Have you had a rummage sale?

[Martha]

Because of how painful the moving process is, and because a lot of our household stuff can easily be replaced (or is unneccessary), I have been selling and giving away a lot of stuff. Through Craigslist I have now sold two motorcycles, a large rug, the dang bat house, metal camping dishes, two bicycles, and a LDC tv. What hasn't moved is furniture. I also haven't tried to sell a number of things on Craigslist because of the PITA factor. Clothes. Extra dishes. Boxes of little stuff. I have given some things to Goodwill. I am debating having a rummage sale to try to ditch a lot at once because we do have a fair amount to get rid of. But I am a bit hesitant. Years ago our old neighborhood had a massive rummage sale and I participated. I sold some stuff but didn't make much money. We lost money because during the sale (which was very crowded) someone stole a few things from our garage.

The last person I know who had a rummage sale was my sister in LA and her step daughter. The step daughter made about $300 and my sister made about $10. After each took a whole day off from work.

So, what are your experiences getting rid of stuff in a rummage sale?

 

[whitestick]

I've had a number of garage sales, and agree that they can be a major PITA, but on the other hand, can make some serious cash. I sold some tools, suits, and other big boy toys, along with a full complement of DD's smaller clothes, DW's clothes and knick Knacks, household goods, etc. By listing the tools and kids stuff at the head of the ad, we had a great response, and, in fact, had people knocking on the door at 6:30 AM, to get at the stuff. We also experienced some of the theft problems, but, learned to have additional friends/neighbors participating, so we had good coverage to watch what was going on.
Results, ranged from $700 to several thousand, depending on items, time of year, weather, and proximity to holidays (don't do it - no one comes).
Good Luck

It helps to make a party of it, with the friends/neighbors, and if you can get the neighborhood to make it a block sale, with several houses participating, you generate a lot of traffic, even though there is more competition..

 

[Linney]

Hi Martha, I have held many rummage sales. I've done it 'solo' as well as participated in many multi-family rummage sales. Except out here on the west coast, we usually call them garage sales.

I've made between $100 - $900, depending on the quantity and quality of goods. I keep it simple -- sales start at 8am in the morning and goes no later than 3pm, 1 day only, usually Saturday when I don't have to take any time off of work. Anything not sold gets donated. Prices are set between 10% and 25% of original cost, depending on condition (unless unusual items like collector items or antiques are involved). I don't haggle much before lunch, but I cut a lot of price deals in the afternoon. I advertised mostly via signs posted around the neighborhood and an ad in the local penny saver newsletter.

Sorry to hear there have been so many problems with rummage sales in your neighborhood! I'd suggest you have a helper if possible to keep an eye on the cash box and goods. Also keep the garage door closed and put away anything in the front yard that isn't bolted down!

You probably won't make tons of money, but if done right, you should clear out tons of stuff. And that itself feels pretty darn good.

 

[Nords]

So, what are your experiences getting rid of stuff in a rummage sale?

We've quit garage sales in favor of Craigslist.

If Craigslist + photos hasn't caught on in your area, is there a cheap classified ad in the local paper or some other way of advertising used furniture?

 

[gtmeouttahere]

How much is your time worth? To me, forget about the sale, give it all to a charity (Goodwill, Salvation Army). You get a receipt for a tax deduction that would probably add up to more than you would actually make at a garage sale. Plus your GIVING to someone who really is in need. No need to price everything and sit around all day having people stare at you and your junk. That is a win, win, win situation all around.

Maybe sell some of the higher end stuff on Craigs or through other adds, but I save myself the hassel and a weekend.

We are getting ready to move across country currently and the Goodwill now knows us by name and we love the ease of dropping off our stuff, letting them sort it all out and do thier own pricing. It sure has taken a lot of the stress of moving away, and you can't put a price on that!!!

 

[W2R]

You might be able to get a used furniture dealer to give you a quote and then come pick it up. You probably wouldn't get very much, but then it would be more than nothing (as opposed to donating it) and it would all be gone (as opposed to the outcome of a garage/rummage sale).

I've checked out Craigslist both here and in my probable retirement location, and it doesn't look promising. Nords is right - - its effectiveness may be very location dependent.

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

We haven't had good luck with garage sales. Lots of prep time, dragging stuff out for sale, people arriving waaaayyy before it starts, traffic blocked on the street. Hours of time. People bring their 6 kids and Grandma, not to mention the dog.

Most stuff goes for a song. Even if you end up with a couple hundred bucks, you need to decide it it's worth it.

We'd prefer Craigs List or Ebay, for item worth more than $25 or so, just bite the bullet and trash or donate the other stuff.

I have known people in the midwest who seem to really enjoy the haggling and hustle bustle, but it's been a pain for us.

 

[HFWR]

I can think of many ways how I'd rather spend my time...

"Give it away. give it away, give it away now..." Red Hot chili Peppers

 

[Moemg]

I'd rather shoot myself in the foot than have another garage sale .

 

[dex]

A garage sale can be worth your time if it is held with others where you live and you price the stuff right.

I couldn't give my furniture away. So I left it - I was renting an apartment at the time. I think the cleaning staff appreciated it. It was good clean stuff too. Goodwill wouldn't come to pick it up.
After I was finished I was able to get all the physical things I owned into a 5x5 storage room. Then I was off in my RV.

Now that I'm in a house I'm still looking for things to get rid of. (Yes I do have furniture!)

 

[cho oyu]

How much is your time worth? To me, forget about the sale, give it all to a charity (Goodwill, Salvation Army). You get a receipt for a tax deduction that would probably add up to more than you would actually make at a garage sale. Plus your GIVING to someone who really is in need. No need to price everything and sit around all day having people stare at you and your junk. That is a win, win, win situation all around.

Maybe sell some of the higher end stuff on Craigs or through other adds, but I save myself the hassel and a weekend.

We are getting ready to move across country currently and the Goodwill now knows us by name and we love the ease of dropping off our stuff, letting them sort it all out and do thier own pricing. It sure has taken a lot of the stress of moving away, and you can't put a price on that!!!

Donate. Absolutely (except perhaps for larger, more expensive items where Craigslist or e-bay can work well). Not only is it a fraction of the difficulty, but you can help out a good organization and, if itemizing, very well may have a better financial outcome than from a rummage/garage sale.

 

[TromboneAl]

We've had good experiences, and made about $250 from our last sale.

But remember: It's not about making money, it's about getting rid of stuff. This is especially true when you're moving. For every item you sell, you save the amount that it would have cost to move it. Don't forget to sell stuff that the moving company won't move: paints, liquids, etc.

Put an ad for the garage sale in craigslist as well as the local paper.

Here are some tips from a thread in another forum.

 

[Martha]

I had my siblings over to pick through for anything they wanted.

I think for the next couple of weeks I'll keep on doing the Craigslist thing. I really am not too thrilled with doing a rummage/garage sale as it is so much work and I question how much money we'll actually see out of it. Especially as we don't have kids stuff, which really seems to be what sells.



Keep the stories coming!

 

[Goonie]

We've done [-]garbage[/-] garage and [-]rubbish[/-] rummage sales over the years, but they were a PITA. Now we just donate most of the stuff we no longer want or need to one of the resale/thrift shop in town. They're happy to get it....and we're happier to get rid of it!!!

If we were moving or just wanted to get rid of most of our furniture, appliances, tools, nick-nacks, and other assorted junk....we'd have an auction! That way you can get rid of EVERYTHING quick & easy. The auctioneers do the advertising, come in and move everything out into the yard and/or onto wagons, auction it off (ALL of it!!!), handle the money collection, take care of clean up (mostly), and then give you your money (minus THEIR cut of course!)

If it's a small estate, around here they'll haul everything to there auction barn, and combine it with other small estates, for one LARGE sale. They keep track of the money for each of the estates involved, so there's no problems getting the proper amount of money back to each estate.

I've w*rked for auctioneers at lots of "estate" auctions, and have seen people buy JUNK that I'd be embarrassed to put out for the trash man!!! It's like a feeding frenzy in the piranha tank! Some people will buy anything...and pay top dollar for it!

At one 'estate' auction I watched a lady buy a washer and a dryer...auctioned separately....for over twice the price of new units!!! The auctioneer stopped about 3 times to ask if she understood that she was bidding on ONLY one appliance...NOT the pair! She said "yes!" He talked to her family members in attendance, and they said she was doing OK! This was about 15 years ago, and she paid about $2000 for a VERY used washer and dryer combo! A garage sale might have netted $50 a piece around here!

 

[RunningBum]

I'll be in a similar situation in about a year. I knew my move to Texas would be somewhat temporary (7 years), so I haven't accumulated too much, and I either brought stuff I didn't want to come back east (I kept my place in Virginia) or bought inexpensive stuff. I've been wrestling with the garage sale vs. donate. I'll have to look into the auctioning. I guess it depends if I unload the w/d and fridge with the house, or need to get rid of it. I kind of dread dealing with a garage sale, whereas Goodwill is just 1/2 mile from me.

 

[Martha]

As Al says, it is not so much a money thing, but a get rid of stuff thing. Part of my Goodwill resistance is just getting all the stuff to Goodwill. And they don't help you unload. If we can get it there, we might as well move it to the new place. I want someone to come to me and take it away.

 

[Orchidflower]

I've had a number of garage sales, but, honestly, I just bit the bullet and gave everything away when I sold my house. However, when I was in innercity Chicago (a city with no parking, might I mention, which means you get diehards) a couple years ago, I paid to have someone be there with me in the huge apartment. Since I sold a number of "antiques" and put that word first in my ad, I had dealers show up and made a profit of $750 (after paying the help). Sounds good? Considering I sold things to them for $40-60-100 that they could resell for up to $250...uh...not so good. But I had to get rid of things, and this is the only way I could guarantee they would walk off.
If you have tons of small things, clothes and toys, just give them away unless you have the days and time to mark it all. Garage/Estate/Apartment sales are tons of physical labor, so I hope you are in shape if you do decide to do it...or you will feel it for a few days afterward. It's work, pure and simple.
To me...it just is not worth the time to make less than $1,000. Ugh.

 

[Orchidflower]

If you have a house full of good stuff and the normal accumulation of crap, see if your area has a company that will come and mark/sell for you. I think they take something like 40%, but that would be worth it.
Auctions are always a last resort if your area does not do Craigslist (like mine doesn't). You usually end up with an item costing $75 and, after the auctioneer takes his cut, you get a whopping $17...however, better than zero, I guess. This one is from experience.

 

[HFWR]

In this area, Salvation Army will pickup larger items. I even donated an old Apache popup camper once. Guy came by, hitched 'er up, and viola*, camper gone!!

* Pronounced "vy-oh-luh" here in Texas...

 

[Moemg]

When my father -in -law died we had a company come in and take everything and they gave us a set price not great money but soo worth the hassle.

 

[audreyh1]

We sold most of our better furniture to a local consignment store. They came and looked at it and offered to pay 67% of what it would be sold on consignment. They hauled it off. We took the check! Sayonara.

The basic and not so nice furniture we gave to Salvation Army. They came and got it, even though it took a few trips.

Many folks getting rid of whole households of stuff go the route of an estate sale.

Audrey

 

[simple girl]

Having just done our first garage sale last weekend, I vote for DONATE!!!!!

I'd sell whatever large items you can via Craig's list or local paper, then whatever you have left over, donate. To us, it just wasn't worth our time to mark tons of things, haggle with people, lift/move/pack/unpack boxes, etc. Should have just given it all away from the beginning (except for the large stuff). We were exhausted after it was all over.

Find an organization that will pick up. The feeling of freedom you get from getting rid of stuff is awesome. We now have almost everything we own fitting into a 2 bedroom apartment!

 

[Achiever51]

I vote for donating rather than the garage sale route.

We've had several garage sales, with varying results. The first one many years ago generated $1,700 -- the most recent one, less than $200. Next time, I'll post the better stuff on eBay and donate the rest...the garage sale route is just too labor intensive for the value returned.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

when we had to remove mom from house we set her up in a double room at the nursing home so she could still have lots of her stuff but there was still so much left. i wanted to give it all to charity. sister-in-law wanted to do a rummage sale. i gave in to sil. awful, awful, awful. strangers walking through my mother's house & touching her things. people stealing stuff. way more effort & time than it was worth. never again.

 

[kramer]

I am clearing out my stuff and moving soon. I have been using craigslist successfully as part of this downsizing (I am moving 500 miles). By doing this, I don't even need a moving truck to move, which saves a lot of cash. The furniture I am selling is pretty cheap stuff to begin with.

I have mostly used craigslist to clear out furniture that I can't give to Goodwill or Salvation Army because I don't have a truck and it is heavy. I have given other furniture to friends.

Here is a Tip: Waste less time by providing full information. I just sold one piece of damaged furniture today. I had two buyers quite interested before this buyer, but I explained damage in detail over the phone and sent each of them 8 detailed photos (which they could also share with their spouses). They each declined. Then one guy I talked with after viewing the photos came by and paid full price. So far, each person who has come for each piece of furniture has bought it since I provided full information to them. Also, I am a brutally honest person, not just trying to get people over to buy merchandise, and people can sense that and appreciate that you are trying to save them time. That also helped me to sell a round trip flight credit that I could not use on craigslist for a good price last week.

Also, for something you are selling, be a little patient before lowering the price and plan to post before and around the weekend. It is easy for us semi-retirees to forget that people have jobs during the week People seem to go shopping on the weekend.

I gave away some stuff, too, that would be too heavy to carry (my 12 year old bed, cheap patio table), and met some quite interesting people as a result. In fact, we have had some follow up conversations -- one lady wants me to meet her niece when I am traveling. And one guy even lives in the Philippines 1/3 of the time and is semi-retired -- I am going to ask him a few more questions.

I have a pile of stuff to give away now that will easily fit in my car for the trip to Salvation Army.

Kramer (in downsizing mode and feeling good!)