Yeah, it didn't really go as planned.
Our original plan was to get up at 4(!) a.m. and arrange everything beautifully, and have the most pimpin yard sale ever known to man.
When 4 am came (too early), sleeping in until 6 seemed like a better idea. So, we got up at six, headed to McDonald's for some early-morning sustenance, and then to the Bip's storage unit to pull out a few things he wanted to sell. We got it all set up and sat on the porch swing waiting for all the customers to roll in in droves. Except they didn't come. Yes, we had some customers, and yes we made a little money (about $130), but it was such a disappointment compared to my last yard sale, where I made more than twice that amount with less stuff to sell. There were a lot of factors that went into this, I think.
1. We are on the 'wrong' side of the neighborhood. Although technically, we are a PART of the neighborhood, the side I live on is composed of a lot of renters (and owners! Shame on them!) that don't take pride in where they live or the integrity of the houses/neighborhood. Therefore, we don't get nearly the attention that the other side does. It's upsetting to me, but I see why it is this way. I know when I lived on the "Good" side, I was a bit snobby about the 'other' side - and we're far back into it, baby. We're not just a little bit on the undesirable side, we're ALL THE WAY BACK. However, we've got a beautiful home and the yard is sooooo great for the area. It's the perfect size for us and all we want to do with it. And it only takes one person to start a revolution. If we just keep taking pride in our home, it will spread (maybe slowly, but it WILL spread) to the rest of this half of the hood.
2. It was a community-wide sale, and there was an estate sale hogging all the attention.
3. Many of the people in our neighborhood went to help a neighboring community (a neighborhood across from us) that was badly damaged in the flood. That cut down on our customer base, as well.
4. Only 2 other people on our side of the hood had a sale.
5. I think I made my signs too small.
But we did do one thing right.... we advertised on Craigslist, with pictures, and I think that helped us a little bit.
Out of the ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY BOOKS I had to sell, I sold exactly ONE. Isn't that insane? Does no one read anymore? And I don't know if the person that did buy it COULD read. She was a trip and a half. We did have some very interesting customers, for sure.
We kept a couple (3) of the items that didn't sell to put on Craigslist (in fact, I JUST put them on CL about 10 minutes ago and Josh just texted me that one item has already sold!), and we packed up the rest and donated it to Goodwill. I felt good about that, since so many people have lost so much. And, I used to have a second job at Goodwill that I LOVED (working two jobs really sucked, but I really did like it there). I'm happy to donate to them anytime, and especially now with so many people in need.
But, if we ever do this again, I learned two things to do differently:
1. MAKE BIGGER SIGNS.
2. Be the only sale in the area, so people don't spend all their cash BEFORE they get to me!
After our Goodwill trip, we made a trip to Rita's to get some yummy shaved ice. I got the raspberry lemonade and the Bip got the vanilla. A very delicious and refreshing reward.
Some good things did happen on Saturday, despite the disappointing yard sale:
1. our sweet neighbors (from the good side of the 'hood) Tim and Merdith came over to visit. Love them!
2. My shasta daisies started to bloom!
We have several more we started from seed by the garage.... wonder if they will take off?
3. My first peony bloomed - oh, it just smells so heavenly, words cannot describe!
4. Our zucchini are about to go INSANE. See these buds?
Each of those buds will trun into a flower, which will then turn into a zucchini. There are about five buds on the plant alone, and we have about 5 or 6 plants total - um, that's A LOT of zucchini!
Here is our garden at 4 weeks in:
I will make a post about Sunday later on today.
xoxox
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