Apparently gathering over 100 things to get rid of didn’t take as long as we thought (see the full list of purged items here), so we got all crazy and decided to host a last-minute moving sale this past Saturday (just to get rid of stuff while we still had that no nonsense iron will- you know, before we caved and decided to keep a few things around). We took about two weeks to plan our last yard sale, so making the decision to hold this one just two days out was a bit nerve-wracking, but the days aren’t getting any warmer, so we figured why waste time? Plus, hosting a yard sale isn’t rocket science – especially once you’ve gathered all of your “merchandise” and mentally decided to pull the trigger. Plus with the weather channel calling for sunny skies and 69 degree weather we figured it was a sign.
So we placed a free ad on Craigslist and drew up some neon-tacular directional posters to hang around the neighborhood. You can read more tips for actually hosting a sale here in this post of yore.
Despite our fears that no one goes yard-sale-ing in mid-November, the sale was GREAT. We had lots of steady traffic, Clara napped through the first two hours of the sale (when we were busiest), and we made over $300. Three hundred beans are great, but the best part of the sale is that we got rid of about 85% of our stuff. And that’s stuff we now don’t have to pack up and move. Which means more energy for unpacking, painting, and all that much more fun stuff (yes, that stuff is fun to us- we’re weird).
Here’s what our driveaway looked like towards the beginning of the sale (I didn’t snap a true “before” shot because early bird shoppers kept us too busy for a while).
Here’s all that was left by the end of the sale. And every item made its way to be donated within an hour or so that afternoon (we had a strict nothing-goes-back-into-the-house policy).
We were also reminded that hosting a yard sale can be quite entertaining. Here are a few highlights:
- The only shoes Sherry sold were to an 11-year-old girl. Yep, apparently Sherry has pre-teen feet (size 5.5 for the most part).
- A pack of neighborhood kids showed up on their bikes towards the end of the sale and bought a random assortment of knick-knacks, half of which we’re not sure they knew what to do with (for instance, they were convinced a glass spoon rest was a shoehorn).
- We met the new neighbors who bought the “bed-and-breakfast” house that we’ve always admired (shown here). But at least now our patio furniture will get to live there.
- We got to chat with two blog readers who were pleasantly surprised about stumbling upon our moving sale (we don’t share our address for obvious reasons, which is why we didn’t post about the sale beforehand).
- Not knowing our names but recognizing us from our nightly walks, one neighbor called us “the baby-chihuahua family” – which we wish would stick. Gotta love a good neighborhood nickname.
- We learned from one customer about the Book Exchange in Midlothian, where we later exchanged our unsold books for a credit… that we immediately used to buy two new books for Clara. New obsession? Check.
- The sale eventually turned into an impromptu neighborhood party where we got to catch up on the latest gossip from everyone around the block (thanks to the sunny skies and mild temps, it ended up being such a nice day).
- Just like last time, a random dog-on-the-loose came to visit. Luckily this one was a bit less rambunctious than the one from our past sale (who ended up taking a swim in the small pond that we once had in the backyard).
Ok, so that’s the tale our little moving sale. Feels good to have that stuff out of our lives (and to have a bit more money in our pockets). It’ll probably be a while until we need to host another yard sale, but feel free to drop some tips for others (or fun stories from your own yard sale-ing experience). Anyone else always get visited by a random pooch? Or have freakishly small feet that make selling shoes to adults a challenge?
Psst- We’re talking about how we recently revamped our dirty diapers & wipes routine right here on BabyCenter. Sounds fun right?
Megan says
I’m seriously inspired by you two to get rid of this stuff in the house. All summer, I meant to have a yard sale, but never did. Now it really is too cold, but spring is too far away. It’s time to do it now while I am cooped up in the house during the long winter months.
I laugh because I can do the “get rid of 100 things” 10 times over in my home!
Laura (Blogging Over Thyme) says
I have a good friend with feet that small and she can never find shoes to buy! Also, is that dog sitting next to an old car bumper? What is that?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Laura,
That’s actually a dog sitting in a pond that we used to have in the back of our yard (it was covered with corrigated plastic, which buckled under his weight, so that’s why it looks so funny).
xo,
s
Lindsey d. says
The best garage sales always have REAL stuff (furniture, kitchen ware, tools, lawn equipment, etc). I HATE garage sales that turn out to be really size-specific shoes/clothing, baby toys and out-dated Christmas decorations.
Moreover, the best garage sales are multi-family sales or neighborhood sales where you can park and hit lots of houses on the same street.
My best garage sale buys were a ton of electric lawn equipment (hedger, edger, weed-eater and blower, plus an extension cord) for $30. Throw in a $5 four four long oval mirror and I was in heaven!
Tara says
I’m for sure a Tarjay girl. Still rockin’ the grey boots I bought there almost two years ago.
The Landises says
By the way, this is not related to this post but the last post. How crazy that John shares our birthday. Yes, we said “our” birthday — as in, husband and wife have the same birthday. And since we’re both engineer-types and like efficiency, two years ago we decided to get married on that day too! :) (actually we were really thinking, “how many people can do this?… we’ve got to do this!”)
YoungHouseLove says
Wow. That’s amazing!
-John
Mindy says
Baby-Chihuahua Family!!!! Awesome! Late in the year tag sales are even better, because there isn’t other competition. Good job getting rid of all that stuff and makin some $$!
xo
Mindy
http://fisilis.worpress.com
Wendy says
I’m hoping to do this next spring. How did you display prices? Stickers on items? Signs near the item?
YoungHouseLove says
We did some little price stickers but mostly just had a table full of two dollar items and a drawer or sheet full of 50 cent items, etc (so we didn’t have to sticker everything and could just label the drawer/sheet/table).
xo,
s
Kristen says
I discovered your blog and have been reading through your archives. I’m so sad to see the subway picture go! I just read about how excited you were when you bought it. Boy, do I have a lot of catching up to do!
Cathy says
Small feet. My son’s girlfriend (now his wife) suddenly realized she needed dress shoes for the homecoming dance and asked if she could borrow a pair of mine. Without thinking, I said, “Sure,” and let her go rummage through my closet. She came back downstairs frowning and with no shoes. I asked her what was wrong. All my shoes are a size 4 and she wears 8.
We felt dumb that it never occurred to us she couldn’t wear my shoes even though I am 6 inches shorter than her. :P
Lynn says
another great option for trading books is http://www.paperbackswap.com all you pay for is shipping through media mail. pretty awesome!
aNGIE says
We LOVE having garage sales, besides all the work, we love to people watch and place bets on what WILL and WON’T sell. My husband takes on the role of a used car dealer and starts… “Wheel’n & Deal’n Baby!!”
So last garage sale, he sold the pesky stray dog that was sniffing out our sale. One of the “customers” took a liking to the dog, and asked if it was for sale. My husband went to the neglectful pet owning neighbors and asked them (in spanish) if they wanted the dog anymore…. they looked at each other and shook their head.
Of course, we didn’t make any money off that deal… but my husband gets total credit for making the Deal of the Day!
You might share that story with the neighborhood strays at your next sale.
hi-d says
Those signs are the best!!! Bright colored and nice big fat arrows to show how to get to the sale…One of my biggest pet peeves are when people try to cram a bunch of info onto their signs that are way too small and so hard to read! The main thing is to get to the sale by showing the direction and you nailed it! :)
Chrissy says
I’m really surprised you guys had that much extra stuff! You always talk about how you have “less is more” views on possessions so kept picturing your house as a Spartan-like minimalist type of place haha :) But moving always sucks so I can definitely see where ditching things would be a great idea right now, especially with a young child.
Heidi H. says
Duuuude! That dog is as big as a bear!
Lyndsey says
Happy Belated Birthday!! Did you get any great presents? Or does buying a new house trump any gift that came your way? :)
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lyndsey,
Clara, Burger, and I got something fun for John. Details this afternoon!
xo,
s
Carrie says
I was shocked when we made $700 at our sale this summer! It, too, was sort of spur of the moment– we had a week to prepare. But I do have a “garage sale” pile in the basement going at all times so everything was in one place and ready to be priced. I wrote about it here, with some things that worked well for us:
http://makinglemonadeblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/garage-sale-tips-make-most-from-your.html
Not sure which made me happier– having a little extra cash in my pocket or getting rid of all that clutter!
Carmen says
It sounds like fantastic sale and great time! I love that you met so many people. Fun!
Meg says
Hey guys!
Nicely done on the garage sale. I’ve been wanting to have one for quite some time but I honestly don’t have a clue how I would price some of my items. We’ve got lots of lamps, pillows, and books to sell. Any tips on pricing items like these that are in good condition and not outdated?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Meg,
We definitely recommend going to a few yard sales to see how things are priced so you don’t overprice things and turn people off. You might think they’re like new, in perfect condition, and totally current and cool, but things at garage sales have to be priced to move so you don’t find yourself with tons of unsold stuff in the end (which means you might be donating things instead of making any money at all on them). To give you an idea, we sold that lamp from Target (it’s like new) for $9 (with the shade) and our big glass vase for $2. Most items were one or two bucks, and the only over $10 items were the large lawn furniture ($30 for both lounge chairs and $40 for the table and chair set). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
erin says
Re: the BabyCenter post, someone had mentioned making your own cloth wipes when you are ready to make the switch – I just cut up an old flannel sheet to make my cloth wipes. I ran the edges through my serger, but you can probably get away with not stitching the edges at all. If you cut them on the bias (at a 45′ angle, so in a diamond pattern) you wouldn’t have any raveling at all though it’s not as efficient a use of the material. You can also make your own wipes solution, I make mine with 4 c. water, 2 c. aloe vera juice (not the kind you buy to drink, the kind you buy for cosmetics – get it online), 1-2 squirts of liquid soap per cup of liquid, and 1/2 tsp. each of lavender and tea tree essential oils. I also wet mine first and keep them in a wipes warmer I picked up for $5 at a consignment sale (the Prince Lionheart brand is great for cloth wipes), but it is easy enough to just spritz them before using. :)
YoungHouseLove says
Love it! Thanks for the info Erin!
xo,
s
Kelli says
I had to laugh about your comments regarding the neighborhood kids. When we were growing up, the town my grandparents lived in had a town-wide garage sale. At the end of the sales, we used to bike around town buying everyone’s stuff for a nickel. My mom and aunts would get so mad at us, but they enjoyed digging through other’s leftovers too! Even now, I have no clue what we were thinking!
erika says
at our last yard sale (right before we moved)- i put out everything, and i mean everything i didn’t want. and the freakiest stuff sold! (my husband thought i was crazy).
the weirdest things that sold?
– an open, half-eaten box of fruit roll-ups
-a very rusty can-opener
-socks with big, visible holes
things that i couldn’t GIVE away?
-small kitchen appliances. that orange juicer? still got that one!
no joke.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha that’s so funny!
xo,
s
Carrie says
I have freakishly small feet! I wear a 5 (which is a 3 in kids) and also have wide feet! They are like little boxes!
The really weird thing about this is I used to wear a 6 or 6.5 depending on the shoe but when I was 18 I got very sick and lost a lot of weight very quickly and my feet shrunk. Yeah they shrunk.
It is so hard to find cute shoes that fit right! And my boyfriend’s daughter, who is 8, is only half a size behind me and his son who is 9 has bigger feet than I do!
YoungHouseLove says
That’s so funny! Who knew feet could shrink?!
xo,
s
Laura says
I have to share a cautionary yard sale tale for everyone: Be careful about what you include in your craigslist posting! Before moving, I held a yard sale to lighten the load like John & Sherry, and posted a craigslist ad. I didn’t list specifics in my posting, just “furniture, kitchen items, vintage costume jewelery, etc”. At 9:00 am sharp, I was still wrestling with my borrowed folding table when three senior citizens approached me, one man and two women. As I explained that I’d need just one more minute, one woman started to dig into the jewelery in the box at my feet. The other woman then launched at the first and grabbed her by the neck, screaming “You have to wait! She’s not selling yet!” They proceeded to claw at one another until the first woman pushed the second onto the ground, and she and bystanding man left (with no jewelery in hand, I watched her closely). The second woman bought almost all of the jewelery and then left. Later in the day, I found out that these were jewelery dealers who had come because of my posting, and I was also told that they can be ruthless because many of them re-sell the jewelery at trunk shows to supplement their income. Seems unbelievable, but beware posting vintage jewelery if you don’t want to watch someone’s grandmothers fighting in your yard! Yikes!
YoungHouseLove says
Wow- that’s crazy!
xo,
s
Kristen says
Nicely done on purging! I recently reorganized my closet and dresser because the boyfriend was none too pleased with how much he had to fight the door to slide. I got rid of I’d say about 17 items of clothing, which is a big deal for me since I tend to get emotionally attached to clothing (so weird!). I don’t know if there’s a consignment shop for that kind of stuff, but maybe if I can’t find one, it’ll all go to the local Goodwill!
And Sherry, I also have tiny feet. I’m a size 6. My parents and friends always tease me about having “geisha sized feet” and “Swiss clock worker/toddler hands.” Haters gonna hate, but how great is it to be able to try on display sizes and sneak into youth sized shows like TOMS for the cheap?
kate @ www.brownleeallday.weebly.com says
Awesome giveaway! I’m such a target fan and I couldn’t name a favorite purchase but can tell you what it will be if I win… those deep baskets with the chalkboard labels. I’ve been eyeing those for awhile but haven’t wanted to spend the $$ on them. Love your blog!
katie says
Unfortunately I have the opposite problem…..BIG feet! No one can ever fit into my shoes! I try to sell them for $1 to entice people!!:)
suni says
I haven’t braved the world of yard-sale-ing yet, but I’ll tell you – that random loose dog that wonders in!? That’s mine… every time! If she gets out I know I can almost always find her at a yard-sale or in someone’s open garage… she loves them! (and they tend to love her, too!)
Lisa says
If Isabelle is still reading, I have an 8×10 version of the couple on a train print that I scored (for around $5) at a poster sale at college. Try local universities when those sales are going on–great for getting affordable art!
[and I’m glad someone else liked it–I was starting to worry about my taste if it was left over at the end, haha!)
Erika says
Good for you guys! When we moved to Richmond last summer I did not have it in me to do a yardsale. We probably could have made a small fortune with all that we got rid of, but we made some folks pretty happy through Goodwill and the Sal Army. It didn’t help that I was almost 7 months along with The Little Guy. I would have been the worst sale host ever! ;o)
BTW- thanks for that book exchange tip! I had been wondering if they had something like that around here.
jennifer says
I wear a 5.5 size shoe also Sherry! I don’t know about you but i have a tough time finding shoes. When visitors see my shoes outside the door they comment on how they look like a child’s.
Wendy says
I’m curious… have you guys ever had any blog readers/stalkers knock on your front door??? I know you don’t give out your address, but I’m sure someone could do a simple internet search and find out where you live no problem.
YoungHouseLove says
Never. Can you believe it?! And we thank our lucky stars for that. We do actually have a few methods to keep our address off of the internet, and maybe it’s the big alarm sign that we have or just common decency- but we’re very happy it’s never happened. Because as much as we love sharing our house on the blog, having someone we don’t know drop in unannounced is kind of our nightmare. Understandably so, I hope.
xo,
s
Jill says
Sherry, I don’t think we have freakishly small feet. I think most people have freakishly HUGE feet. I wear a 5, and as you know it’s very difficult to find. I always buy my athletic shoes in the kids dept. at Tar-jay. They fit the best and are usually about $10 cheaper than adult shoes. Glad to know someone else has small feet!
Livy says
Hey Sherry, I am also a size 5 in shoes and have 2 kids.. but my feet haven’t grown at all, which sucks because I can barely (as you know) find anything in size 5.
With the exception of Payless Shoesource (for a previous poster who asked where to find size 5 shoes). Unless they only have those in FL, I get my super cute shoes there and most of the time, they have pretty good sales! Hope that helps the other gals out there with “freakishly small feet”!
OMG-YHL says
85%? Wow! That’s pretty impressive for an impromptu November tag sale! Good job, guys!
And small-footed girls, unite! I’m also a 5.5– it sucks, doesn’t it? But the good news is that if you want Hunter rain boots, get the kid’s version– they’re like $40 cheaper! Granted, they have reflectors on them, but they’re not that noticeable ;)
Becky says
The last time we had a yard sale I kid you not we did have a stray dog wandering down our street. My girlfriend that set up with me and who is not afraid of dogs held on to his collar. He looked friendly and within about 5 min th owner came running down the street.
Lindsey says
I recently moved out to the country where having a yard sale isn’t really a great idea (no real neighborhoods around here). Before when we lived in the city I would have two yard sales a year. I loved them. We always priced each and every item and I always put the price tag for the clothes on the hangers. Then once the item sold or went to Goodwill I took the hangers off and used them the next time. For the most part I always priced my clothes the same and it cut prep time down tons. Also a great easy way to do your signs is to go get some paper bags from your grocery store (we have always been given them free of charge)and write your info on the bags. Then open the bags and put a brick or rocks down in the bottom. Then set them on the ground at corners of streets. This way you don’t have to find a pole to put them on or worry with tape and staples.
I have now found a new love for Ebay since I can’t really have yard sales anymore.
Kate says
umm, yeah. i’m 5’2 and i wear size 5 shoes. not just hard to get rid of my shoes, but also hard to buy them, especially dress shoes. sometimes i buy boy’s sneakers though.
rose says
Just wondering if you have a rule for parting with items. Like “if I haven’t used it in 6mths”. I am also doing a declutter and wonder if I like something but haven’t used it in a year should it go? I know u will say yes…..
Have a cool chinese dining setting….with chopstick holders and tea cups and the like…..I imagine hosting a an Asian dinner party one day but until then they have sat in the cupboard…..this is what makes the get rid of process so hard.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Rose,
We try to be brutal. We definitely don’t like holding onto things if we haven’t used them in 6 months- except for holiday decor I guess since that comes out once a year. We just think about how much space things take up and evaluate if the item or the freed up space is worth more. Space wins most of the time- and we hardly miss anything once it’s gone. Usually we forget about it when we own it, let alone when it’s gone!
xo,
s
Kiran says
Congrats to yet another successful moving sale! You guys rock!
vee says
Question-
As you are purging things from your home- how do you fair with sentimental things that you aren’t using or that appear to serve no real purpose, other than attachment? I’ve come to find that much of our stuff in our storage space is a long those lines. What are your practices for storing things that you (or, your spouse- emphasis on that in my case) are still still quite sentimental about, but have yet to find a real purpose in the rest of the house, save for taking up space in home and heart??
YoungHouseLove says
We try to frame or showcase items that are truly sentimental and loved. But items that we tuck into closets and boxes can’t be that important to us since we don’t even get to enjoy them, so for those things we take photos and try to remember them in our mind instead of hoarding them in storage where they aren’t even seen or appreciated at all. It frees up space and we figure life’s too short to hold onto things that serve no real purpose. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Lauren says
Nicely done, baby chihuahua family! $60/hour? Not bad!
Ashlee says
Is it hard for you to reconcile being (self proclaimed) cheapos, and purging your un-used stuff?
I have a hard time getting rid of stuff, b/c I wonder if I can reuse it in some way & save from having to buy something new…
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Ashlee,
We look at it like “we paid for it once, now we’re paying for it in valuable square footage to store it when we don’t use it.” Makes it easy to toss what we don’t use or need!
xo,
s
Lydia says
I would love to have Sherry’s shoes! I am about a size 5.5 and love it. I can get the best of the kids or the womens :)
Reagen says
If you guys liked the idea of the Book Exchange in Midlothian, you may be interested in http://www.paperbackswap.com, which also has counterparts for CDs and DVDs. Basically you sign up and list online the books you have available to swap. For every book that you send to another person, you receive a credit. That credit is good towards another book. All you pay is the cost of shipping which is about $2.50 approx. per book. And if there are books out there you’d like but aren’t available yet, you can put them on your wish list.
You also have the ability to transfer credits between the Book, CD, and DVD service as long as you sign up for accounts with each. In the year since I started this, I’ve already saved $450+ just on books alone! And an additional $100+ on DVDs.
I love this because you can get things that you may not be able to find in your local library, but aren’t really things you want to purchase on your own. And if the item you got isn’t something you wanted to keep after viewing it, you just put it back on your list for someone else to find.
While this may not be quite the instant gratification of the Book Exchange, it’s nice to be able to know that the things I send are going to folks who actually want to read/view/hear them. So here’s the link info again…
Paperback Swap (www.paperbackswap.com) – Books
Swap-A-CD (www.swapacd.com) – CDs
Swap-A-DVD (www.swapadvd.com) – DVDs
Looking forward to reading about all the future transformations of your new abode!
Courtney says
Hey guys! Just wanted to say that your Moving Sale signs look almost EXACTLY like the Yard Sale signs that my boyfriend and I made a couple weeks ago, when we had our yard sale. =) We had SO many compliments on them. One guy told us that there was no way anyone would miss our Yard Sale. =) We even heard that we were the talk of the neighborhood, and everyone that “shopping” at the yard sale down the street was asking, “Who are the people with the bright green signs?” =)
Tracy says
Hi guys! I read in one of the comments above that the quilt you got rid of was a gift you received awhile back, which of course made me think of a few decorator pieces I’ve received as gifts but am just not crazy about. How do you walk the line of sensitivity about receiving “not necessarily my style” gifts, but also not keeping stuff around that you don’t use?
YoungHouseLove says
We don’t usually get a lot of decor items since I guess people in our lives know we pretty much have that covered, but in the rare event that we do, we sincerely thank the person, try to display/use the item for a bit (even just for an hour when the giftee comes to visit the next time) and then it usually goes into storage when we then decide that life is too short to display things that we don’t love. Eventually we see that item in storage and admit that life is too short to store items we don’t love as well, so we donate/sell/craigslist/yard sale it at that point. It’s definitely a sticky situation though.
xo,
s
Wendy says
Thanks for so many good tips! Any advice on how to price items? I have never done this before, so I have no idea what a fair price would be. Would you recommend checking out a goodwill shop and pricing similarly?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Wendy,
Sure, that’s a good guide- maybe even a little lower. We priced a lot of stuff at a dollar or two, some stuff at 50 or even 25 cents. In the end you just want things to move and you don’t want to turn people off with high prices. Maybe try to attend a few yard sales before yours to see what the going rate for things seems to be. Good luck!
xo,
s
Juliet Robinson says
In that last picture it looks like you have a drawer filled with books and stuff – is that the drawer to Clara’s crib? Wondering if you decided the drawer wasn’t a handy feature after all?
Nice job on your impromptu yard sale!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Juliet,
That was actually a drawer from the Malm dresser that we have in our sunroom (we’d filled it up with donate/yard sale items for a while, so we just brought everything out to the curb in the drawers).
xo,
s
medical Technologist says
Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!