May 9, 2008

I purged so much stuff from my living room this week, and it feels GREAT. I'm finally starting to make a dent. My kids keep saying, "Thank you so much for purging the house, Mom. Will you purge my room next?" I never thought they'd be asking me to purge their toys. It must feel really good to them, too, to have so much less clutter.

As I've been purging, I've divided my stuff into the following categories: Garbage bags of stuff to donate, garbage bags of stuff to eBay, boxes of stuff to sell at a garage sale, and, of course, trash in the trash can.

A garage sale can seem like a huge, daunting project. We've lived in this house for eight years,  we've intended to have a garage sale every year that we've lived year, and we haven't had one yet. We even called the shed in our backyard the "Garage Sale Shed." Then it became the "eBay Shed". Now it's back to being the "Garage Sale Shed". Some of the stuff has been out there so long that it's probably not sellable anymore. So, this summer, I have to have a garage sale. I'm determined. I can't use excuses like, "But I'm too pregnant to have a garage sale," or, "But the kids are too young for me to be able to pull off a garage sale."

One of the most cumbersome tasks in having a garage sale is getting everything priced. It's hard to know what your stuff is worth. Keep this in mind: Whatever you think that item is worth, divide by four and then take the square root, divide by four again, and then round down to the nearest cent, and that is around what people are willing to pay for it at a garage sale. That's right - next to nothing. Go to www.housepurge.com to see the lists I found on recommended pricing for garage sales.

I also picked up some garage sale price tags at True Value Hardware, and have been putting price tags on the items as I purge them. This will make it that much quicker on the day of the sale to simply pull items out of boxes and set them out.

It's also important to pick a good day for the sale. Contrary to what I originally thought, holiday weekends are not good weekends for garage sales. I'm not sure whether that's true for tourist towns like our own, but it's something to consider.

Once the day is picked, you may want to inform your neighbors of the sale as a courtesy, and make sure that your property owner's association doesn't have rules against sales or signs.

The week before and of the sale you'll want to advertise it. The newspapers are an effective place to do this. There are also free Garage Sale Listings Web sites, such as www.weekendtreasure.com. On the day of the sale, you'll want to put up signs. Make sure your signs are legal in placement, and not in the right of way or on someone else's land. One great tip I found online is to use brown paper grocery sacks to write your sign on in bold paint or permanent marker, fill the bottom of the bag with sand, stuff the rest of the bag with newspaper, and staple the top closed. Voila! A wind-proof sign!

Do things to add value to your items. Putting things back in original packaging, if you have it, can add value. Some people also print off the item description and price from the Web for higher-end items, then tape it to what they're selling. This will give official details about the item without you needing to do so. Definitely clean and dust off the items.

On the morning of your sale, when setting up, make sure things are organized. The easier it is to sort through your stuff, the more you'll sell. Baby stuff stays together. Kitchen stuff stays together. Clothes stay together. Borrowing big tables from your friends or church can help you organize. It can also be helpful to label tables with "Everything on this table - $5 each." Or, "Everything in this box, $0.25 each." This could save time with pricing. Make sure you have a cash box of bag with an assortment of bills and coins to make change with. Not being able to make the proper change could lose a sale. Posting an "All Sales Final" sign will prevent people from trying to get their money back the next day. (Can you believe some people have had a problem with that?)

Don't be annoying at your sale. Don't hover over shoppers. Don't be ridiculously firm on over-inflated prices. Don't tell shoppers the story behind every item, like "Timmy's first toy car." Don't claim things are new when they're clearly old and used. Don't say, "That size four dress is not going to fit you."

This sounds like a lot of work, doesn't it? If it sounds too overwhelming for you to do this summer, then consider one of the many charity garage sales our town hosts each year. The money will go to a good cause, and the volunteers will do all of the hard work. You can also write off your tax-deductible donations.

One of my favorite charity garage sales is THIS WEEKEND. It's the Second Annual Garage Sale benefiting Families For Estes, an organization I hold near and dear to my heart. You can drop off your donations TODAY at 1520 Axminster, here in Estes Park, from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. If you don't have anything to donate, please come to the one-day sale tomorrow, Saturday, May 10, from 8:00am to 1:00pm. We promise there'll be lots of irresistible deals! Of course, I am not encouraging you to buy stuff simply to fill up your house with more stuff that needs to be purged. So, if you're participating in House Purge 2008 and swing by to make a monetary donation, I promise we won't make you take any items home. You can learn more about what Families For Estes is doing for the families and children of Estes Park by going to www.FamiliesForEstes.org.

Kristen Owen is a longtime blogger and registered eBay Trading Assistant. More information, topics, and helpful tips about House Purge can be read by going to the projects Web site at www.housepurge.com .