Selling Your Wares: Is it Worth the Wipeout?
A mother-daughter yard sale venture
Alaina Roach O'Keefe &
Elizabeth Roach
Summer, the time of year when one enjoys long, languid days by the pool or playing volleyball on the beach, relaxing at the cottage in screened in porches, gardening, cycling, or just simply enjoying a weekend retreat with family. Summer is also the time of enjoying fresh fruit and garden-grown vegetables, buying lemonade from children at the road-side stands And don't forget the ever-exciting, ever-formidable Yard Sale, the conclusion of spring cleaning, where one person's junk becomes another person's bargain.
In June, my mother (co-author of this article) and I decided that the yard sale was going to be the best thing that had happened to our respective storage areas in a long time. We began planning: purging, organizing, and cleaning out basements, closets, etc. We tossed out heaps of junk, laughed at old toys and knick-knacks that had been kicking around for years—if we took the trip down memory lane once, we did it a dozen times. We got filthy dirty, drank red wine, and felt very productive and liberated that we were making such progress! What a fun thing we were going to do!
Because I live in a higher traffic area, we decided to hold the sale in my yard. Upon hearing this decision, my husband promptly proclaimed that he “would not be home that day,” and my dad announced that he had a “prior commitment.” We realized we were on our own.
It is worthy of note that: not only had we decided to purge our junk that weekend, we were going to cleanse our bodies as well! After weeks of purging and cleaning the basement, two nights prior to the yard sale, my mom and I also spent about six hours blending and pulverizing vegetables and fruit in preparation for a fantastic ‘juice fast’ that was going to help us feel energized and relaxed, and detoxify our bodies! Boy, were we organized, and ambitious. Purging our junk from the basement and from our bodies! So, we had the boys pack the truck at my mom’s (whilst the $80 worth of veggies and fruits were being prepared for the next three days), and we drove to my house (about half-an-hour away). Now, I should also note that while on a juice fast, one detoxifies, which also means: no more red wine (alcohol) and no caffeine (coffee).
After weeks of preparation, the morning of the big event arrived. We set up around 7:00 a.m., using seven-foot long tables borrowed from our local church and a tarp borrowed from my father’s boat for the larger items. (The tarp also took care of keeping the articles dry from the morning dew, not to mention shoppers’ feet). We waited until 7:30am to call the local radio stations and post our large signs (from the Dollar store) to advertise our sale (to ward off “early-birds”). We drank our “veggie” breakfast for the second day in a row, and began to sell our wares. It was a cool morning, with sunshine and a light breeze, so it didn’t take long for the regular yard sale shoppers to arrive. The first items to go were my mother’s hand-made gold nativity scene, and the camping gear “corner” full of sleeping bags, plastic utensils, and a kettle. People seemed to really like the fact that things were organized in plastic zip bags (save these when you buy linens- they come in handy for things like this…) and labeled with the prices on them. It was amazing to see the crowds of people arriving to buy our junk. Neither of us are “morning people”, and when people really started the inevitable haggling over the costs of .50c articles, we caved around 8:30am and made a pot of coffee. So much for the elimination of caffeine!
By 9:00 a.m., our event was in full swing, and I was meeting my neighbors (kids, husbands, dogs) from the entire street. People wandered over, wide-eyed, trying to find their own little treasures while scoping out the mother–daughter team as well. The whole situation was downright hilarious in a Wysteria Lane kind of way.
When 11:00am rolled around, Mom and I were getting giddy (the kind you get as a kid, when something not-so-silly strikes you as hilarious and you begin silently crying because you are laughing so hard). We were in full salesperson mode, excited from all the negotiating and socializing (and possibly from deprivation of carbohydrates in my body that was making me weak and downright silly, lack of sleep and caffeine). The more serious people got with their haggling, the harder we had to keep from laughing. Like the ladies who offered a quarter (instead of the asking price of fifty cents) on items we were prepared to give away. I had to turn my back a few times while Mom said “Absolutely, dear” and waved goodbye with a polite smile. We both began to realize that yard sales were fun, but not in the way we had expected! I thought, “Thank God we did this together, because if I was alone I would have lost my mind by now.”
After six hours of selling, we took stock of what was left for Value Village, a local charity store. With our profits, we proudly decided to treat ourselves to a late lunch and decided to buy new sun loungers for our patios—something to show for our efforts! It seemed as though our little sale had been worth all that work. We headed toward Charlottetown with the truck full of donations and our appetite for yard sales satiated, for now.
It wasn’t over yet.
So there we were, making our final trek to the local Value Village. We were crossing the Hillsborough Bridge, driving slowly because the truck (for some reason) seemed fuller than when we started. (Probably due to our lack of packing expertise.) I made a recommendation to take the corners slow, so still giggling, mom complied. Just as we approached the crest of the bridge, a gust of wind lifted the box on the top of the pile and landed it right smack in the middle of the two lanes and directly in front of a car. In horror, we watched the entire contents spill out onto the road: purses. A box full of my purses that we had perched on its side and on top of the other boxes. No tape to keep the box shut. No ropes to tie it to the truck. It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Cars were swerving this way and that to miss the unusual looking items (who has ever seen a box of purses in the middle of the road anyway?) and to avoid hitting the car in front of them. The enormity of the situation put a stop to our gigging. When I realized that no harm had been done (yet), we pulled the truck over and hopped out. We scooted around to pick up the larger items. (Mom intended to leave the smaller items on the road until the traffic cleared but no; I insisted on picking up ALL the purses!) The car directly behind us with the lady and the elderly passenger just sat there with this stunned look the whole time. As we finished and gave them all a cheery wave for waiting until we cleared the road, she turned down her window. My first thought was “Okay, here it comes.” To our shock and delight, the little old lady apologized for driving over one of the purses! Never mind that I almost caused a ten-car pileup! We waved goodbye, ran to our truck and jumped in, totally flabbergasted and overcome by fits of laughter. The occupants of the other cars were not so jovial. Their stone-faced glares reminded us that this whole episode could have been disastrous. After taking a few minutes to gather our wits (and to stop laughing), I slowly left the side of the road to continue our journey. To avoid this happening to you, we recommend that you contact charitable organizations in advance – some are willing to come at the day’s end to gather unsold items.
So, is selling your wares worth the wipeout?
We concluded that our answer is yes, but only when you have a friend (whom you love unconditionally) to lose your mind with! We made enough money (approximately $250 for 5 hours of work) and had enough fun to justify doing it again. We have decided that everyone should experience the wonderful feeling of getting rid of unneeded junk in this unique and remarkable way: by having a yard sale!
Alaina & Elizabeth's Yard Sale Tips and Tricks Before the Yard Sale:
The Day of the Sale:
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Other articles by Alaina:
- Eating Between the Lines: Health and Literacy -- Connections for Canadians (June 2007)
- Resolving to Stay Fit: Getting Back on Track (February 2007)
- Think Before You Go Pink (February 2007)
- Just Us Girls: A New, Fun, Fashionable Business in Charlottetown PEI (October 2006)
- The Superwoman: Who Is She? (February 2006)
Other articles by Elizabeth:
