Someone Else's Treasure

Putting on a yard sale is hard, dusty, boring work.

Thank goodness for scenery like this to enjoy during lulls in shoppers!

20 June 2015

Yes, it's that time of year again. Time for the annual Carter summer yard sale! Having scoured out our shed recently (plus I have a yard sale stack in the house where I collect items I don't need/want anymore throughout the year), we had plenty to put out for sale. This time I instructed my laborers (Mark, Jacob, and Dylan) to put out everything, even stuff we couldn't imagine anyone wanting, much less paying for.

After all, one man's trash is another man's treasure.

This view is less sweet. Sale items fill the yard...

...and three tables. Some shoppers actually prefer rifling through unemptied boxes.

Dylan, Danielle, and Jacob pass the time while waiting to make a sale.

It's always fun to chat with browsers, even if they don't buy.

Some people are more likely to buy clothes if they're hung neatly.

We had lots of jeans, only $1.00 per pair!

This year I decided I was more interested in getting rid of stuff than making a lot of money, so when someone asked, "How much do you want for this?" I would respond, "What are you willing to pay?" I was surprised to see how many people are taken aback by that. Many wanted a hard number. "I promise I won't be offended by any offer," I'd say. Occasionally the shopper insisted that I name a price, but most gave me an amount that was roughly double what I would have asked! Not a bad strategy!

Jacob finally sold the heavy dog house he built in high school.

Here, he and Dylan are delivering it to the shopper's truck.

And we did sell a lot of the things we thought no one would want. For instance, a woman gave me a dollar for a broken rake because her husband made art out of metal. She said he used the rake tines for antlers in his reindeer sculptures!

Jacob and Danielle also did a bake sale. The brownies were extremely popular.

It was so hot (mid-90s) that we left some items inside, like the cheesecake, 

and only brought them out as requested.

In the end, we cleared a lot of space, which meant much less to pack up and store away for next year's sale. My shed is now practically empty, with a few boxes neatly stacked and organized.

We didn't get rich, but we made enough for our upcoming weekend in the Valley. In total, we brought in $134.25, for a take of $57.25 to Jacob and Danielle and $77.00 to me. I can live with that!

$2.00 per slice!