Lessons learned from our garage sale -- and a side benefit

This past holiday weekend, my hubby and I had a garage sale to help clear out clutter in the basement and his shop, and to earn some extra money for summer fun. Lately we've had renewed enthusiasm for streamlining our home. This quote (from Whole Living magazine) was part of our inspiration: Don't think of de-cluttering as emptying your home, you're filling it with possibility. Sounds nice, doesn't it?

We learned a few things this weekend that I wanted to share. First, a holiday weekend is not the best time for a garage sale! Both Saturday and Sunday were rather slow, although we did still make nearly $200 so that's nice. We're going to try again next weekend since we still have stuff we want/need to sell -- and we're going to add MORE stuff from our parents' homes.

And that's where our second lesson comes in: you need to have a balance of "nice" stuff and "cheap crap." We had many compliments on our items, but very few buyers. A lot of our items were "too nice" (in other words, more than $10)...and there wasn't enough low-end stuff for people to feel like they were really getting a deal. Many people came specifically for books, CDs, and DVDs of which we had little to none. We will make some changes this weekend and add more small, cheap stuff, and see how we do.

The third lesson I learned is to put on sunblock! :) Standing in the driveway talking to people I managed to get a nasty burn on my lower left leg...oops!

We also learned that having something large, eye-catching, and funny out by the road helps attract people. We had cars stop in the middle of the road to laugh at our drum-playing gorilla! Unfortunately no one purchased either item...or maybe that is fortunate, as we can use him as our mascot again this weekend.

And finally, the side benefit to garage sales: you really get to know your neighbors! It gives them an easy excuse to come over and chat, and often you find hobbies and interests in common as they look through your stuff. My husband and I talked about how we didn't know any neighbors names until our sale last year...and how if you're moving, while it's good to clear stuff out beforehand, having a garage sale a few months after you move to a new neighborhood is a great way to introduce yourself and get to know people. And hopefully make some money too!