My downstairs neighbors and I joined forces and after a false start this spring finally nailed down a date and did it.
I'm pretty good about weeding stuff out throughout the year and then periodically making a Goodwill run. This last round I was weeding out some pretty decent stuff that I thought I could get some dough for. And so the idea of garage sale/ eBay emerged. All this year I've been slowly going through everything and really trying to reduce the amount of stuff I have. I kept oscillating between not thinking I had enough for a sale to having plenty. Turns out I had a lot. My neighbors were impressed how much I put out there. Over 30 boxes I would guess. And I don't think I sold anything for more than $10 - so a lot of little stuff. I definitely under priced and in the mad dash ended up just putting out most everything including the nicer stuff I thought I could get more money for on eBay.
I have a little sellers remorse. On one side, underpricing stuff. But then I remind myself I had all summer to post the stuff on eBay and never did so this way at least I got a few bucks more than if I just donated it. And I now have a nice empty basement.
And there are a few things I put out that were still in my "I'm thinking of selling this but not sure". But in the end I remind myself I have plenty and the fact that the stuff was boxed up and I wasn't using it/ enjoying it means I can do without - its ok. And soon I'll forget all about the stuff.
And I'm a little bummed that people stole some stuff. I had given a price for a roll of vellum and an old camera I used in photography class. Two different people at different times and they thought I was asking too much but then I never remember selling the stuff later in the day and they're gone. I could be wrong since it was a crazy blur and it didn't hurt me if stuff was stolen. I just don't like being reminded that not all people are above board but so is life.
The early birds were there - picking through each box as I brought it out. It took me longer to set up then I figured so soon they were not technically early. I didn't get to organize stuff until half way through the morning after the steady crowd died down.
I had planned to price stuff prior but never got around to it. So everything became a dollar in my head. I'm surprised most of my shoes went and even some of the clothes. Never ended up using the change I'd gotten from the bank. Didn't even open the rolls of quarters. Nick took them the next day so they didn't go to waste.
And the basement looks great. It's so nice and light without all the stuff. Granted nick just loaded up a corner Sunday with his stuff - he's moving in a few days and needs some short term storage. I spent Sunday evening getting everything in order and all the boxes are gone - just several bins with seasonal storage.
I do still have my craigslist stuff. Never got around to bringing out my furniture. But that can keep until I rest up. And I did find a few things I forgot to bring out like my steam cleaner.
It was nice meeting all the neighbors. Some interesting characters in the neighborhood from Alice across the street whose older sister is turning 103 to Gerry who lives in the yellow apartments and is quite the jokester. I have a lot of "neighbor" discounts. Doesn't hurt to build goodwill.
Overall most of the stuff seemed to be going to good homes. My Jenny doll and all her clothes made by grandma was picked up by another grandmother who was gifting it. And I loved that one of my favorite games, Mastermind went to a father/daughter duo. She was about ten and the dad loved the game. I shared I was giving it up because my dad won't play it with me anymore because I always beat him. So hopefully, after a little practice she starts to beat her dad too.
It was a long day with a steady flow of traffic. At 3 we shut down. I loaded up my car with the leftover stuff to donate, put the leftover books and records on the curb and hopped in the shower before heading off to Cece's big 40th bash. I was a little late getting there after 5. Only to find out it didn't start until 7! But jdt as well. I think if I had sat down after the garage sale I would have never gotten up again.
I was able to hang out with the family- Cece's brother RJ who I hadn't seen since the college years and of course the kids.
The backyard/garage/driveway was transformed into a fiesta. It was like I stepped into someone's board on Pinterest. They went all out and it was a grand time. I didn't get to bed until after midnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment