What I Learned about Tag Sales this Weekend
As I mentioned on Monday, we had a yard sale on Saturday and Sunday. My friend Nadia from MaMeMeMa came over and our tenants even came down for a while on Saturday. Nadia’s husband was around to help out for quite a bit and even one of her sons came for a while. Douglas had to work both mornings, but he was there in the afternoon.
Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures. Nadia took a couple with her cell phone, but they did not turn out that well. Thankfully, she gave me permission to use them anyway.
You can also use the picture from last year to help you visualize the sale. Even some of the items were the same. For example, the round table, the microwave and the wooden night stand in the background. Thankfully, the table and the microwave sold, but the nightstand did not. We can use it in the basement, however, so I was not too bothered.
I really wanted to sell the black and white table, despite how much I love it, but it did not sell. It is back in the dining room. I have put it on Craigslist, and hopefully it will go soon.
So, what did I learn? Well, first of all I learned that it is much better to have a yard sale with people around to keep you company. Sunday was especially slow, and I would have gone insane without Nadia and Douglas to keep me company.
That leads me to my next lesson. As I mentioned, Sunday was slow. I am not sure why we did so much better last year, but I have a theory. I think that it is better to have a yard sale in June than in late August. First of all, people are excited about sales in tag sales in June because they are still new for the year. By August people have been going to sales all summer, and they need less/have less money. Also a lot of people could have been away on their last vacation before school starts.
The weather might have played a part as well. Saturday was cloudy, but Sunday was gorgeous. The sun was shining, it was hot and people were in the mood for the beach or pool rather than a yard sale. I always thought that it was important to have good weather for a tag sale, but now I know there is such a thing as too good. Of course, that is something that you cannot control.
Despite the fact that there were fewer people there than last year, we still did quite well. A year ago we made about $450, while this year we made a few dollars shy of $300. It would have been nice to sell more, but $300 is nothing to scoff at.
We took the remainder of the clothes and small items to thrift shops in the area. It was nice to see it all leave.
The best part of the yard sale was the aftermath in the basement. This is what the basement looked like last week.
This is what the basement looks like today. It is marvelous! Everything is in its bin, on a shelf and labeled. I feel like a weight has been lifted off of me.
Happy Homemaking!
I am a teacher, traveler, artist, writer, homemaker and a whole lot more. In January 2009, I bought the Cape of Dreams. It was the second house that I had ever owned, but it was the first that I bought by myself. I now live in the house with my husband Douglas, our dog Kahlua, and Crème de Menthe, the cat. Because, what life is complete without a little Kahlua and Cream? I love arts and crafts of all kinds, and I refinish furniture as well. We are slowly redoing our entire house. You can read about my projects on my blog www.CapeofDreams.com
what a big effort, good job on clearing all that space!
It was a HUGE effort but well wort it!
Every year we have good intentions of having a sale, but we are too lazy to organize it and follow through. You’re right, the time to do it is when summer is young and people have more energy. But you did it, and your basement looks MUCH better!!
It will be a long time until we do it again, but I am thrilled with the space in the basement.
So jealous of how tidy your basement is! I actually like that wood nightstand!
We like the wooden nightstand as well, which is why we aren’t too sad that it didn’t sell. We just don’t really need it.
We live at the end of a dead end street so yard sales don’t fare too well. Yours looked like a lot of work and you made some money but the real payoff is the clutter clearing in the basement. Great job. Jo @ Let’s Face the Music
We are lucky to live on a road that gets enough traffic without being too busy. That is why my friend came here because her street would not be a good place to have a garage sale either. You are right that clearing the basement was the best part. I was thrilled to get rid of so much!
Thanks so much for letting us be part of your yard sale. It was a lot of fun for us being our first time. We had a great time although we ended up exhausted! Too bad about the pictures. I didn’t realize they were so blurry until I downloaded them in my computer. My iphone camera is still broken so I can’t take pictures. It’s annoying! Thanks again, Jess!
Thank you! Don’t worry about the pictures. I appreciate you letting me use them since I did not take any. Hopefully we can get together again soon when things calm down a little.