Now you have to understand that I love garage sales….having them. I'm not a big garage sale visitor but I like selling stuff that I already have for money, even if it's 25 cents. And Mom and I had been collecting things for quite some time now. So it was our last chance before Mom chunked it all.
Monday we started going through things in Mom's house and collected a lot of books and clothes. Then we started packing it up and moving it to the porch. Tuesday we hauled a lot of stuff to the old Teague Supply building and I started going through it, wiping off dust and setting up. That was another reason this was the prime time to garage sale. We had a great location in Teague. I was going to take advantage of that!
This is not related to the garage sale but Cooper drove the lawnmower at Mom and Dad's.
He did a great job and even backed it into the barn for Dad!
I stayed up there until 8pm and then headed home to relieve Mom, who'd been watching my boys all afternoon. We regrouped and decided to all go up there tomorrow and work. So Wednesday we all headed up there about 10 and stayed until the boys were crashing. Then I took them home to nap and Mom stayed to hang up more clothes.
Midway through setting up. Can you spot two thirsty boys?
That evening we met Brian, Amanda, Ava and Hank at a restaurant in FF to celebrate Hank's birthday. After supper we all drove back to Teague Supply to finish setting up before the big debut in the morning. I slept in my clothes that night, ready to burst out of bed when the time came. The next morning I excitedly gathered my moneybox, purse and hot chocolate and hitched a ride with Dad to FF to meet Amanda. Mom and Dad laughed at me and my exuberance about a garage sale. Where I see $$$, they see lots of man hours, not a lot of money and a mess to clean up afterwards. Then again, this is my only chance to earn my own money, so I'm taking it!
Amanda, the kids and I headed to the Great Garage Sale of 2014. (She was less excited about it than I was.) We had a steady flow of customers on Thursday and stayed pretty late. We spent the 1st half of the day pricing things we hadn't previously priced. I sold some big items, which is always nice, and we had several people that said they'd come back tomorrow. At the end of the day, even though we'd done pretty good, it didn't look like a dent had been made…a testament to just how much stuff we had there. My only foible for the day was selling a $50+ gas heater of Garrett's for $15! Yikes I felt so bad, but it was left in a storage area and I considered anything there sellable. I'm serious about my garage sales. Thankfully it was to a lady that was super nice. So nice in fact that she brought it back the next day and exchanged it for items of equal value (and bought more stuff too!). She said that she brought it back because it wouldn't meet her needs in the area she needed it, but I kinda think she was just being nice.
Garage sales are great playgrounds and there's always room for a band.
The next morning we went again and had another steady day. No big runs, but it was still fun. Mom brought the boys up there and they had a big time. During a lull I got the M&M costume out and danced in the parking lot, then talked everyone but Amanda into doing it too. You should have seen everyone! Of course Cooper the ham didn't mind shaking it, Ace bounced up and down and looked like a real M&M because you couldn't see his legs, Ava did a great classic sales dance - complete with the double hand wave urging cars to come in. And Hank busted some moves on the pavement, including a partial cartwheel. Finally I shamed Mom into doing it and she walked out, put her hands in the air and immediately walked back. So funny!
Bring in the sales!!!! Go Mom Go.
Our mannequins
I told the kids that I'd give anyone who brought a car in $1. Unfortunately no cars came then, but it was still fun. The next day they were at it again and a couple cars came in, so I gave them each $1 -- even though they were dancing in the window and their influence was debatable.
It was nice being back in the old Teague Supply. I miss the fun part of owning a store, and even though it's long hours and work it still has some appeal.
My turn as an M&M
Saturday dawned and we prepared for the final day with lots of prices slashed and ready to give stuff away!! One item that consistently lowered in price was my futon, and I was surprised that it didn't sell at all. Another piece was an old entertainment center….well the remnants of one. I had it priced at $5 and no one even looked at it. Amanda and I joked that every time we looked over there another piece had fallen off of it. We also laughed about a repeat customer of the male persuasion that liked to hang around and chat with me. Amanda wanted me to keep talking so he'd buy more but I declined, ha.
I mentioned we slashed prices, well I learned early on that I cave on my prices really easily, even on the first day of the garage sale. Amanda would give the set price, then not budge unless they really pushed her…and it usually paid off. Me on the other hand. They'd ask the price, I'd say "It's $3, but I'll let you have it for $2" and sometimes took $1! I think the thought that kept rolling around in my mind was that I would have to pack up and throw away whatever didn't sell and every 25cents helped!
Saturday was fun because we made deals and saw a lot leave the store, even though we still didn't have as many customers as we'd hoped. I had to leave for my cousin's baby shower at noon, and I left the store in Amanda's hands. She stayed another hour and then shut it down.
When I tallied up the money for the weekend I was very pleasantly surprised and I think Mom and Dad were shocked at how much we made. We split off our portions and I left with Vegas money in hand. When we got home I promptly hid it so we didn't use for boring stuff like groceries, gas, etc. ; )
Overall I was very pleased with our efforts and had a lot of fun doing it. On the other hand, I'll be happy to wait several years before doing another garage sale!
The Great Garage Sale of 2014 was a success!
"Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, “Never will I leave you never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6
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