Finding the positive in garage sales

Having a garage sale is satisfying in so many ways.

I just had a huge one last weekend. I saw some of you there — thank you for coming, buying something, if you did, and for your kind words. Especially the guy who said I looked like I’d lost weight since my last sale.

We had four families involved — my mother contributed, as always, and my dad even got in on the act this time with some old tools, which all sold. My sister-in-law sent me a few boxes, and my son and future daughter-in-law cleaned out to make room for shower gifts and wedding presents.

I look forward to seeing the regulars to catch up on what’s been going on in their lives, and it’s amazing the bonding that sometimes goes on.

One family let me hold their sweet baby girl while they shopped. Another child, a kindergartner, told me everything that is happening in her life, including that her sister has a peanut allergy.

One woman told me how her mother had just finished chemo; another woman proudly showed me pictures on her phone of her new grandson, born on my birthday, as a matter of fact.

Of course, there are always a few oddballs in the bunch, but that’s a given. It’s a study in human behavior — the grabbing when the doors go up and the bargaining (I marked down a 50-cent bracelet to 25 cents because it was “way too high,” a woman said), occasional lying (“She said I could have it for $1”) and honesty (“I found 30 cents in this purse”).

It’s fun to see people get excited about your things, and it’s hard not to take it personally when the shirt you just wore a week ago and put in the sale, nobody wants. My future daughter-in-law was offended that nobody wanted her panini maker (which has since gone to its new home at Goodwill).

Selling is part of the fun. I don’t just sit there — I push my big merchandise. It’s a challenge to see if I can get the guy to buy the vacuum cleaner —at asking price — for his deer camp. I did.

I know people who would rather have a root canal without Novocaine than have a garage sale. That’s because they don’t do them right. They don’t spend the time to clean out every room of their homes; research prices to get the most they can without overpricing; and arrange the items as

neatly as possible.

My husband would walk out with an item and say, “Excuse me, ma’am — where are housewares?”

Of course, the neatly folded clothes are tossed to and fro within five minutes. You just keep refolding. Some OCD shoppers will fold as they go, but they’re the exception.

After our sale, we boxed up the leftovers, kept out a few good things that I think I can sell other ways, and swept out the garage.

I love the brief period of time after a sale that my garage is cleaned out.

We made enough to book a two-night stay at a cool hotel in Bentonville to see the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

That’s my favorite part of all — when my husband counts the money and gives me the grand total.

It’s great as long as I don’t think about how much I paid for all those treasures in the first place.

Senior writer Tammy Keith can be reached at (501) 327-0370 or tkeith@arkansasonline.com.

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