Everything must go!

We had a yard sale last weekend in preparation for our impending move to Austin in September. A couple of observations:

1. It's a lot of work. Having a garage sale is easier physically as you can just close the doors at the end of the day and open them up for business the following day. Not so with a yard sale. Lots of lugging to and fro. There's still a few things sitting in the garage that I simply have not dealt with yet. I may just carry them out to the tree lawn on garbage day just to rid myself of their bothersome nature.

2. You will not get rich. We knew this beforehand, but it's amazing the discrepancy in value that we assign to our own things compared with how someone else sees them. For example: I sold my golf clubs. Now I'm a sh*tty golfer, and the clubs weren't anything special. I've never put the time into getting any good and in fact, have not been golfing for two years. Never-the-less, my dad likes golf and I have enjoyed many outings with him even though he always beat me. There have also been a lot of good times with friends, golf being the activity used as an excuse to get together, catch up, have a few beers and such. I sold the clubs, bag, and walking cart for $45. I didn't spend much on them to begin with but it was definitely more than $45! The guy who bought them was pretty excited as he thought his kid would use them so I'm glad they have a chance to be used.

3. Sundays are slow. Apparently, the best days for these type of things are Thursday, Friday and Saturday. My guess is that the "professionals" head out during the week to mine for potential merchandise (i.e. ebay, flea markets etc...) Never-the-less, we did manage to sell a bunch of stuff just as we were shutting down for the day. I think there must be some sort of buying tactic where buyers show up right before the end knowing that folks are desperate to get rid of stuff so they don't have to carry it back inside.

4. We don't need half of the stuff we have. It just seems terribly wasteful to buy stuff, use it once(maybe) than dump it off. Some people feel good surrounded by their detritus. It makes me feel claustrophobic. I feel liberated when the herd of junk gets thinned. Better in someone else's basement then mine.

5. It's a great way to meet your neighbors. I met several people who live down the street that I have never talked to before. When people were walking their dogs, they always stopped for brief conversation. Even the mailman hung out for a bit.

All told, I suppose I would do it again. We made a few hundred dollars for things we didn't want and got to hang out with some friends and neighbors in the process. As far as I'm concerned, time well spent.