Day 1 at the Big Sale. Weather agreeable, hoping for more of THAT for Day 2. Up at 5:15 to finish setting up and pricing. The first customer showed up at 7am - although the official start time was 9am. But I can't say I minded as he bought a piece of my furniture and some other things and dropped about $80!
The night before, I fizzled out early after having made approximately 128 trips and up and down the basement stairs to bring up items for the sale. Then, had a small freak accident while trying to innocently turn on an air conditioner - I'm too short to reach the controls and was using a small, cheap plastic stool (that my 72 year old mother uses all the time for the same purpose) and just as my finger tips grazed the "on" switch, CRACK! My left foot went THROUGH the middle of the stool (must've been a Dollar Store purchase) and not only did it puncture a hole in the top of my foot with a sharp pointy edge, but I sprained and bruised the OTHER foot, not to mention bruising parts of my back and right arm when I fell on my back on a laundry basket filled with clothes hangers. OUCH OUCH OUCH! I'm fine, and grateful it wasn't my Mom who fell (the damage could have been much worse for her) but I have been in pain ever since.
You really see all kinds of people at these things. Most people are extremely nice and very honest. They ask what your price is and they pay it, no questions asked. Then you have the hagglers - people who will see a 15 cent price tag on something and ask if you'll take 5 cents instead. Then there are the people who tell you their sob stories so you feel sorry for them and knock a few bucks off. There are the people you are glad don't hang around... they come in with an attitude and if they don't like your stuff or if you request they NOT bring their double-wide stroller into the garage because there are breakables and about 15 other people in there, they flip you off and stalk off in a really loud snit. And believe it or not - there are the shoplifters. Yes, some people actually STEAL things from garage sales - so you really need to be watching everyone.
Some of the more notable characters we had today were:
- Felix, who was a customer of our last sale 3 years ago and who recalled buying nearly all of my CD's at that sale; today, after starting out telling me his wife won't let him go to garage sales any more, he proceeded to spend THREE trips and several hours, and bought about $120 worth of stuff (most of it small stuff like office supplies, books, all the coaching tapes I was selling, a coffee maker and an assortment of phone/computer cables and gadgets.) He left saying if we never see him again we'll know his wife killed him for all the stuff he bought today.
- The 60's throw-back who arrived looking like the major burn-out he was, in a dilapidated old van (because that's what burned-out 60's throwbacks drive, isn't it?) and the first question he asked was "Do you have any marijuana to sell?" and I don't think he was kidding. He was so scary that when he left and I noticed he turned left at the corner to go to my sister's sale, I made my mother call her to make sure she was OK, since it was just her and her 13-year old daughter home alone all day doing THEIR sale. He was there but didn't cause any problems. That's definitely not someone you want to know where you LIVE.
- The women who claimed they only had $28 to spend, late in the day, one of whom tried on a LOT of clothing (over her existing clothes) and then brought a load of stuff for me to tally up until they had spent exactly $28 (which meant there were a lot of things for me to put BACK that they couldn't afford.)
It's a bit surprising to me what other people find valuable. Like, my mother had about 40 pairs of shoes. Some were her own. Some were shoes she brought home from her thrift-store volunteer job, but never wore and never took back to the thrift shop. I don't know why someone would buy a used pair of shoes, but she did a wholesale business with all of hers, and sold about 3/4 of them.
I had a guy buy ALL of my VHS tapes early in the day. We sold a lot of the nicknacks, even those that were basically cheap junk. And I even sold my old computer (without monitor) for $75 which was very fair and made a teenage boy very happy. But my antique rocker is still there; an almost new coffee maker; a very good microwave; some very expensive curtain rods haven't brought any interest either. People will buy the crappiest clothes and leave the really GOOD clothes on the rack (I had a lot of cocktail dresses and the holidays are coming up!) It's funny when you realize people have all kinds of priorities in life.
The really good part of the day came when tallying up the proceeds. We're doing amazingly well and I still have several big items left to sell. Hoping Day 2 will be as productive and that my achy body and headache will be much improved by then. Send good vibes my way for a great second and last day of the last garage sale I will EVER do. (You have my word on THAT one.)
