Host A Moving Sale, step by step

Apparently gathering over 100 things to get rid of did not take as long as we thought (see the full list of purged items here), so we got all crazy and chose to host a last-minute moving sale this past Saturday (simply to get rid of stuff while we still had that no nonsense iron will- you know, before we caved and chose 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 simply two days out was a bit nerve-wracking, but the days are not getting any warmer, so we figured why waste time? Plus, hosting a yard sale is not rocket science – especially once you’ve gathered all of your “merchandise” and mentally chose 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 pointers for in fact 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 STRONG. We had plenty 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 strong, but the best part of the sale is that we got rid of about 85% of our stuff. And that is stuff we now do not have to pack up and move. Which means more energy for unpacking, painting, and all that much more lively stuff (yes, that stuff is lively to us- we are weird).

Here is what our driveaway looked like towards the beginning of the sale (I did not snap a true “before” shot because early bird shoppers kept us too busy for a while).

Here is 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 picked up a random assortment of knick-knacks, half of which we are 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 picked up the “bed-and-breakfast” house that we have consistently admired (shown here). But at least now our patio furniture will get to live there.
• We got to chat with two journal readers who were pleasantly surprised about stumbling upon our moving sale (we do not share our address for obvious reasons, which is why we did not 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 enjoy 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 pleasant day).
• Simply 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 is 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 likely be a while until we need to host another yard sale, but feel free to drop some pointers for others (or lively stories from your own yard sale-ing experience). Anyone else consistently get visited by a random pooch? Or have freakishly small feet that make selling shoes to adults a challenge?

Psst- We are talking about how we lately revamped our dirty diapers & wipes routine right here on BabyCenter. Sounds lively right?