Yard sale..worth it or waste of time?

[Goofycampers]

Just wanted a few opinions. I am cleaning out alot of stuff and I'm debating if I should try to have a yard sale or not. Seems like a lot of time to go through , organize, price, etc. Not sure if its worth the payoff or if I should just donate everything. What do you think?

 

[happygirl]

Just wanted a few opinions. I am cleaning out alot of stuff and I'm debating if I should try to have a yard sale or not. Seems like a lot of time to go through , organize, price, etc. Not sure if its worth the payoff or if I should just donate everything. What do you think?

It depends on what you have? If it all clothes I would just donate them. I have made really good money on garage sales. When I price things I price them to go so I don't have to deal the with stuff again.

 

[Goofycampers]

Not clothes, I donate them when the kids outgrow them and my DH and I usually go through our closet every year and donte. I have alot of household stuff. Dishes, (even some china), pictures, toys, christmas decorations. Just a lot of stuff!

 

[happygirl]

Not clothes, I donate them when the kids outgrow them and my DH and I usually go through our closet every year and donte. I have alot of household stuff. Dishes, (even some china), pictures, toys, christmas decorations. Just a lot of stuff!

I would have one then.

 

[kellyg403]

In my experience, clothes rarely go and I always donate them. I know that my neighbor has been successful int he past with the 'fill a brown bag with clothes for 3 bucks".

I would think it wouldn't be a waste of time, you might not make a killing but you would make some money. Depends on how much time you have and if you enjoy doing those types of things.

The hardest part of a yard sale to me is how time consuming it is to price everything, clean it up to put it out etc. I enjoy GOING to yard sales but I don't like having them!

Kelly

 

[lizbaby007]

When I moved recently I went through all of my stuff and did a ton of purging. I had a 2-day garage/yard sale and priced everything fairly. There were a few larger furniture type items but the bulk of the sale was $5 and under. I had a bunch of dollar items and quarter/50 cent things. You would be surprised at how fast things add up. Plus on the last day I pretty much took whatever someone wanted to offer me. If I saw someone showing some interest I walked up and said "make me an offer" which I immediately followed with "Sold!!", lol!

At the end of the weekend I had made $986!! I was shocked!! Everything that did not sell was then loaded into the SUV and taken to the local Goodwill.

I would say if you have a little time go for it! You could make some extra cash for the Holidays and get rid of stuff at the same time

 

[Goofycampers]

When I moved recently I went through all of my stuff and did a ton of purging. I had a 2-day garage/yard sale and priced everything fairly. There were a few larger furniture type items but the bulk of the sale was $5 and under. I had a bunch of dollar items and quarter/50 cent things. You would be surprised at how fast things add up. Plus on the last day I pretty much took whatever someone wanted to offer me. If I saw someone showing some interest I walked up and said "make me an offer" which I immediately followed with "Sold!!", lol!

At the end of the weekend I had made $986!! I was shocked!! Everything that did not sell was then loaded into the SUV and taken to the local Goodwill.

I would say if you have a little time go for it! You could make some extra cash for the Holidays and get rid of stuff at the same time

'
Wow that's way more than I expected. See that's the issue.. time. I have very little free time. I am unexpectatly off work today and really should be doing a million things instead of being on the Dis but oh well. I did have a yard sale years ago and sold alot of baby clothes and things but it was a lot of work and I didn't make that much money so I didn't think I'd ever do it again. But I've got some pretty good stuff to sell, kinda hate to just give it away if you kwim.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

'
Wow that's way more than I expected. See that's the issue.. time. I have very little free time. I am unexpectatly off work today and really should be doing a million things instead of being on the Dis but oh well. I did have a yard sale years ago and sold alot of baby clothes and things but it was a lot of work and I didn't make that much money so I didn't think I'd ever do it again. But I've got some pretty good stuff to sell, kinda hate to just give it away if you kwim.

We always sell then donate.

I do sell clothes and make a lot of money on them. However my clothes are priced very cheaply and hard to pass it up.

Esp. the teens. I have a ton of girl clothes. I am way better than Plato's Closet, that place is not cheap!

I was at Goodwill the other day and a T-shirt was 3.00. If I charge 25cents for t shirts people end up grabbing 4 of them for a $1. I have a lot of shirts, jeans, jackets and coats. I will probably make a couple hundred on clothes alone.

Bottom line, if you just want to donate, then donate. No big deal really. It does take time to do it.

 

[Meriweather]

I would have one.
I just moved and did one before we left. Made about $1500,
DH reorganized his shop here and just had one (just him) this past weekend.....mostly tools, but not a lot of big ticket items and he made $250.
He didn't mind sitting outside and reading. He also closed at 1 on Sunday.

 

[denisem]

OP, I hear you, I've done many a garage/estate sale in my time & they are time consuming.

Don't know everyone's donation habits, but is it usually to Goodwill or Purple Heart? In our area, we have donation stores where the proceeds go toward a specific charity: hospice, humane society, church sponsored, woman's shelter, etc.

For some crazy reason, I don't mind donating more "valuable" items (i.e., things that I could get a few $$ at a garage sale if I'd get off my lazy butt) to charities that are close to my heart.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

OP, I hear you, I've done many a garage/estate sale in my time & they are time consuming.

Don't know everyone's donation habits, but is it usually to Goodwill or Purple Heart? In our area, we have donation stores where the proceeds go toward a specific charity: hospice, humane society, church sponsored, woman's shelter, etc.

For some crazy reason, I don't mind donating more "valuable" items (i.e., things that I could get a few $$ at a garage sale if I'd get off my lazy butt) to charities that are close to my heart.

I used to think that way. However after many garage sales I have had, you realize that it is how some families shop for new clothes. Goodwill is not "cheap" and frankly the selection is poor for "teen clothes".

I never forget this family with preteen girls that were so happy at the clothes I had for them. I was selling everything 10cents just to get rid of it and it was good stuff.

I had people buying armloads of clothes, dresses, and coats.

I had a family that bought all my coats to donate to their church.

Yea, some probably bought and sold it to resell it shops to make money, but you know what, maybe they need that money. For some people that is a part time income.

You can look at it anyway you want really.

 

[Andtototoo]

I make my decision about whether or not to have a sale based upon two factors:

1. Do I have a large-size item that won't fit in my Vibe station wagon? If yes, than I do a sale.

2. If I were to bring all the stuff I want to get rid of to Good Will, will it fit in my Vibe station wagon? If the answer is yes, then I don't do a sale. If the answer is no, then I will do a sale.

We've had a number of sales over the last 15 years. The most I ever made was when I got rid of all my baby stuff and dishes/plates/glasses -- I made $900 in one day. The least I ever made was this year when I got rid of toys, Christmas decorations, and collectibles -- I did it for the two days of our town's garage sale weekend and only made $300.

I really don't consider the $300 worth it when you consider the many hours I put into getting ready for the sale. The only reason I did it was because I had two large items that wouldn't fit into my car. I will say that the Christmas decorations were a total flop even though they were brand new and still in the box -- 90% of them went to Good Will.

 

[Alsobrook]

Yard Sale = I'm hoping you'll pay me next to nothing for the right to haul my crap back to your house.

Estate Sale = I'm hoping to sell some things of value.

 

[mickeyboat]

We had one last summer - mostly kid toys and clothes. I told my kids that if they organized everything and lugged it out to the garage, they could keep all the money. It was a great success to them.

I was very surprised at how quickly the clothes sold. I had one woman buy a few things and then come back a little later to see how much I would charge for all the clothes in a particular size. She even wanted the stuff that was stained which I was throwing out. She got a great deal - I got rid of a lot of stuff.

We made signs for most everything which made pricing a lot easier.

What didn't sell got brought to Goodwill or put out on the lawn with a free sign. I couldn't believe what people took off the lawn, either.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

What didn't sell got brought to Goodwill or put out on the lawn with a free sign. I couldn't believe what people took off the lawn, either.

Oh yea the free stuff. I have tons of boxes filled with free stuff and I add to it as every 30mins passes.

It gets people out of their cars because they HAVE to LOOK.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Last and current home, we do not have much luck without lots of advertising.

We did better taking kids items to a kids consignment sale. We were able to set our prices and set the to thrift store prices which is more than garage sale prices. We made only $88. But it took less time and was more profitable for the effort spent than any garage sale we have ever done.

Our homes just are not along general thoroughfares. Both are concealed dead end streets. People don't realize we are here. A blessing for the rest of the year we aren't trying sell something.

We just donate the rest and for now, the kid's consignment sales will be what my kids use to make money if they want to "sell" their stuff.

 

[denisem]

I used to think that way. However after many garage sales I have had, you realize that it is how some families shop for new clothes. Goodwill is not "cheap" and frankly the selection is poor for "teen clothes".

I never forget this family with preteen girls that were so happy at the clothes I had for them. I was selling everything 10cents just to get rid of it and it was good stuff.

I had people buying armloads of clothes, dresses, and coats.

I had a family that bought all my coats to donate to their church.

Yea, some probably bought and sold it to resell it shops to make money, but you know what, maybe they need that money. For some people that is a part time income.

You can look at it anyway you want really.

Whoa - I was merely throwing out another option. I'm not knocking anyone's choice in their donation or garage sale comfort zone. The OP mentioned non-clothing items & seems to be on the fence over whether her time is more valuable then getting a few $$. If one has little time on their hands, it's a valid question.

Heck, when I moved out of state, I relied on Freecycle. I.E., hated to toss 25+ yrs of craft items, but a girl scout troop leader was thrilled to take 'em. Same with an antique brass bed - no bites on selling it, so Freecycle got it off my hands. If they resold it, good for them.

Yard Sale = I'm hoping you'll pay me next to nothing for the right to haul my crap back to your house.

Estate Sale = I'm hoping to sell some things of value.

Yeah, guess my estate sales were more along the lines of 100 yrs. worth of tupperware, mis-matched glasses/dinnerware & lamps circa 1950 after the family made claims on the good stuff.

We had one last summer - mostly kid toys and clothes. I told my kids that if they organized everything and lugged it out to the garage, they could keep all the money. It was a great success to them.

I was very surprised at how quickly the clothes sold. I had one woman buy a few things and then come back a little later to see how much I would charge for all the clothes in a particular size. She even wanted the stuff that was stained which I was throwing out. She got a great deal - I got rid of a lot of stuff.

We made signs for most everything which made pricing a lot easier.

What didn't sell got brought to Goodwill or put out on the lawn with a free sign. I couldn't believe what people took off the lawn, either.

ALWAYS do a "free" pile. Someone took away a rusted out old push lawn mower. Actually had people come in the house for my late MIL's estate sale & say "Is it really free?" Yes. "Well, I HAVE to buy something!". OK, you need some tupperware or mis-matched glasses???"

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

I think it depends on where you live. I just had one 2 weeks ago and I made $1200. Totally worth it for me. Clothes here sell like hot cakes. I did rent a clothing rack (actually 4 of them) and hung everything up, made sure things were clean and priced to sell. Give it a try.

 

[js]

Just wanted a few opinions. I am cleaning out alot of stuff and I'm debating if I should try to have a yard sale or not. Seems like a lot of time to go through , organize, price, etc. Not sure if its worth the payoff or if I should just donate everything. What do you think?

You know about 2 years ago I would have said "worth it"!
But after discovering that ebay was so easy and setting myself up with a seperate bank account not linked to my dh and my checking/savings, I say, Not Worth It! I can't tell you how much more I would have made selling on ebay! I use to sell clothing items for about a dollar. Then as the day went on, I would have plastic grocery store bags and say fill for $5, which worked really well. Then, I discovered my dd's Armani and my ds's A/X and other brands sold for $5-$10 a piece! Books sell for about $1 with $3 shipping and just STUFF I had people wanted! If you look on ebay for your items and it seems like they are selling, perhaps that may be what you want to start to think about.

Good luck.

 

[Nohal]

Yard Sale! It is a lot of work but if you are organized it works out well. I usually have a yard sale box in the attic and add to it through the year. When I have enough stuff I have a yard sale. I set up tables in my garage and price everything cheap to get rid of it. The day of the sale I open the garage and pull out the tables. You have to advertise to get people. Whatever is left either goes in the trash or to goodwill. I love it when I have a nice item priced at 50 cents and someone wants to know if I can do better on the price! Be prepared for early birds.