This past weekend was our town’s big I2I Yard Sale.  I must say planning it is very time consuming, but I have to admit, it’s also very rewarding.  Not just because I sell to make a few bucks for my pockets, but because I love meeting new people who share the same love of yard-saleing.  My twin, Amina and my aunt Pookie came down early so we could get a jump start to set things up. Thank God they did.  We had been busy moving, lifting, cleaning, organizing and styling for the sale and every night we pooped ourselves out.    My idea was to share our wonderful time with you, but we stayed so busy, it was hardly enough time to take pictures.  I did manage to take a few to share.  We started setting up a day in advance – and it was a blessing we did.. (not to mention we made quite a few sales that day- so we were off to a good start)

Here were are getting things all set up.

We had lots of salvage “shabby chic” items

Cooper galore!  Glassware, vases, figurines..

lamps, candle holders, wicker baskets

we utilized the dog cage as our art gallery

a couple of steamer trunks..

are you wishing you had come yet??? heeeheee….. i know.. lots of goodies right!!!

as you see we had lots of great items..  This antique wash stand was a major hit with folks looking for antique items.

carved african statues

We received lots of compliments about our items and we even had returning customers (that’s a good feeling because they were completely satisfied with previous purchases)

we had several beautiful lamps

I contemplated hard about selling these brass beauties, but when this couple saw them, they were telling me how they just purchased new living room furniture and how these lamps were perfect for their set.  So seeing how happy they were made me feel better that they were going to a nice home (and it was her birthday gift which was all the better  :-)..

and this lady was tickled pink about her lamp purchase ..  Our lamps were major hits this year

We had people from all across the state of SC and folks from Michigan, Tennessee,Virginia, and No. Carolina come to the sale.  I was even excited to learn my family from Florida, NJ and NY were coming as well.  They came to join in the fun to shop and sell!  This is my aunt from Florida looking cool as a cucumber  🙂

and these are my cousins – it was great seeing them and hanging out again.  I only wish they could have stayed longer…I  miss them already..

 

After the third year of participating in this event I thought I’d also share some of my yard sale tips of the trade with you-

If you’re selling:

1. It’s always best to plan ahead
2. Make sure your items are well organized
3. Clean glassware and dishes
4. Check electrical appliances to see if they’re functional
5. Have ample change available
6. Have a great sense of humor
7. Always greet your shoppers (a friendly smile and simple hello goes a long way)
8. Tag your items – (although we failed royally with this – we pretty much knew what we wanted to get for most of the items and was able to get by without having a milion tags everywhere)
9. If you can, stage furniture pieces (to help shoppers imagine it in their homes)
10. Be patient with your shoppers
11. Try to have a little bit of everything
12. Have some music playing in the background.. (if you notice stores do that too – it’s for a good reason)
13. Have a “Free” pile – you’d be surprise how much attention that draws

If you’re new (or even an avid shopper) to the game of buying at yard sales- here’s what I found to be the most annoying:

1. Over-haggling (generally a seller will go a bit lower – but to keep asking for a lower price is quite annoying)
2. Haggling over $1.00 items.  (me personally- I refuse to work with coins)
3.  Being rude (no need to have an attitude if you’re approaching someone’s table – it’s a yard sale- be nice)
4. Don’t ask the seller to hold an item without leaving a deposit
5. Keep an eye on your children (so nothing gets broken)
6. Handle items carefully
7. Don’t put the seller through an inconvenience and then decide not to make a purchase (be mindful of the time wasted)
8. If there is a crowd, be mindful of the length of the conversation with the seller
9. Try not to use a $50.00 bill to pay for a $1.00 item.  Most times it’s hard to make change
10. Slick talkers – often times people try to make conversation in hopes you forget how much you told them an item costs or their total.  It’s the oldest trick in the book.

In midst of the all my tips that I shared, the most important on both sides is to “HAVE FUN”!  We had “Elvis” impersonator come give us a show.  In fact, he bought one of the sparkly belts to wear with his costume, then we had another gentleman come (he heard the music and wanted to dance a bit.. chuckles… how cute) and then we had the couple who told us their story of how much they love going to yard sales together.  All this is why I love doing the yard sale.  I hope you enjoyed my yard sale fun post and perhaps I’ll see you at next year’s event.

As always,  happy hunting and enjoy thrifting your house into a home

Smooches!