Busiest day of week for yard/garage/rummage/tag sales (sell, items)
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We have a garage sale every summer and go to sales each week. Busiest day by far is Thursday for traffic. Always super busy. Fridays are average but decent and by Saturday it's dead. We close up by noon and many sales close up early to. Day with most sales are Fridays normally. We are in Ohio.
I'm very excited to move south, where we can garage sale shop all year round!
OK, I have to rant here a little. I tried to be frugal by going to some local yard sales yesterday. I stopped going to them a couple of years ago, and now I remember why:
- People advertise a BIG YARD SALE in their ad, but when you get there, there is just a small smattering of stuff, even though the yard sale has just started.
- The things that people are selling at the yard sale aren't even good enough to donate to the Goodwill; they have terrible, filthy, or unusable crap that just needs to be hauled down to the closest landfill.
- The yard sale is 99.9% old clothes, but this was not made clear in the yard sale ad. Often the clothes are dumped in wads on sheets in the yard. No thanks.
- The "repeat offender" yard sellers - they buy from other yard sales and then try to "re-sell" it at inflated prices at their own. I usually just drive right by when I see tons of Rubbermaid boxes sitting under the tables, a sure sign. I've also learned to avoid yard sale ads that state "New items added!", another clue to avoid that one.
- You go to a wealthy neighborhood's "community" yard sale thinking they will have nice things for sale - instead they are WAY overpriced because they don't know the reality of how cheap yard sale prices really need to be. After all, they've never had to shop at them themselves. Really, you'll take $20.00 for those shoes because you paid $50.00? How about $3.00, how does that sound?
- Grandma's Attic yard sales: An assortment of walkers and bedside potties, "collectible" teddy bears, knick knack figurines from China, Easy Spirit Shoes, and the infamous crocheted doll toilet roll cover. Great. This one was advertised as a big "Moving Sale" - guess Grandma's moving into the rest home.
- People who don't take their Yard Sale or Garage Sale signs down after the sale. Thanks for bringing me down the road out of my way for several miles for a yard sale that was apparently over with - last weekend.
The one saving grace was the church yard sale/bake sale/car wash that I went to that the church's youth group was sponsoring. Items for just 10 cents to $2.00 or so, delicious baked cupcakes and cookies for sale, and they did a great job washing my car for my $10.00 donation.
Maybe there are places that have decent yard sale, but they are not around here. Rant over!
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I posted this rant on the "What did you do to be frugal Today?" thread, but I thought it could belong here to.
I never understood Friday yard sales, when most working people cannot go. Sunday yard sales may work in other areas, but here in the Bible Belt, some people might see it as inappropriate. Of course, those same people head to Wal-mart and eating places straight from church, even though they don't believe in "working on Sunday".
I'll give a quick update on my yard sale....I opened up at 8:00 Thursday. It was supposed to be a neighborhood sale with at least three others joining in. I was up early and had most things out when a couple stopped and bought $40 worth of items - I was soooo excited! Well, in the three days I made a total of $100 so maybe I should have just stopped after that first 5 minutes! It was all downhill from there.
I mean I did sell a bit more but for the hours I spent getting ready and then just sitting around it was NOT worth it. Thursday was definitely the busiest day with lots of retired couples - but I had to take a day of vacation myself so that wasn't smart of me. I had quite a few small appliances that were still in original boxes or barely used and for prices from $3-$6 but still no takers. Lots of 50 cent to $1 items...nice purses and shoes for $2...nope, nada. And hardly anyone else in the neighborhood participated and apparently no one mentioned my sale though I told everyone to "go check down the street". NEVER again. Easier to list bigger items on craigslist and nicer items through ebay.
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