The neighbors also volunteer to take care of the many tasks involved with running a successful garage sale such as copying flyers, making signs, putting up signs and taking them down when the sale is over so one person does not get stuck doing all the work. It really works out well and I highly recommend this community type garage sale to anyone thinking of having a sale.
We had our sale this past Thursday, Friday and Saturday. It was an extremely successful sale. There were loads of shoppers out in our area because we planned our sale for the same dates as the local school rummage sale. We cross advertised with the school so they sent shoppers out to us, and we sent shoppers to the school. It worked out really well.
If you have been couponing for any length of time, you surely know how fast you can build up a healthy stockpile and sometimes over-buy (I use the word "buy" loosely since we are talkin' freebies here) or have excess of things you just don't need (like those super Dulcolax and Nature's Bounty money makers not too long ago at Walgreens!). If you are anything like me, I can't pass up something that is FREE so I tend to go overboard with all the freebies and money makers.
I do share with my friends and family, and I donate loads of items to various organizations. Even with all that, there was still way too much stuff in my stockpile. I really needed to lighten the load!
I decided to give garage sale-ing my stockpile a try. I didn't put out things that I knew my family would use, unless I had an over-abundance of it (a-hem...body wash, lol!). I figured that I didn't have anything to loose and I would gain tons of stockpile storage space in my cabinets, closets and vanity so that I could keep going. It seemed like a win-win situation for me.
I kept everything very organized and clean, I didn't put out anything that was expired. Everything was individually priced so that I could keep track and there was no confusion. My prices were VERY reasonable, after-all I wanted this stuff to move. I priced most items at .50 or $1.00, but the more "expensive" items were $2-$3. Once I had it all out and set up I was in awe at how much I had accumulated over the past year of coupon shopping! And this was just all the "extras" or the stuff we just wouldn't or couldn't use. WOW!
I have to admit that before I opened the garage I was very apprehensive about how it would go. Would people think that I was a little crazy? Would they think I stole the stuff? Would any of my regular cashiers come to shop (gasp!)? I had no idea what people would think. When the sale started my mind was put to ease because the shoppers just loved it! They couldn't scoop the stuff up fast enough. I had so many people come back for more, even coming multiple days of the sale to purchase more. Some people would leave and get half way down the driveway and then turn around and come back for "just a few more things".
My tables emptied so fast that I had to "restock" my makeshift dollar store after the first evening. I had people asking me to go in the house to look for more of certain items! Some of the things that I thought would not sell did, like the blood glucose meters and the children's medicines. I even sold out of those ladies sunglasses from GraveyardMall!
Everyone was so nice, and I met some very interesting people. I heard many comments. Some asked if I worked for a distributor, some asked if I robbed a convenience store, some knew immediately when they walked in the door and asked if I was a couponer because they recognized the stash! One man pointed out that there's a flea market nearby that I should think about selling at because my prices were lower than the woman that sells the same items there. One woman asked if I was the lady that was on Good Morning America for a couponing and money saving segment.
I had a lot of fun and I am very happy with my profit for the three days that my sale was open - it was definitely worth my time! Time to start building my stockpile back up again!! :)
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