net of expenses?  Got it.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Judge Roybeanbag said:

Watch out for counterfeit bills.  A guy in South Austin a year or two ago was hitting up sales with fake 10s and 20s, buying a couple dollars worth and getting change.  

tenor.gif

Edited by Gil Bang
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I survived.  We made $580 which blows my mind considering we had TWO items over $10 and they were both $20.  69% of the money came from baby clothes, and to my wife's credit, probably less than 1% of the items were special enough to keep in her opinion.  We both had a "let's get this shit out of the house" mentality.  I only had to use Spanish once and I don't think I got robbed.  And to top it off, my kids made $48 selling lemonade and cookies. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, Assman said:

I survived.  We made $580 which blows my mind considering we had TWO items over $10 and they were both $20.  69% of the money came from baby clothes, and to my wife's credit, probably less than 1% of the items were special enough to keep in her opinion.  We both had a "let's get this shit out of the house" mentality.  I only had to use Spanish once and I don't think I got robbed.  And to top it off, my kids made $48 selling lemonade and cookies. 

Now THAT right there was worth the trouble.   I bet they had a great time doing it as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

23 hours ago, Assman said:

I survived.  We made $580 which blows my mind considering we had TWO items over $10 and they were both $20.  69% of the money came from baby clothes, and to my wife's credit, probably less than 1% of the items were special enough to keep in her opinion.  We both had a "let's get this shit out of the house" mentality.  I only had to use Spanish once and I don't think I got robbed.  And to top it off, my kids made $48 selling lemonade and cookies. 

Since you didn't post the necessary temporary food sales permit, we'll assume you did not obtain one.  Please submit the $50 application fee, as well as the $575 late application fee, to the city by close of business Monday to avoid further charges.  Regards, City of Austin

  • Like 2
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Bout to start setting up for ours. My only question is when is too early to start drinking screwdrivers to prep for the onslaught starting soon? A garage sale gets the same exemption from the "don't drink before noon" rule that we get for football games, right?!

 

 

Also, the worst part about the whole thing is having an accounting of how much stupid shit my wife buys right in front of me. We have things getting sold for a buck or two that we "had to have!" less than 12 months ago.

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/1/2019 at 6:37 PM, luke duke said:

 


This. My parents speak Spanish fluently, but don’t look like it. People would show up and discuss plans to distract them right in front of their face so their kids could steal a bunch of stuff

 

rookies, better strategy is to case your house with that time. Ask to use the bathroom, etc. 

Edited by texasjacket
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...