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things I learned at the garage sale

We had a garage sale this past weekend...with mixed success.  This is the first time ever and I'm not in a hurry to do it again.  First off its a lot of work to schlep all your "stuff" out of its hiding spot in the attic, garage, basement---under your kids bed etc.  Then you have to set up tables, arrange your "stuff" and then price it.  And then you have to hang around all weekend while strangers come and look at your items.  It's not like showing your underwear but it's kind of personal....will they like my stuff?  What will they pay for it?  Will they even buy it?  Can I just give it away?

Lets face it many people have a garage sale to get rid of a bunch of stuff they don't want and the buyers know this.  In fact most of our custoners made it clear they already had a bunch of thier own stuff that was taking up too much room.  We are such a rich , consumer society!

The men would usually look for the man stuff right away and had no problem digging through the "free" bin for bits of man stuff...oddball nuts and bolts, pieces of wire or a carburator from a 1987 Yamaha motorcycle.  Why did I keep this stuff to begin with I'm wondering?

The ladies seemed pleased to have a good selection of books to dig through--not one man bought a book!  Some buyers like to chat while shopping--a lot.  It's kind of a social thing, this digging in other peoples stuff.  Other people would sneak in quietly trying not to be noticed.

The kids would play with all the toys...and especially if they were cute my wife would tell them to pick something out for free.   Toys are a Terrible investment!  Those must have toys you bought your kids for 39.99 are worthless.  Second hand plastic toys don't sell and quite often the parents don't want them for free cause they know there just gonna pile up in their rooms.

Make sure you tell your friends not to drop off thier stuff for you to sell unless they are prepared to pack it up and take it home if it doesn't sell.  Once the sale is over your gonna be left with more stuff to pack up .  I really thought we'd get rid of all this good stuff but apparently people already have a lot of good stuff.