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.

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.

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).

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.

first dance

Wedding plans are nearing completion since we're now less than 4 weeks away from the big day! Part of our decision process has been music to be played at the reception. Of course this is no easy task. We want the kick-ass-ing-ist party there can be. Don't worry, "Bust a Move" is on the must-play list. I'm sure it will be great, but Anne and I are still struggling with one big reception music decision: our first dance song.

We've been through a large list of songs several times. Neither of us want to compromise on the situation and we are not seeing eye to eye. I don't really know how to resolve the problem. I'm sure we'll find something eventually so I think patience is the best course for now. I've been listening to a ton of new songs on Rhapsody. Maybe I'll find a diamond in the rough there.

safari test

While firmly entrenched in the opposing camp - being a Java person while I've sold my sould to Microsoft - Mark often finds some pretty cool links and web apps. Once again I owe him some credit. He's found a damn cool site that renders a url in Mac Safari and returns with a png of it's outcome. Now you can see how horrible your site may look rendered by Safari. While to the layperson this doesn't sound all that fantastic, it's a great tool for web developers.

today's word: jealousy

Kevin owns an Easy Button. That's right! *THE* easy button as seen on Staples commercials. And I want one. I think I'll get one this weekend so that when I start my new job on Monday, I'll be the coolest programmer in the office... with my own personal Easy Button.

Here's to you Kevin. My source of jealousy, and my only reader.

It's been some time since my last post. I seem to be slipping on this little endeavor of mine. It's late and I'm not going to even begin speculating why that is. Suffice it to say Foster motivated me to write something - anything for him to read while he's at work. It isn't much, but it's a start.

I can't even begin to cover the last few weeks/months happenings. It's probably best I don't try to hash it all in some epic story anyway. I think I'll just pick up where I left off - how I see fit - and continue on from here.

For now I see fit to head off to bed. I'm not feeling fantastic and I'd like to keep my weekend plans to visit friends in Rochester. I hope to avoid illness with a long slumber and some nyquil.

And since I know at least you will read this, hi Kev.

New Year's Resolutions

It's been a month since my last post. December has come and gone! It was a great holiday season but now it's time to return to the "normal grind."

I always try to start the year off with a resolution or two. I've spoke with a few friends and they don't seem to put much stock in them. They told me they don't think they could accomplish or stick to them anyway, so "what's the point?"

I choose to make resolutions despite their cynicism. If we don't make resolutions in the first place, then how do we expect to change for the better in the first place? I won't pretend to believe that I'll be fully faithful to my resolutions, but if I don't make them in the first place I won't have something to strive toward. I think that's the point of New Years. It's the spirit that an individual can improve or better one's self. Don't we all want to be just a bit better off than we were the year before? And since we're changing all the time - shouldn't we try to change for the best.

It's an ambitious year for me. I have five-ish resolutions... all of which are pretty lofty. With that being said, here (in no particular order) are my New Year's resolutions:

• Continue my efforts to lose weight & inches with visits to the gym and eating well.
• Change a "growing" to-do list into a "shrinking" to-do list by finishing projects I've started.
• Plan the best damn wedding possible - hopefully with as little stress as possible. (yea right!)
• Train myself to speak in full & coherent sentences. Speak with proper enunciation.
• Consider the consequences of things I say & do and how they will affect my friends, family, and people I interact with.

I realize that this may not be the best forum for a dialogue, but feel free to comment with your own resolutions. Good luck on yours!

This is "JC" the Kitten. His story reads backwards actually, so you may want to start with the bottom picture and read "upward" for sanity's sake.
Posted by Picasa

We took him back to JCPenney as previously arranged. We haven't heard if he's been found a home yet, I'll let you know when we hear something.
Posted by Picasa

He's attacking the tape holding together his litter pan. Anne and I were proud (and happy) to see that he instantly took to the litter pan. No messes all night! We like to think we trained him.
Posted by Picasa

This is JC attacking our bathroom cabinet door. Once he got the string he basically went berserk. Everything was a game or toy to him.
Posted by Picasa

We gave him a piece of string and he just played and played and played. He was SOOOO cute.
Posted by Picasa

We gave him food and he ate for a very long time. He must have been hungry.
Posted by Picasa

Anne and I took "JC" home for the night because the store didn't know what to do with him.
Posted by Picasa

This is "JC" the Kitten. He was abandoned with his brother "Penney" at JCPenney's yesterday.
Posted by Picasa

steve's new site

I'm trying to get some stuff done around here so this is brief. Go check out my brother's new website at www.kissingnovember.com. Make sure you use the comment form on the contact page so he knows it works ;-)

They got to her too

So Anne's taken a step out into the social networking novelty of the current internet generation. She's joined MySpace. You can see her little space here.

She didn't ask my opinion, but I gave it to her anyway. I'm not against MySpace. I just think that it's very fad-ish. I can appreciate that MySpace is one of many recent sites pushing the world wide web to a revolution (read more), but someone is going to do a similar thing in a better way and MySpace will be forgotten in a week as everyone migrates to that. I'd rather invest my time doing something more static - like blogging - which I realize is a just a tad hypocritical. (Yes that's right. I linked to my own blog to make sure you get my point.)

Perhaps I'd be less critical if MySpace did what it does better than it does it. She had been setting it up for less than an hour and was already having technical difficulties with the site. I hedged toward an "I told you so" and Anne responded with "well when are you going to write a new one?" I'll put it on my list of things to do.

I guess my other complaint is a stigma that maybe I'm alone on. I think I've heard several times from several people that MySpace was most useful for people just looking to hook up. I, for one, don't get that at all. Since when did the tried-and-true method for finding some action shift to broadcasting yourself in a public setting on the internet? What happened to attempting to meet individual people in social situations like a bar or chess club? I'm reminded of a Red vs Blue (thanks Jon) video comparing real life to internet life. Now there isn't an exact correlation within the video to this situation, but if you're intellegent you'll get my point.

Anyhow, visit her page. Click on some pictures, write her a comment, add her to your friends... or don't.

Anne and I in a little homage to our handy-work. Isn't she cute?!
Posted by Picasa
*EDIT* "She" would not be the pumpkin. "She" is Anne.