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yard sale queen

May 20th, 2007 @ 11:41 pm | blonde moments, dc | Post a Comment

The yard sale, my friends, was a raging success. In fact, 36 hours later I am still pooped, so I will have to give you the highlights in superexciting list form.

  1. We (me and my DC-BFF) made more than $200! My take home was $166.25, which by my calculations equals four pedicures or one pair of designer jeans, whichever makes my butt look smaller.
  2. Contrary to our collective predictions, we sold A TON of clothes. This was the best part, because we were basically planning on selling none of them and donating it all to the Goodwill at the end of the day. Maybe it was because we sold cute shirts for only 25 cents?
  3. Other hot items: old vacuum ($12), old IBM Thinkpad ($20), George Bush cat toy that some guy bought not knowing it was a cat toy that he was going to make into a voodoo doll ($0.25). (I don’t know if it’s because I am poorer than basically everyone else in my neighborhood but I was selling stuff for way cheaper than my neighbors. We were so busy all day, and total suckers for anyone who negotiated with us.)
  4. SOMEONE ASKED ME OUT ON A DATE. Why would I put this in all caps? Because I don’t think this has happened since, like, ohhhhhhhhh, the turn of the millenium. Also? I had no makeup on, two zits on my forehead, frizzball hair, and sweaty armpits. (I don’t think it needs to be said, but I said no just in case you were wondering. Doesn’t mean it wasn’t flattering though!) (Also, I probably just doomed myself to a week of disgusting Google ads because I typed the words “sweaty armpits.”)
  5. If a yard sale is advertised as starting at 10 am, one should be ready to start haggling with the crazies at about 8:45 am. I had sold almost all of my big ticket items before the sale had officially begun!
  6. Sunscreen is your friend. Especially if it has more than 15 SPF. (In my defense, I thought I’d have an extra hour of setup time!)
  7. The best way to make sure you don’t spend any money on your neighbor’s junk is to have your husband disappear for the day so you can never leave your own sale. The best way to justify spending 100% of the profits on yourself is to have your husband disappear for the day so he can’t take any credit in the success.
  8. Girlfriends are excellent yard sale buddies. Especially when they handle all of the money so you can sit around chugging overpriced lemonade and eating melty cookies.
  9. Having a clean, organized storage area and extra room in our closets for the first time in approximately ever = PRICELESS
buy my stuff!
(Taken on a cameraphone because we didn’t have time to find a camera in the frenzy, and the two megapixel limit lends just enough graininess to hide forehead zits. I’m thinking the man who asked me out on a date probably had two megapixel vision. And absolutely no sense of smell, cause I’m pretty sure I stunk.)

comments

  1. Woo hoo! Pedicure!

    And you look great. And zits? Meh. We all get them. (Maybe that attitude is why I never get asked out on dates - LOL!)

    written by E :)

    May 21st, 2007 @ 2:04 am

  2. YEAH YARDSALE!!!!

    I *NEVER* get asked on dates, for my number or any other such nonsense. The last time that happened…I think I was was 20. I believe I married the guy.

    written by Maya

    May 21st, 2007 @ 2:52 am

  3. Awesome! Nice work on both the cash and the date request :)

    written by Janssen

    May 21st, 2007 @ 7:49 am

  4. Glad that you were so successful.
    My block growing up used to have yard sales all the time in the summer.

    The crazies used to be there at 8am on the dot.
    Just waiting for us to start!
    Weirdos.

    written by Julie

    May 21st, 2007 @ 9:18 am

  5. When we had a garage sale, the crazies started ringing our doorbell at 6:30 am. We ignored them because hello- it was still dark outside, crazy people!

    Congrats on selling so much. Where did Andrew go all day?

    written by -r-

    May 21st, 2007 @ 9:37 am

  6. The supa-dupa garage sale shopper is a strange breed. Perhaps not someone you’d want to date, even if you didn’t already have a supa-dupa husband.

    I don’t think I’ve used the adjective “supa-dupa” since highs school. What up, 1999!

    I’m so glad your take was so high! Woohoo for cash to blow on something fun for yourself, guilt free!

    written by Laurel

    May 21st, 2007 @ 10:23 am

  7. I swear, this weekend was like Yard Sale Palooza! There were no less than 4 going on in my immediate area. I’m glad that you made out pretty well and I wish I could have had some cute 25-cent shirts!

    written by RA

    May 21st, 2007 @ 10:57 am

  8. Congratulations! Price low and negotiate even lower! I love it. Good work!

    written by alison

    May 21st, 2007 @ 11:05 am

  9. All I got out of this is the hope that one day I can get all my junk out on the street and make enough money for some new jeans. AWESOME.

    (And also, I love that you got asked out on a date and that you were surprised. Hello, you’re HOTT!)

    written by Isabel

    May 21st, 2007 @ 12:49 pm

  10. Oooh! Fantastic!! So, the theory is to sell old clothes to make way for new clothes… I’m totally ok with that! :)
    xox

    written by heidikins

    May 21st, 2007 @ 12:57 pm

  11. This sounds like a blast. I don’t think my block has one of these but I’m totally going to find one.

    And about being asked on that date: Duh, you are hot!

    written by Nic

    May 21st, 2007 @ 2:08 pm

  12. YAY for the yard sale being a raging success! It’s always nice when something you have to put time and effort into ends up being worth it. :)

    written by Zandria

    May 21st, 2007 @ 2:11 pm

  13. I usually only get hit on when I’m wearing a sweatshirt and sporting a ponytail with no makeup. I would like to think it’s because when I’m made up, the guys are just too intimidated by my hotness. ::snort::

    written by Aimee

    May 21st, 2007 @ 4:13 pm

  14. Wow, you really had a great yard sale, with being asked out on a date and everything! Sunscreen is a great tip, I will remember that in a few weeks when we have our sale.

    written by Jams Wife

    May 21st, 2007 @ 8:56 pm

  15. Congrats on looking good while pawning off junk- did any cat accessories get sold?

    written by Lextoase

    May 22nd, 2007 @ 9:00 am

  16. Hilar! What’s worse, you can also get some bad Google searches for “big guy junk” — don’t ask how I noticed those words in your post. It is what it is, my friend.

    Congrats on the sale, lady!

    written by kris

    May 22nd, 2007 @ 9:20 am

  17. You look fine and where are your getting pedicures?? I could only get 2 for what I pay at my place.
    Oh yeah, are you going to go out with the guy (I’m assuming it’s a guy)?

    LL

    written by The Lavatory Lady

    May 22nd, 2007 @ 10:25 am

  18. Wow!! You should be a professional home organizer. I really think it’s your calling. I’ll totally hire you to come help me clean out my house if you are that successful at yard sale-ing!

    written by Jennifer

    May 22nd, 2007 @ 10:39 am

  19. Way to go!

    We participated in a neighborhood garage sale event thing in Tim’s parents’ neighborhood last year, and it was hugely successful. We made over $400! Tim’s grandmother had passed away a few months before, and so we had all the stuff from cleaning out her house. Our main strategy was to have to take as little stuff to goodwill as possible, so we were all about the negotiating! We sold clothes (we had a TON) for $2 — all you can carry. It was a hit, for sure. And the best part was we hardly had to take anything to goodwill.

    written by Audrey

    May 22nd, 2007 @ 1:11 pm

  20. Not true, Maya!!! Don’t you remember when those 12 year olds asked you out? Rather recently, actually? Well, maybe it was a year ago or so. But I know for a fact that you’ve been asked out!

    written by Chiada

    May 22nd, 2007 @ 5:56 pm

  21. Wow, that’s complete sucess! Did you even have anything left over? I mean, aside from the sunburn and the big head from being asked out.

    written by angela

    May 22nd, 2007 @ 9:52 pm

  22. Yeah my trainer at the gym totally hit on me and told me that I am sooo pretty. My response was, dude, I roll out of bed, half asleep, no make-up!!! He’s like, well then you must look even better all done up. I was like, what??? Trust me, I look BAD in the morning. REALLLY BAD. So, I’m guessing you didn’t look so bad, even if you did smell. :-)

    written by Lindsey

    May 24th, 2007 @ 11:40 am

  23. […] I was feeling a little guilty because I came empty-handed, considering I got rid of every last unwanted item at my yard sale just days ago. However, the girls were all very welcoming and said I should take anything I wanted. Unfortunately, most of the clothes were too small for me, but I did manage to snag a brand new Coach purse. […]

    written by love is blonde » a little lagniappe

    May 25th, 2007 @ 12:21 pm

  24. […] with two incomes, we got our first taste of the real estate market, and boy was it expensive! I out-control-freaked my real estate agent. I hosted a BlogHer Pity Party that totally made me feel better about my own […]

    written by love is blonde | blog archives | 2007: still pretty darn good

    January 16th, 2008 @ 10:56 pm