If You Want Our Treasures, Check The Saving Way

Well, this past Saturday was our  big blowout garage sale. My dad and I have worked for the past four-five Saturdays to get ready for it and he worked throughout the week as well. I placed an ad on Craig's list that ran for two weeks prior to the sale and my cousin Jessica listed it on facebook as well. I was so excited about this big blowout sell. I felt confident that we would have a big crowd because we had done such a good job advertising and preparing. My dad and I put up big bright neon signs the night before and I felt confident we were going to have a huge crowd. 

I could not have been more wrong, y'all, and it was so disappointing. I woke at 5:00 a.m. and gathered up the last minute things I needed to take with me, brushed my teeth and hit the road. When I got there, my friend and co-worker Maria was already there. You may recall that she had some treasures in the sale at my house back in the summer and she brought what didn't sale as well as many other items this time around. It was sprinkling a little and so we decided to pull the boat out of the garage, which wasn't in the original plan. We moved things out of the way, pulled the boat out and discovered a treadmill and a filing cabinet that could be added to the sale and it's a good thing because the treadmill actually sold late in the day. 

We spent the next hour and a half or more setting up for the big sale. Usually when you're having a garage sale, people start showing up as you're dragging things out of your house or garage, but not this day. I don't think we had any customers until about 7:30 a.m. and it was three ladies that attend church where my dad preaches. They bought some baby clothes that my cousin brought over to sell and some other odds and ends and one of them bought the dining room set that was my granddad's. They got the table, six chairs and hutch for $300 which is quote a bargain! I'm glad they got it because I know they will use it well and take good care of it. Slowly but surely we got a few more customers throughout the day and made a sale here and there. Since it was so slow, my dad and I did some yard work during the slow periods. He is basically chopping down every shrub in his flower beds for the winter and if they come back ,great and if not, he's replacing them. So, we chopped and hauled to the road when the garage sale business was slow. 

Towards the end of the day we had a surge of about five customers at once and after they all went their ways, we started packing everything back up to put back in the garage for The Saving Way Thrift Store to pick up. Unfortunately, they don't pick up on Saturdays, but hopefully it will be some time this week because I know my dad is very, very anxious to have his garage back in order. It took us a couple of hours to get everything boxed up and put away and we finished around 1:30 p.m. When all was said and done, we made around $300 in total, not including the dining room set. We, of course, sold a lot of weird things that we didn't think would sell, and didn't sell things that we thought would sell. It was quite an interesting experience and a very draining day. 

When I went home, I noticed what seemed like hundreds, but was probably more like 20, signs for yard sales. So, undoubtedly it was a big day for sales in the heart of the city which probably contributed to the lack of people who wanted to drive "over the mountain" to where my parents' live. So, needless to say after the hours and hours and hours and sis I mention hours that my dad and I put into the sale, it was a bust. I didn't even make the $50 I set out to make. Oh well, that's the way it goes sometimes I guess. I'm thankful that we are done with garage sales for 2015!