Decluttering and Yard Sales? [Archive] - AmityMama.com

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qtkitty
06-25-2004, 03:24 PM
Okay I got my to do list ready and i have already started !! YAY!!

I am playing "clean sweep" with the whole house, then we are playing clean sweep with my MIL to bes basement, then with the storage place we have been renting so we can not have to pay that any more. ( which means $60 more a month for us YAY )


The girls are staying with their mother temporarily ( 6 months .. i think there are 3 months left). I am going through everything in the house and making piles to trash, keep, and sell.

So far i have a full garbage bag of clothes, 4 garbage bags of stuffed animals, a used 4 times microwave which still has its box, and a kitchen table with extension leaf for the middle and 5 chairs. :thumbsup:And i have only gone through the girls drawers and the youngest bed and just know that the microwave and table need to go.

My main question is how do you have a good very productive yard sale where you make good enough money to make it worth your time? Any good tips? My MIL was a little nervious when i said Yard Sale *lol*

I was thinking of also making cookies and getting some different kinds of canned Soda to sell. I may do popcorn as well since i have an air popper, but i am not sure. ( 1/2 cup of popcorn makes 2 HUGE bowls .. yup we oppsed and did that once *rme* Sampson really loved all the popcorn that hit the floor since he got to eat it. ) Since we have a half bag of i believe 4 lbs of popcorn in the pantry that isn't getting used since the girls are not here. They are popcorn fanatics hehehe.

Brandy
06-26-2004, 02:50 AM
Originally posted by qtkitty
My main question is how do you have a good very productive yard sale where you make good enough money to make it worth your time? Any good tips? My MIL was a little nervious when i said Yard Sale *lol*


You need to emotionally detach yourself from the *stuff* and just let it go. When I had done yardsales in the past I was a stickler for not giving in to those who were trying to get me to practically give stuff away. When I decluttered at the beginning of the year we decided to have a yard sale, but I told myself that any $$ that I made was a bonus because I was planning to get rid of the stuff anyhow...does that make sense? I let people bargain me down to next to nothing for stuff, but I looked at from a different perspective this time...they were doing me a favor by taking my unwanted items away and it was saving me a trip to Goodwill!

I also put a time limit on it. We set up at 7:00 am and we were done by 11:00 am. We were giving stuff away and we still had three truckloads to haul off to Goodwill. I made about $250, btw. Not bad for four hours of work. I also didn't bother to price anything. It was too much effort when people aren't going to pay the price anyways.

Oh...and I made a rule...NOTHING was allowed to come back into the house after the sale. I broke it for two items only. The bread machine which I gave to a friend at playgroup the next day and my Medela Pump in Style that I had dh take to work for one of his co-workers.

Good Luck!

qtkitty
06-26-2004, 11:04 AM
WOW you had them talk you down and made $250 !!!! HOLLY COW !

I think that i will have to come up with some basic pricing .. i have size 6/7 girls clothes that the majority are still in Extremely good condition.

I have some Medium Girls clothes that are in okay condition no stains or rips.. although a little faded.

I know that i have plus size clothes that need to go that are in extremely good condition ( i have a slight problem with not wearing gifted clothes.. expecially from my grandmother or mom. their style is totally different then mine)

Our kitchen table is in pretty good condition no dings or marks one of the chairs that goes with it is wiggly though but it was like that when we got it.

Stuffed animals some are in Extremely good condition others are in good condition because they have i:heart: u on one foot :rolleyes: in perminate marker. The girls are facinated with perminate markers and their mother keeps giving them to them and they write all over everything including themselves Grrrrr. Any Who *lol*

The Microwave i would have to look at what brand it is but it is EXTREMELY lightly used and still has its box and plastic and books and stuff and is clean.


I wonder if i should also sell bait at the yard sale .. i have meal worms out the wazoo.. of course most of them are pupa or beatles now not the worms. I think that by next year i will be able to sell mealies full time. Right now i have over 2,000 beatles and i don't know how many Pupa and still have worms. Each female beatle lays several thousand eggs. All of that does not take up much room it is taking up 3x1.5 foot of space in my laundry room and adds just that much counter space as well .. hehehe Multi purpose.