Saturday, April 18, 2009

This is the money I could be making...

...by having a garage sale! Which is what I did today. (And that actually is a picture of the money I made...not a Geico ad.) I decided I didn't have enough on my plate with painting the outside and inside of the house...so, in my effort to become "de-cluttered," I had a garage sale to get rid of the knick-knacks and household items I don't use or just don't like anymore. It has become my goal to simplify my life and not keeping things I don't need.

I took stuff out to the garage all this past week getting ready for the big event. The cats were enjoying all the activity and figured I was doing this just to create a big playground for them...jumping up and down on the tables, etc. Fortunately, we only had one mishap. No big loss...I think I had $2 on that one.

It was questionable when I woke up this morning to thunder and lightning, but by the time I put out my sign, the rain had stopped and I waited for the hoard of hard core rummagers. Well, it wasn't actually a hoard, but more people came by than I thought, considering the weather. I've had my share of garage sales in the past, so I know that the serious customers come early. They're looking for the stuff that might actually have value so they can scarf them up before someone else does. I took the following pictures before the actual sale, so I didn't know what was going to sell. These are among the items the first customer bought.




I have a ton of books which I've been toting around various cities for the past 30 years. Some of these date back to books I've read in high school. I've always loved books and it's very hard for me to give them up, but I decided it's about time. (Mainly because I don't want to freakin' move them again.) Unfortunately, I didn't sell very many of them. One of my customers told me that the local senior center will pick them up if you box them up for them. So that is what I will be doing.

See "Native Son" and "Ivanhoe" in this one? That copy of "Ivanhoe" was from 8th grade...and "Native Son" was from high school. And, no, I'm not going to tell you what years those were. I have to have SOME secrets.

I really thought this cookie jar would sell...but I still have it. I guess no one really uses cookie jars anymore...probably because cookies don't stay fresh in them. Another lost art.

I sold this one...at a discounted price to a late-in-the-day customer.

This was an "on a whim" kind of purchase for me a few years ago. I think I got it for next to nothing at Ross. I couldn't give it away today. Go figure.

I had a collection of tea cups which I put out for sale. Most of them sold, but not this one. Maybe it's because the flower looks like lips on the inside of the cup?? Otherwise it's kind of pretty.

I sold this one to a very elderly gentleman with a cane who was by himself. I felt kind of sorry for him and imagined that he used to go to garage sales with his wife.

Some inexpensive jewelry at 25 cents each. Nothing left in that group.

Cute little pineapple jelly jar. Still have that if anyone's interested.

Sold the teapot...

But not this pitcher...

I was surprised this didn't sell. Yeah, it's kind of weird, but I though it might have some kind of aethetic value. Guess not. Maybe I'll actually use it as a planter, although anything you plant in it can't have much of a root system.

And, last but not least, my cute little snowman from South Dakota. I knew someone wouldn't be able to resist him. Hope he has a good home.

There was lots more, of course, but nothing interesting enough to get pictures of. I sold the big things I wanted to get rid of and made a grand profit of about $280. More than I expected.

Now I need to get started on painting my garage. :-/

3 comments:

Ann said...

That's great! I think about having a tag sale every once in awhile, but our location isn't really conducive to having one...I have a corncucopia like that that I made in ceramics 50 years ago!
( mine's lt. blue). Love that amber glass c & s --I have a collection that was my grandmother, mother & aunts!

Vee said...

Good job, Deb. We so need to do that. I gave away 13 boxes of books a couple of years ago and still have tons of books. I gave mine to an elderly man in the neighborhood. He's a bit eccentric but very nice. He sells books at the neighborhood pharmacy and to used bookstores around town, so he was thrilled to get them!

Life's a Beach! said...

Deb, you sold some really cool things! I'm not surprised a lot of those items got scarfed up quickly! That cute little planter that didn't sell -- hang onto that! It's a nice little collectible. I've collected that type of pottery for years!

Hope you made some cool bucks off that sale! I need to do that sometime soon!