Is it just me, or are garage sales changing?
Many years ago, if you had a garage sale, you posted a notice in the newspaper and then placed maybe 20 signs all around your neighborhood advertising your sale date and location. Some municipalities require the seller to purchase a license to have the garage sale. Your garage sale day would arrive and you wake up to find a line of people waiting at your front door hoping to get dibs on whatever was on hand.
Today, I had my first garage sale since my mom died two years ago. As with all garage sales (and for all sellers) a lot of planning and junk sorting goes into these endeavors. This year was particularly difficult because I was going through my mother's belongings. I also have some items that belonged to my mom's sister (still living but in a nursing home). On top of all these, I still have my parents' large collection of books - many are classic literature and a must read for writers such as me.
I had purchased the sale license about three weeks ago and read Overland's requirements. Only two signs. Well, that sucks. Signs cannot be on telephone poles. Well, that sucks, too. I see the reasoning, but it still sucks. Signs on corner lots can't be placed without homeowner permission. Well, duh. I just wish I knew the neighbors at the corners near my house to ask their permission. So my advertising was limited to a nice little sign in front of my house. I also couldn't advertise my garage sale until the day before. So much for the newspaper. Facebook posting on various online garage sale sites will have to do. I'm trying so hard to embrace modern technology.
Going through my mother and aunt's belongings was a bit emotional. I felt like I was throwing out my family. Passing along my parents' personal library to outsiders felt like a mortal sin. I don't have room to keep all this stuff. However, we really need the money and I was hoping we would get a big crowd.
Last night, my husband and I went through the boxes and priced most of the items. I hate pricing. I have no idea how much a watermelon shaped wicker picnic basket is worth. There isn't really a Kelly Blue Book for junk. I think there's something like that for antiques, but I don't have any.
I was up most of the night preparing for this morning. I think I got about four hours of sleep before getting up to put tonight's dinner in the slow cooker and start taking stuff outside. This late June morning was cool and breezy. I'll take it - no rain today.
My garage sale only netted me $54. I kept posting pictures to the Facebook pages that showed up. People wanted online pictures and price quotes before coming out. Several people wanted the same things but if someone beat her to the item, someone else got mad. I didn't see any cruising cars. In fact, there were no lines of people on my front porch or driveway. I don't think I had more than a half dozen people all day.
I'm trying not to be ungrateful. The money from the garage sale was more than I had when I woke up this morning. I simply feel like I wasted my time. One customer came to the house wanting one particular item that I had. She showed interest in a few other items. When she was ready to pay, she didn't have enough money. She told us she would go to the bank and be right back. Yea. Sure you will. Never saw her again. My stuff is still here. Other customers would contact me on Facebook, say they were interested and never show up.
What happened to the adventure of driving all over town looking for garage sales? What happened to the anticipation of finding an obscure item that you like?
Today was a disappointment. So, I think I'll take my box of Caramel Crunch 'N Munch popcorn with peanuts (purchased with sale money), go sit in my corner and drown my sorrows. Then I'll take a nap.
