Yard Sale: Concerns vs. Reality

This past weekend we held our first yard sale together, not exactly sure what to expect. Let's just say that our concerns were blown out of the water and we couldn't have asked for a better experience.

Since we're a big fan of lists, let's go through our Concerns vs. Reality.

Concerns:

1. Lack of Traffic- The sale was held at Kyle's house and he lives on a cul-de-sac, set back in a subdivision. We were a bit concerned about whether or not people would even know that there was a sale going on.
2. Weather- Just two days prior to our sale date, the 50 degree weather dropped suddenly and we got about an inch of snow.
3. Advertising- We are both procrastinators so buying an ad in the paper, and plastering the town with posters did not happen. We decided to go with Craigslist, but often times on that site, there are so many postings that your ad seems to get lost in the shuffle.
4. Having desirable items- We knew we had a LOT of stuff, we just weren't sure whether people would actually want any of it. 
5. Keeping finances separate- We decided beforehand that whoever owned the item being sold, that person would get the money. Easy as pie, right?

Reality: 

1. Overwhelming stream of customers- Our set sale hours were 10am-4pm and by 9am people started arriving even while we were still setting up. This could have been frustrating, but we just let them know that we were still putting things out but they were welcome to look around in the meantime. Never ever did we expect to see so many people show up!! At one point it was a bit overwhelming, but thank goodness we had family come out to help us interact with customers, collect money, and price some items.
2. Perfect weather- Saturday was beautiful and the weather was perfect for a sale! Luckily we had none of the "few showers" that were predicted earlier in the week. It was sunny, but not hot, and a bit breezy. Plus, it was one of the first nice weekends of the season so people were probably itching to get out of the house. Lucky for us, that meant yard sale hopping!
3. Craigslist is awesome- Since the whole point of having this sale in the first place was to make money to pay off our debt, the last thing we wanted to do was spend money on advertising. We did buy one "Garage Sale" sign to put on the main street to direct traffic, and a couple of stakes to add to our own handmade neon posters to post around the community. In total we had 4 signs. Other than that, we just had two Craigslist ads. The first ad was posted on the Tuesday before the sale and was simply a long list of almost everything we intended to sell. The second ad was just a copy-paste duplicate of the first, except this one contained four pictures of our most desirable items (furniture, electric guitar set, weight bench). We also made sure to include the fact that we could accept credit cards (Megan has a ProPay account that she uses for her art shows), and we had a catchy title, "GIANT YARD SALE Sat. 10-4. We are selling EVERYTHING!!" We are pretty sure that a majority of our customers came in after seeing our ads, some requested specific items (e.g., "Do you still have the Insanity DVDs for sale?"), and one man actually said that it was one of the best Craigslist ads he had ever seen (maybe we should have been marketing execs?)
4. "One man's junk..."- As more and more of our stuff began to sell, we realized that just because we didn't want these items anymore, that didn't mean that others wouldn't want them. We had a lot of items that people seek out to buy, such as living room and dining room furniture, XBOX systems, and TVs, not just knickknacks to stumble upon. 
5. What's mine is yours- The whole "keep our finances separate" idea went out the window about 20 minutes into the sale. The overwhelming amount of people, along with the fast-paced sales, and the extra helping hands, made it difficult to keep track of whose stuff was whose, especially when people would buy some of Megan's and some of Kyle's in one transaction. We decided that it was all going to the greater cause of us, as a couple, getting out of debt so it didn't really matter who got what money.

Overall it was unbelievably motivating for us, not only to make so much money in one day, but to see the amount of clutter whittle down to almost nothing as the day progressed. By the end of the sale, we were drastically lowering some of the prices on things and practically giving stuff away because the feeling of freedom that came from eliminating the extra "stuff" we didn't need was worth more than the money we were getting for it. Let us repeat that very important concept:

The feeling of freedom that came from eliminating the extra "stuff" we didn't need was worth more than the money we were getting for it. 

So, to recap, what did we learn?:

1. Craigslist is better than the paper! Be as detailed as you possibly can, take good, appealing-looking photos, and post it more than once.
2. Get back-up reinforcements. We could not have done it without the help of Megan's mom and two aunts. We are certain that if there weren't extra people to answer customers' questions and take payment, some people may have gotten impatient and left without buying a thing.
3. Be flexible. If people want to negotiate with you, be open to it. That doesn't mean you have to lower the price more than you feel comfortable with, but if someone wants to by six DVD's at two bucks a piece, give them all six for $10. People are more likely to purchase if they think they're getting a deal. Our flexibility also helped make a sale when a customer who lived nearby wanted to buy a piece of furniture, but it wouldn't fit in her car. Megan's mom used her truck to deliver it for the customer. Again, we wouldn't recommend doing this if it is completely out of the way but if it isn't a big hassle, it is worth the $150 they are paying for the item. Another option is to have the customer pay for the item now, and you can leave the item outside for them to pick up later with a better-equipped vehicle.
4. Be friendly and social. Say hello when customers come up to the sale. Ask them if there is anything in particular they are looking for. Tell them a bit about the item they are looking at. Don't follow them around the sale though. Give them space, but make yourself available to answer any questions.
5. Stock up on plastic grocery bags. Luckily, we had a bunch of these all stocked up for poop-control purposes while walking the dogs. People will buy more stuff if they don't have to worry about transporting it. 
6. The sale doesn't end after the sale. We are now in the process of putting some of the larger pieces that didn't sell back on Craigslist. We've already gotten rid of two pieces that were just taking up space by listing them individually in the "Free" section in Craigslist. When we got a response for these items, we simply sat them outside, responded to interested parties with our address, and told them they could come pick it up on a first come, first served basis.

The grand total made for the sale (not including any items sold post-sale): $1,123.68!!

Not bad for one days' work!

 

What's For Sale?

Just a quick note letting you guys in the Cincinnati area know that we just uploaded a few photos to the Love Vs. Debt Facebook Page of some of the items we will be selling at tomorrow's Yard Sale. If you are interested in purchasing anything, just let us know!

Oh, and P.S.- Since we are awesome, we are also accepting credit cards at tomorrow's sale. You're welcome.

 

For all you locals...

What we're selling: Item List

Books: A Love Affair

In an attempt to downsize our lives and live a more minimalist lifestyle, we are attempting to sell everything we own. Okay, maybe not everything, but a lot of it. We will soon be moving in together which will allow us to get rid of at least half of our furniture and we plan to have a yard sale in the spring to sell some of our clothes that are just sitting in our closet.

However, when it came to shrinking our book collection, the process was not so simple. Some of them have lackluster story lines. Most of them we have already read before. And all of them spend a majority of their time collecting dust on the shelf. Which got us thinking... "What is it about books that makes them so difficult to part with?"

Here are some possible answers we've come up with:

"Aw, but that one reminds be of..."

Are there certain books that remind you of your childhood? Books that you remember reading over and over again? Or maybe certain novels that moved you, inspired you, and made you laugh? Books are powerful and letting go of them sometimes feels like letting go of those memories.

"I'll read that someday."

How many times have you said this to yourself? There's something very intriguing about an unread book; not knowing exactly what it will be about or how it will impact your life can be thrilling. Getting rid of unread books seems like a waste.

"I have many leather-bound books."

Having a library in your home is a status symbol. Only the wealthy can afford to have a whole room dedicated just to reading, right? Having that many of anything can make you feel important and having a wide variety of books on your shelf makes you look downright scholarly.

"I might need that one for..."

Are you keeping books around because you think you'll need to refer to them for research? When is the last time you spent 20 minutes skimming through a book instead of taking 3 minutes to Google it? Think about it.

"But they look so pretty!"

Just looking at that box of books in the photo above makes us rethink selling them. All of the different colors, sizes, and shapes of the books stacked next to each other just looks so fun!


All of these things ran through our mind during the sorting process and made our decisions very difficult. Books are more than words on a page. They hit a much deeper nerve; we get attached to the characters, identify with their problems, and want to keep them around like they're our friends. So how did we resolve this problem?

1. We didn't get rid of ALL of our books. We kept a few that were particularly near and dear to our hearts including a book Megan read over and over when she was little ("An American Tail") and a series of books by Kyle's favorite author, Stephen Ambrose (May he rest in peace).
2. We got rid of the books we started and couldn't get in to. If we weren't hooked from the beginning the first time, we aren't going to be hooked the second, third, or fourth times we try to read it.
3. We got rid of the books we read a million times before. We loved them so much that we read them over and over, but we realized that we can still cherish those books without having them in the house permanently. Plus, we like the idea of passing that love on to someone else.
4. Prior to starting this journey, we invested in a Barnes and Noble Nook. When we first started cutting back, we considered returning our Nook and getting our money back. However, we realized that we really do love it and we use it everyday so it's not a worthless expense. Plus, consolidating all of our books into one space-saving device is totally worth the money.
5. THE LIBRARY! Our most underrated and underutilized resource is the public library. Free books, Free DVDs, and Free Music- what's not to love?? Plus, they have recently introduced the ability to check out ebooks for free, so now we can experience all that the library has to offer on our space-saving Nook.

So, friends, if you are working on minimizing your possessions and having problems parting with your literary gems, please know that you are not alone. It might take some mental pep talks to finally cut the cord, but in the end, it feels good to let go and share the love.

 

And So It Begins...

 

 

Today began the actual chipping away process. We both tend to get impatient and want to see major results right NOW, however we know that with something like debt and money, it's the accumulation of a bunch of little actions that will have the greatest impact.

So, what did we do?

1. Kyle already sold his shotgun to a family friend! Hooray for an extra 100 bucks! (He has two others he wants to sell, if anyone is interested)
2. I noticed that I was still signed up for "Credit Protector" on one of my credit cards, charging me a ridiculous $40/ month for the supposed "peace of mind" of knowing that if I were to lose my job, get a divorce, or have babies, my payments could be put on hold for a couple months. It turns out I am self-employed, not currently married, and have no plans to pop out any babies soon, so I figured this could afford to go.
3. I  managed to get my highest credit card interest rate lowered!

Let me just say that I am a huge pushover when it comes to simply asking for something I want, so when it came to calling up the credit card company to ask them for a lower interest rate, I used to think "there's no way I would have the balls to do that". However, "Love vs. Debt" Megan is a new and improved, "I'll tell YOU what I want" Megan, and I was super motivated to get things done today.

So, I did a little research-- I figured out how long I had been a customer with their company, how many times I missed a payment, and what other credit card rates and balance transfers were available to use as leverage.

I took a few deep breaths, then I called them up and told them that "I would hate to have to cancel my card, but I would not hesitate to do it if they couldn't do something to lower my rate." I also (casually) mentioned the fact that I have been their customer for almost 8 years and haven't missed one payment.

The moment they heard the word "cancel" they transferred me to the higher-ups and lowered my interest rate by 6%!

Wow... that was easy.

Moral of the Story: It never hurts to ask. The worst thing that could happen is they say "No" and then you are no worse off than you were before. I only regret that I didn't do it sooner.

Keep you posted on our progress!