I very carefully did all the 'right' preparation to have our sale. Put the add in the paper in plenty of time; notified of a 6am start (garage sales are early in our part of the world); made up signs; priced and labelled everything; got change from the bank; put the signs out early, set the alarm for 4.30am, had plenty of grocery bags ready...we were ready for the customers and waiting... and waiting... where are they all? Usually the dealers are out early. no dealers, no customers. By 7.30am we knew something was up, so off to the shops went hubby to buy the newspaper. I found our add - in the wrong section!!! I had put the add in the wrong part of the paper. sigh.
What were we to do? Postpone? Hope a few saw our signs and found us?
We couldn't postpone as we have an 18th celebration here next weekend and just can't manage both on the one day. Tat really only left us to hope......
We covered the cost of the add. Just. I have been too discouraged to add up the proceeds once i had made back the add cost. I estimate it to be around $12-16. Still it is $12-16 more than I had yeasterday... as long as I resist the urge to add in the cost of my time and energy in preparation.
Chalk it up to experience. Next time i will KNOW which section of the paper the add goes in, that's if there ever is a next time.
Mid morning I posted a notice on freecycle and very soon had lots of folks come to relieve us of the stuff. So it was a few busy hours with friendly freecyclers and I got to chat to them all. They were very curious but sympathetic to see so much good stuff begin given away. Maybe some thought it was christmas... hey wait. It is.
There were several other benefits:
We got to meet several of our new neighbours. Nothing quite like sitting out the front of your home on a Saturday morming to get to greet them all as they go by in the course of their day. And since it is a sale, folks feel more free to come by and say "Hi". I enjoyed that immensely. It seems that in our tiny L-shaped cul-de-sac of about 10 houses at least 4 have moved in within the last 4 months.
I caught up with an old school friend from primary school days. we hadn't seen each other since about grade 4 or 5 when her family had moved away. I recognised her voice immediately and then her auburn hair. We chatted and filled in over 30 yearsof life, promising to stay in touch since we live in the same suburb now. (my home town is over two hours away). I also got to tell my kids that this is the lady with whom I used to do all those crazy tricks on the monkey bars. That one got them as I suspect they think I was born middle aged and fat!
And last, but definately not least - I got free of all my clutter and none of it came back into my home. Two ladies even took the last couple of bags of bits to drop in the charity bins on their way home since they were going right by.
Now I am off to have a well deserved shower and a snooze - 4.30am......
5 comments:
told you n sane person is up at that time
oooww and ooohhh! Disappointing for you after all your effort and yet it sounds like it wasn't wasted . . . can't wait to hear the details.
Sounds as if it was a success afterall. Maybe not monetarily, but beneficial in all other regards!
:-)
Some very happy blokes came and took stuff from the shed to their own sheds. Probably wont use the stuff either and in some years time will have their own Dee-clutterers sending it off on the great "cycle of shed". Free-cycle, wont-use, free-cycle - an environmentally friendly approach to storage....
Wow, how disappointing in one way, but how fantastic in another! You know if you'd had the garage sale, you might have made some money, but still been left with odds and ends and chaos in the carport.. this way, it's all gone, and you're free from it!!
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