I went garage saling today - an activity that not only has saved us a TON on Lily's wardrobe, but that also fulfills my need to find good bargains. It's a treasure hunt, a "blowout sale," and a shopping trip all rolled into one. And you just never know what you're going to find!
We had a garage sale once when I was little (that I can remember). It must have been when we moved from our house in town to the house where my mom lives now. I would have been 9 or 10 at the time, and I remember selling my girl's Lego set. It was pink, purple and white and it made a little doll-house that was the right size for the Lego people. The roof Legos never stayed on it very well. I remember feeling kind of annoyed at all the people who were rummaging through our stuff and who seemed wholly unappreciative of the treasures we were so generously allowing them to purchase. The woman who bought the Lego set offered less than we had it marked for. I think I got $5 instead of $10 for it. I wasn't very happy.
Now I am that ungrateful person offering 1/2 of what a thing is marked. When I garage sale (and I suspect when most of you garage sale) there are a number of things that I do that are... Well, I just only do them when I garage sale.
First, there's the slow drive by. When approaching a garage sale, I drive by the advertised driveway at about 2.5 miles an hour to assess the situation. Bird cage and gazelle exercise equipment set out next to 30-year old throw pillows and mu-mu's OR a garage sale so small that nothing is spilling out of the garage onto tables: speed up and keep driving. Kid's toys, nicely hung or displayed clothes, boxes of purses all on tables outside of the garage: pull over and check it out. The garage is behind the house, so you can't assess from the road: move to the next tactic.
Next, there's the check-it-out walk through. I often do this with my mom - if the garage sale is indeterminable from the road, one of us will go "check it out" so we both don't have to get out of the car. This is especially useful when garage saling with kids, so you don't have to deal with the car seat buckles so much.
If I actually make it into the garage sale, I always try to smile at the person putting it on. We recently helped some friends setup a garage sale, and it's a lot of work! There's the sorting, the pricing, the displaying, and the giving up of a weekend to sit out and watch people turn their noses up at your perfectly good stuff. After I smile at them, I begin browsing. I hold my wallet under my arm so I have both hands free to shop (if need be), but often my hands are then clasped in front of me so as not to appear too eager. I don't want to be bothered when shopping (unless you're going to tell me it's ok to make an offer on an item or group of items). Just let me browse.
Once I have something in hand, then it's time to determine whether it's worth offering a lower price, or if that will merely offend the seller. Today I bought a dolly stroller and dolly car seat that we'll probably give Lily for her birthday. There was no price on it, so I took them up and offered $6. They searched for the tag (which had fallen off) and said it was $10. I asked how low they would go. The lady said $8. I thought it was a good deal, but I didn't know if I wanted to drop that kind of change on a toy, so I told them, "Let me think about it." And I wheeled it over to my mom (who was digging through a box of books) to ask what she thought. Her comment was, "Oh it's worth that. You're arguing over 2 dollars?" I said, "I know, but I want them to think that I'm really thinking about it." Fortunately Mom just smiled, humoring me.
A couple of weeks ago I hit the mother-load at a huge garage sale of kids clothes. Name brand kids clothes that had hardly been worn, and I was there in the last hour of the sale. I went up to the lady and asked if she'd give me everything at 50% off - I said I would shop very differently if things were another 50% off. And I said that when it gets to that point in garage sales, I always just want things gone so I don't have to deal with them (not that I've ever hosted one myself...) She agreed, and it was a good thing she did! I bought $43 worth of clothes (originally marked $86) for Lily for the future - a whole tote's worth. Had she not made that bargain with me, I would have probably spent $12.
We stopped at a garage sale today, and it was clear that the people running it had no idea what things actually go for at garage sales. A 1980's (mostly wooden), 6-piece living room set for $300. WHAT?!?!? $300? Seriously? Try FREE and setting it by the curb - you'll be lucky to get someone to haul it off your property. Better yet, chop it up for firewood and you could probably make $5. Everything at that garage sale was priced about 90% higher than it should have been. As we smiled and walked back to our car, the lady called out that, "Next weekend will be our last weekend open, so if you know anyone who is interested in this kind of stuff, let them know!" We smiled and nodded and drove away. So to fulfill my nodded consent: If anyone is interested in a $300, 1980's, mostly wooden, 6-piece living room set, let me know. I'll give you the address of the sale...
The saying goes that "one man's junk is another man's treasure." And I suppose they're right. It is interesting to see what kinds of prices people put on things. I think that's the hardest part about a garage sale - pricing things. You want people to know you've got good stuff, so you don't want to mark everything $.25. Plus, you want to make more than $5 for the weeks of work you put into this sale. But you also don't want people to walk away going, "Everything at that place was WAY overpriced. Can you believe what they wanted for that pan?!?" You're looking for that sweet spot between "She thinks her stuff is SO valuable" and "I shoulda asked for more!"
In any case, I'm thankful for the tradition of garage sales. It's saved me a boatload and it's fun too. :)
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