Catiejoy Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 It has been awhile since I had a garage sale and I went into it this time with more of an attitude, let's just get rid of the clutter- I didn't even recover my ad's cost! I really did not overprice things and I donated most of it to Goodwill after the sale, but I wanted to know how others' garage sales are going? Oh, by the way we had a constant stream of people, just $17 worth of sales Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thescrappyhomeschooler Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Well, we just had a garage sale on Friday and Saturday, and it was my stuff, my mom's stuff and my sister-in-law's stuff. We recouped the cost of the ads and permit, and made enough to treat everybody to Chinese carry out for dinner, but we didn't have nearly as many people as we thought we would have. My mom is moving to a much smaller apartment, so she had a lot of good stuff to sell, which helped with the cost, and my dh got rid of 2 old broken slot machines for $40.00, so that helped our profits. Her van was completely filled with donations for Salvation Army when it was over. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Granny_Weatherwax Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 People are looking at garage sales here but very few are buying. Our neighbor had a moving sale a couple of weekends ago and did not sell half of what they had displayed. People were tyring to dicker $1 items down to .25. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2jjka Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Hmmm...:confused: It must depend on what area you are in. My friend in the same town/different neighborhood didn't do well at her's either, but we had one Saturday and did very well. (we had some 'big ticket' items to sell though....bikes, furniture, etc.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tidbits of Learning Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Here it is not worth the trouble to get the ad and put out the signs. People just want you to give the stuff to them. I have had many garage sales over the years and the last one that I had really gave me a bad feel for them. I could have taken my stuff to goodwill in the first place and saved myself the trouble of waking up early and dealing with the kids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
susancollins Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 I had one in April and I did about $500 but everyone wanted me to basically give the items to them dirt cheap or for nothing. I had several people who wanted to argue over a dollar for nice Starsburg dresses. I tend to not want to do them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JFSinIL Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 I will find out this weekend - our large neighborhood area is advertising the annual area garage sale. I will see if I can unload more out-grown clothes, what homeschoolish stuff I did not sell elsewhere, etc. Just had to chip in the $5 fee to help with the advertising. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AngieW in Texas Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 I gave up on garage sales after making a total of $1 on two different sales about one year apart. Furniture, bikes, and other large items sell really well around here. Clothes, stuffed animals, and toys don't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in PA Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 My niece had one this weekend and made almost nothing. Her son is 19 months old, and she had tons of lightly and never used baby stuff. She ended up selling just a few newborn items, the big ticket stuff didn't move at all. I was surprised because a year ago my sister dropped lots of money at a yard sale right before her youngest was born, and was told later about all the disappointed people who had showed up with cash in hand right after she left. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglei Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 We are NOT having a yard sale this year and I am glad. I chose not to because of storage issues throughout the year. (We did VERY well on our yard sales the past couple years). However, we still GO to some yard sales and we have noticed that there are not nearly as many advertised this year as in previous years, and, the stuff that is out for sale - well - it just isn't much to speak of. Some of it is downright junky. Most have very little set out to look at. It's as if the economy is making people hoard whatever of suspected *value* they have but trying to make a buck on the stuff that would better be left at the curb . . . Also, we have noticed far fewer people at the yard sales and some sellers have commented that they are not doing the business they did in previous years. Sorry this sounds a little rough - this is just our observations this year for our area - kind of sad as we do enjoy yard sale-ing, and we did enjoy having yard sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Yes, we had a ton of stuff to sell at the garage stuff we held last summer. I think we made $35. In my opinion, the market is saturated. It is too easy for people to find things these days on freecycle and Craig's List. It is great for the buyer, but not for the seller. We have a town-wide yard sale once a year and there are less people who participate every year because the sellers are starting to realize they aren't going to make any money on their stuff. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gooblink Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 Wow, it's been about 2 years since I've done a garage sale, but we've never made under $150, regardless of the *crap* we were selling. We don't advertise -just put a sign out of the main road and pointers along the way. I don't even price things, just take whatever someone is willing to offer or let it go for free. I'm not doing a garage sale to make money, anyway, as much as to clear out my house. If I can get a little cash for a couple hours' work...great. That said...we're getting ready to try another one in a few weeks (dh's idea, I'd rather donate/freecycle everything); it'll be interesting to see if things have changed that much. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FaithManor Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 It's bad here. People just aren't buying, even used. The number of ads on Craiglist has dropped considerably because no-one is purchasing. We have a 16.5% unemployment rate and if you add underemployment (the number of people who really need to work more hours, take on a second job, or enter the work-force for the first ime), it's more like 25% for our county. Overall, Michigan is at 13.9% but that's under reported because once a person's unemployment benefits run-out, they are no longer counted even though they are still unemployed! So, people are really holding onto their money. Those that are having garage sales seem to want a lot more for their items than in previous years. I think that the sales used to be for de-cluttering purposes and people were just motivated to get rid of things. Now, I see a lot of items - nice furniture, etc. and not because people are moving and they want more for these things which seems to me to be an indication of running the sale in order to supplement income. At any rate, I see lots of window shopping but not so much buying. I did purchase an absolutely beautiful over-stuffed chair that easily sold new for $700.00. I purchased it for $100.00 and it had only been owned for 30 days. The people must have had a financial crisis right after getting it. Love the chair! Faith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momma2Many66 Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 We dont do as well around here selling at yards sales, but I get some fantastic buys when I go to other people's yard sales. This past weekend I got some great teaching supplies and books for 25 cents to 50 cents. The lady running the sale was a teacher and she was selling tons of her surplus books, classroom supplies, educational toys & manipulatives, cusinaire rods, bulletin board posters ectera. These were all things she purchased on her own for her classroom and no longer needed. I got some great things to use this year in our homeschooling curriculum. I spent just 8 dollars at her sale and got hundreds of dollars worth of school supplies ! I also found a really nice large size Little Tikes wagon that retails on Amazon for over $135 dollars, it is in great shape and I got it for only 10 bucks ! My kids are having a ball with it taking each other for rides around our farm ! When I want to sell I usually set up at the local flea markets, I do much better there because of all the people that visit from all over. We get really large crowds, so you have better access to higher sale potential. The last one in May was held at our local high school parking lot and had hundreds of stands. I made over $300 dollars, so we had a great day ! I also sell on ebay, so that is another idea to try. The commision is high, but you can make a lot of money fast if you have the right things that people want. I made over $400 dollars this week from selling old homeschooling curriculum, toys and things I picked up really reasonable at yard sales and thrift stores to resell online. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prudent Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 I live in Michigan, and around here the best times to sell items at a garage sale is April (and maybe May), right after a long winter of no garage sales. After that, there are sales on every block and the avid garage salers have been to 2 months of sales already and not too hungry for used goods. I don't know if it's the same where you are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baseball mom Posted June 21, 2010 Share Posted June 21, 2010 I usually have at least 1 a year, sometimes 2. Either in the spring or late summer or both. I have never made a whole lot. A really good sale would bring $100 -$150. My friend would have one and make $300 easy. :001_huh: Didn't know if her junk was better than my junk or what. :confused: I have noticed a decline in sales the last couple years. I didn't know if it was the weekend I picked or just people in general not spending money. I know I have cut back on my spending. I haven't had a yard sale yet this year. I have piles of stuff waiting but we have just been so busy this spring/summer. I am thinking of just forgetting the yard sale this year and taking everything to a local helping hand ministry. I sell most of my stuff for super cheap. My main goal for a yard sale is to get rid of stuff. Any money I make goes toward school books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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