I’m writing this, wondering if I’ll actually be able to make it happen this week.
I’ve shared that I’m planning to have a garage sale, and thought I’d share the reasons I’m choosing to put myself and my family through the torture.
Honestly, I’ve come to a point where I prefer the Consistent Donating Method over the Collect and Sell in One Big Swoop Method.
But . . . a garage sale makes sense right now. A few months ago, after riding around with the back of my Suburban full of donations for more-than-a-week-or-two, I stopped by our local thrift store to donate.
They were full.
Seriously. They wouldn’t take my stuff, and I had to cart it right back home.
And . . . until last week, I hadn’t received any notices of the donation pick-ups on which I’d started to depend.
And . . . I have several big things that I’d like to get rid of. Things like . . . a desk, a bench, a shelf, and some large outgrown items from the playroom. The hassle factor of donating those large items combined with the fact that I might get ten dollars apiece for them (making my overall profit more likely to be worth my time), helped me decide I was willing to do the Garage Sale Thing.
Plus . . . . a garage sale is great motivation for kids to declutter. One of my kids has been actively going through his stuff since I mentioned that we would be having one soon.
How are you getting rid of your stuff this spring?
See my tips for having a successful garage sale.
I’ve decided I hate doing garage sales, but like you said, if I had some nice big items, I’d be willing to consider it. Otherwise, it all goes to Goodwill.
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Garage sales are not popular in Finland but flea markets are. We’ve tried selling stuff on flea markets for couple of times and it’s always been a pain. Never again. I understand your points though.
maybe set yourself a deadline?
and if not, put the big stuff by the road with a sign FREE..it’s insane how fast those things go..at least where i’ve always lived..
good luck
We are *supposed* to have a neighborhood garage sale in a few weeks, and we’ve been decluttering, organizing, purging like crazy around here. Like you, I’m more a fan of “get it out the door to the Goodwill.” We’ve never had a garage sale before….and it’s already shaping up to be quite a bit of work. We have decided already to put whatever proceeds we make toward fencing in our smallish backyard, so there is a bit of motivation. If we didn’t have that, honestly, the stuff would be at the Goodwill right now.
We did a tag sale several years ago and for all the work that went into it, we got hardly anything out (maybe $70). Plus, we had stuff left over that we still had to deal with. I decided that that was our last tag sale.
Since then, this is what I do to get rid of stuff. Books – I donate to the public library book sale. They collect for the sale during the summer, so I do a big purge in the spring.
Other stuff – The Boys & Girls Club has a truck come around periodically. They usually call to see if I have anything. I think a veterans group also does this. The Lady’s Auxiliary for our fire department has a rummage sale every year the first weekend in May. They collect during the month of April. I just have to drop stuff off at the fire house. And finally, our church has a tag sale once a year in June. They get the stuff that I missed getting into the fire dept. sale.
I like the sales that I can plan for – that happen the same time every year. I start culling during the winter and make a big pile in the basement away from the kids play area. If no one mentions the item in the months it sits in this “staging” area, off it goes. Later if the kids ask where something is, I can honestly say I don’t know!
Love your blog!
Sarah
We’re donating a bunch of stuff to a friend’s garage sale who is using proceeds to raise funds for her husband to ride in a Cancer Run. This way, I’m donating my stuff but also to benefit a friend plus cancer research.
Donating to another person’s garage sale is a great way to bless them as well even if it’s not for a specific charity. Just tell them whatever they sell of yours, they can keep the money. It’s a gift to them and easy to do, especially since I would normally take things to Goodwill anyway.
Spring declutter plan:
Step One: Check to see if anyone in the family wants it. Someone often does.
Step Two: Offer on freecycle.com. You can’t beat the fact that people come to you to haul your stuff away!
Step Three: Take to Good Will what didn’t get claimed on freecycle.
Step Four: Arrange a pick up with a Salvation Army truck for big stuff that wouldn’t fit in my car for a Good Will run.
Sold my son’s old bike on Craiglist. But now due to scams, hubby is against selling anymore on there. So for other kids’ items (high chair, toy scooter) will take to children’s consignment. Just sold over 100 items in a spring kids’ consignment sale. Made $93.00!!! We have a large entertainment center (the kind with doors, that no one uses any more 🙁 … I had it on craigslist, but no takers. So I’ll either do Freecycle or call Salvation Army. There’s also a womens’ shelter that will come pick up furniture (they help battered women get back on their feet; we donated a couch to them a couple years ago.)
Comment about garage sale stress: I actually don’t mind them. I love doing it. It IS a hassle sitting there and waiting waiting waiting for people to come. But since I don’t work, it’s a good way to get some money without asking my husband (who will inevitably say “What happened to the $ I gave you last week?”)
The getting ready isn’t so fun, but I do really enjoy the day of. I enjoy interacting with people and being outside and watching people haul my clutter away while my change purse gets heavier and heavier!
*Sigh* I am hoping to have a garage sale. That is the plan anyway. My daughter has been actively preparing (ie already tagging items) but I’ve been dragging my feet. Plus it means I’ll need to clean the garage… Upside is then I should have room to park in it after all is said and done.
Yes, room to park is great motivation, especially here in Texas where it is no fun to climb into a car that has been sitting in the sun!
I don’t know if you read the comic strip “Baby Blues”, but the past couple of days have a garage sale theme. Pretty funny.
You can check them out at the Seattle Times online.
Sarah
Is there a Just Between Friends sale in your area? JBF is a huge consignment event that allows you to tag your items in advance (usually at higher prices than a garage sale), and then you drop them off and wait for a check in the mail. Most events donate a portion of profits and/or items marked “donate” to a crisis pregnancy center or similar organization, and they take toys, furniture, clothes (including maternity), etc. Check http://www.jbfsale.com for locations and sale dates.