Monday, May 29, 2006

yard sale tips

My family held a yard sale this weekend which was quite profitable. With just a little planning and a small amount of prior investment, you can turn a quick buck on a bunch of old junk. Usually I spend my time writing about the daily events, but this time I'd like to spend more time on what I think are some good tips for holding your own yard/garage sale.

Planning
  • Make sure you really have enough items to hold the sale in the first place. You should really also have no reservations selling your items to the public. Remember the purpose of holding a yard sale is just as much to get rid of the junk as it is to make money on it.
  • Invite friends and family to participate. The more items on sale, the more cars are likely to stop as well as convert stops to sales. Plus your other participants can lighten the load and create breaks for eachother.
  • Take an ad out in the paper. Make some signs for the front of your house. If you don't live on a main road, plant some signs well in advance leading the way.
  • Go to the bank and get a large sum (we used $300) in various bills and quarters.
  • Grab some bold, but bright markers and thick paper for signs. Pick up some labels/stickers. They make them specifically for yard sales, but you can always get by with masking tape or taping paper to items.
  • Save up plastic bags and boxes. You'll need them to help people take their new purchases away.
  • Decide on the space you'll use. The closer to the road the better. A lot of people will browse from their cars so it's important to make it easy on them.
  • Plan for bad weather. A large canopy tent or hung tarp can provide shade and rain cover.
  • Set your time. Consider 8am - 3pm. Hardcore yard salers could be there at the immediate start if you place an ad and they like what they see. Most visitor traffic (in my experience) is dying out around 3. Many yard sales will go till 4, but IMHO if you start packing by 3 it'll be 4 before you finish and you can still cater to those tricklers who will do some box rumaging.
Pricing
  • Price your items.
  • Price them early.
  • Price them low, but maybe just a little higher than what you expect to get for it. There's two schools of thought on this... Price it high and expect to bargain people (so they think they're getting a deal) or price it as you want it and let the right buyer come for it.
  • Don't price items in increments smaller than 25 cents. Pennies, nickels, and dimes are not fun to deal with.
  • Consider what you think is fair. If the item has value, price it as the value. However if you're pricing something higher than it's fair value because it holds more intrinsic value to you, it may be worth considering if it should be sold at all.
  • Consistancy helps. Books, for example, might be subcategorized hard/soft cover but shouldn't have lots of different "cost levels." That just gets confusing. Clothing is another good example.
  • Group items and try to sell them in a group. Have a collection of some kind? Sell the whole set rather than allow it to be split and become harder to sell the rest.
  • Have something of extreme value ( >$500)? Don't sell it at a yard sale. People come looking for bargins with their dollar bills. They aren't carrying their check books. Place an ad or eBay it!
Setup
  • Put the most expensive, most impressive, most desired to sell items up front. A lot of people will only browse 5 - 10 feet "into" the sale making the first impression most important. Keep moving things up into those spots as things sell.
  • Set your items into "departments." Got a bunch of holiday items? Technology items? Glassware? Group them into sections so people can find things easier.
  • Make things easy to browse. Get some tables. Organize books spine out so they can be browsed without being moved. Older folks, who will be a large portion of your patrons, won't bother if they can't see or get to it easily.
  • Be conscious of walking lanes. If people can't get someplace, they won't try to go there. And then they won't see the silly lawn angel you've been trying to sell for 8 hours.
  • Optimize your items. Got a fake christmas tree? Set it up. Stainless steel platter? Polish it. Electric equipment? Run a cable and be prepared to show it works. You may even want to create an opportunity for folks to try on clothing somehow as well. Just like selling a house, the more people can imagine how the item fits in their house the more likely they'll buy it.
  • Get a lock box. Keep the key on you. Put the box out of plain sight.
  • You may want to setup the night before and cover your things. It'll be a big day.
The Big Day
  • Get out early. "Yard salers" are hardcore and will be out and about (we figure) as early as 8am. Setup the balloons and signs.
  • Take shifts as able. Hopefully it will be sunny and warm.
  • Be polite and greet people as you can. Creating a friendly atmosphere is important. Carry boxes for the old ladies dammit.
  • Be prepared to make deals and discuss the value of items. Remember half of the purpose of a yard sale is to get rid of the crap you've acrued. Sticking to your prices may not be worth having to haul the stuff back inside.
  • Having someone as a "greeter" in the front is a good idea, but you may want to station any other participants toward the back behind all the merchandise so visitors don't get the wrong impression and assume something is not for sale.
  • Selling beverages is a good way to make some side cash as well as keep yourself hydrated. I wouldn't get crazy into selling foods. Most yard sale vets move quickly between sales and prolly have some tradition to eat out or at home.
  • Hopefully it will be sunny. If it is remember your sunscreen. You'll be sitting under the heatlamp for several hours.
The End Of The Big Day
  • Before throwing out all that crap you couldn't convert to sales consider donating. Clothing and books have several possible outs; most notable right now is the New Orleans area. Many other items are also valuable to the right organization. Housing items can be used by emergency housing for example.
  • Large items might be worth holding onto rather than discarding. Wait for the right buyer. Take an ad in the paper perhaps.
  • Two-Day Rule: Items too large to go out in the trash and you can't stand to look at them anymore? Leave them on the lawn with a FREE sign and they'll be gone within two days.
  • Remember you can always eBay!
Wow that's a lot of tips. I guess I learned a lot this weekend myself. Now you're all wiser and can sell your crap on your lawn. Or if you've read this and become completely overcome you can always resort to eBay.

Sunday, May 21, 2006

pretty good day

Today was pretty alright. Got to sleep in. I set up an installation appointment for my internet/television/phone at my new apartment before really starting the day. At 1ish, Anne and I joined a bunch of friends at the local ball field for some ghetto ball (that's a scheduled pick-up baseball game). We avoided some rain and hit some balls. Malarky, Greg, and Jeff each hit one out (200 ft field). I mostly hit ground balls.

After a few hours of baseball, we moved over to Kristen's house for a lil bbq. She's not really much of a cook so i was the "grill master" for the evening, cooking some burgers, dogs, and sausage. While chowing and chatting we watched the final game of the subway series and I got to see the Mets actually win one. They tried really hard in the 8th and 9th to give it away, but the Yankees just couldn't muster enough to make it happen.

In all it was a pretty good day. I'm just gonna rest up now and get ready for another week of work.

Friday, May 19, 2006

The Sentinel - reviewed well beyond the point you could see it in the theatre

So I saw The Sentinel Wednesday in a small crappy theatre in Chester. The walls were thin and I could hear the movie playing in the next theatre through the wall. I knew that before going in - I had been there before. Last time I saw a movie there however, the prices were below the wowie-zowie theatre in Middletown. Times have changed and the prices were now the same. It really bugs me (by the way, this is as much a review of the theatre as it is the movie itself) when you're paying 'the going rate' for sub-'the going rate' quality of anything; but especially for movies.

Jen, Anne, and I make our way inside (after I hit the ATM because the crappy theatre does not accept credit) to one redeeming feature. The movie operator's booth is on the same floor with the back of it completely glass, allowing a nice view of some kid reeling a movie. That's kind of interesting to me... for a moment. Jen, Anne, and I made our way into the theatre (with the 8 other people) and find seats on the left. Six of the others find seats opposite us on the right, and two women sit in the back row near the door. People on the right... no problem. People in the back... I wanted to take out back and beat with a shovel. Who spends $8.50 to see a movie they know nothing about only to watch the movie and continuously ask each other what just happened in a theatre with 10 people in it? Seriously. I spend $8.50 to sit quietly in a room and watch a crappy movie with Kiefer Sutherland and expect it to be quiet dammit. Since when did buying a ticket to a movie entitle people to talk (or worse, answer their phone) through a movie?

Aside from the theatre and the talkers, the movie was alright. It felt 24-ish... which it would cause Kiefer just ran around doing whatever he wanted in his slightly-panicked, always-husky voice... just like he does in 24. Eva Longoria is along for the ride as well, which should have been my first warning sign of a mediocre movie and Kim Bassinger(sp, cause i don't care) gives a rather lifeless performance. On the "Peter Scale" (refer to a yet-to-be-written post about the Peter Scale), I gave the flick a 650 (out of 1000 - in all fairness since I haven't even written about it yet).

Sunday, May 14, 2006

And here we are.. a month+ later (again) and married (for the first time). At least I have a pretty valid excuse. The wedding was great and the honeymoon was fantastic. If you'd like to see pictures of our trip, visit DaveAndAnne.com.

A lot of friends have asked if it feels any different to be married now. I usually respond with the crack, "It's such a small word, but i seem to choke on 'My wife' every time." Of course I'm joking. It feels a little different - a small tingle inside that we've reaffirmed our love publicly. But in all honesty, we're still two silly kids just having a good time together trying to get by. Only now we've got matching jewelery.