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“Will you put that stupid Dilbert book away!” - Wife Number One, on our honeymoon
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So I had a yard sale with my parents and my sister this past weekend. I know what you're thinking, in October? Don't worry, the weather was a brisk 60…
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Written by Ross Cavins
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Sunday, 19 October 2008 19:00 |
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 So I had a yard sale with my parents and my sister this past weekend. I know what you're thinking, in October? Don't worry, the weather was a brisk 60 degrees; it was nice. Rain had threatened us all week but it came a day early and stopped around four in the morning, just in time.
I advertised the yard sale (or garage sale / tag sale for those of you who say it that way) on craigslist and a local tv station's web site and several tag-sale-related web sites. We put up signs at every major intersection within the surrounding 10 miles.
We did everything we could short of advertising in the local paper that would have cost $15. And as a result, my mom around $45 money, my sister made around $150, and I lost $8.
I've got you perplexed now don't I? How can the man have a yard sale and lose money?
Okay, let me answer the first question running through your head ... I didn't physically lose track of my money. I didn't drop it and not find it. It didn't get stolen. I parted with it voluntarily.
Let me digress. There are two purposes to a yard sale: to get rid of stuff and to make money doing it. I failed on both counts.
Sold a rebuilt computer for $50. Sold a bunch of shorts and shirts, all in immaculate condition, for another $25. And sold a bunch of little stuff here and there for another $17. All in all, I made $92.
But halfway through the yard sale, I saw a picture my sister was selling. I flipped it forward and saw another ... and another ... and another ... and well, you get the picture (pun intended). I bought all her wine cafe motif pictures for $100.
Now before you say anything to your monitor, some of these pictures went for $50+ new. Some of the eleven pictures are framed with glass, some are on painted on canvas, one even has a ledge and a key hook. I even got a table runner that looks brand new and a 10x12 fridge magnet! They all match the wine cafe motif in my kitchen and now, I'll be able to carry that entire theme throughout the living room and dining room.
In other words, I got a deal and a half while still getting rid of some old stuff.
And isn't that what a yard sale is really about? Shedding the old to make room for the new? In the end game, what it comes down to isn't a yard sale, it's a yard swap. I want different things in my life because I'm tired of these. And others feel the same way, that's why they came to buy my stuff.
So, in the interest of saving all that time pricing items, shouldn't we just start the "yard swap" phenomenon? Or does Fox already have a show that does this?
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