yard guards, pre-sales, and a top 10

whew!

what.a.day.

actually... 48 hours.

today was our big yard sale.

and when i say big....

i mean ridiculously huge.

like.... a friend may or may not have accused me of being an organized hoarder 

when she saw how much i had on my lawn/garage.

(in my defense... we are losing 700 square feet. that had to go somewhere!)

it is amazing to realize how much stuff we have in our lives that truly is unnecessary.

it felt so good to just clean out our lives.

simplify.

and.... have a little sale in the process!

it officially began about 2 weeks ago with the sorting process.

i decided to go through EVERYTHING we owned.

every closet, every tub, every everything.

if we didn't need it or it wouldn't fit in our new home...

it was out.

our garage quickly became an un-navigatable pile of clothing/toys/baby gear/etc.

yesterday morning at 8:30 we began pulling it all out and sorting.

and finished around 8:30 at night.

now i'll admit...

i'm a bit of a garage-sale-selling-freak.

like most things in my life, i have a process, list, and set of rules in order to be successful.

(if you're nice, i might share it with you)

make fun, but it works!

i believe an organized yard sale makes for a happy buyer.

and happy buyers buy your stuff!

so we spent yesterday organizing it all

and then had a PRE-SALE at 9pm.

a pre-sale?  what is that you say?

i decided to give my family & friends first dibs on my stuff

and we had some appetizers & drinks while they shopped.

we're taking every little opportunity to spend time with people,

so why not do it while shopping?

after pulling everything out, we realized-

it was NEVER going to fit back in the garage.

so......

3 super amazing boys from wsm offered to camp out with jeff on the front lawn.

I HEART THEM!!!!!

after going out and putting up signs,

(think midnight at this point)

they set up air mattresses and cots in the front yard.

i, luckily, got to spend 5 glorious hours in my bed.

those poor boys were cold and damp.

but our stuff was safe.

they were affectionately deemed....

for the first time ever, 

we were READY for the crazy 5:30am shoppers.

(it doesn't matter if your ad says 7am... they are there at 5:30 regardless)

bring on the sale!!!

truly, this photo does not do it justice.

there was SO.MUCH.STUFF!

the garage was full of clothing.

the yard was loaded with baby gear, toys, furniture, and yard-gear.

and, no joke, it was almost all gone by 10:00am.

we had a constant flow of people all morning long.

what a blessing.

minus one known theft (grrrr.... )  it was a great, long, hot morning.

i actually enjoyed debating prices with people.

it is a strange feeling to see things (particularly baby clothes and gear) that hold such memories 

leaving you. 

moving on.

by 12:45, this was our front yard

(the garage is completely emptied out at this point)

what what!

i call that success.

now, this sale would have been a disaster without the dozens of people that helped us this week.

people watched our children, brought us meals, sorted our things, helped set up, snaked our toilet (and found a toy whistle... thanks kids!), baked breakfast, helped make change and sell, and just generally made us feel loved and appreciated.

thank you one and all!!!

here is a sweet little video of the girls who spent the night with team brammy (and jackson) while we did all this madness.

(because isn't any blog cuter when it has pictures or videos of my kids? :)

so bachman garage sale 2011 is over.

i'll let you know when the next one is....

i'm hoping it is significantly smaller than this one!

shara's top 10 rules for a successful yard sale

1. advertise!!!  craigslist & directional, strategically-placed signs are a must!

2. organize your things!  put all kitchen together, decor together, toys together, etc.  this makes it easier for people to find things and then they don't feel like it's just a bunch of junk thrown on a table.  

3.  tables!!!  try to use as few boxes and blankets as possible.  by placing things up at people's level, they are more likely to look at them and then buy.

4.  hangers!  hang your clothes up.  if it's in a box, people won't think it's worth anything.  you can charge more if it's on a hanger.

5. if you must put things in boxes, i suggest using plastic tubs.  and sort things accordingly and then label them.  (ie, all my kid clothing was separated into sizes in clear plastic tubs and then put in ascending order across a table)

6.  do not bargain before 8am.  you will sell it.  i promise.  if they are there that early, they pay full price.

7.  don't undersell your stuff!  they will ALWAYS try to bargain, so start high so you are ok going down a bit.

8.  make sure you have a 'check stand' where people can check out.  i like to have bags for people, and getting enough change ahead of time is key.  try to grab a friend or relative to help you here so you're available to talk to people.  if you can have a roamer or 2, that helps with pricing and lowering theft.

9.  set up ahead of time!  put everything out and then pull the tables back into your garage.  this way, in the morning you just have to pull those tables out and start selling!  

10.  you would be AMAZED what people will buy. when in doubt, put it out!  i charged $1 for a used bottle of gel, and someone bought it.  seriously... everything goes, and it all adds up!

happy selling!