Perhaps I should have advertised it as an estate sale. It wasn’t properly a yard sale, as the condo has no yard or driveway; nor was it a garage sale, as the parking garage is underground and not a place to hold a sale accessible to pedestrians. It was Bear’s idea, a couple of months ago, to sell the leftover items of value right there inside the condo, instead of hauling them back to the house and laying them out on the driveway for a yard sale. I wasn’t sure if I was really up for pulling a sale together, but I finally decided to go ahead with it and picked this weekend’s Saturday as the date. Wondering how to list it, I called it a rummage sale, not realizing that term is normally used for junk sales organized by churches or other non-profits.
We advertised in the local paper and on Craigslist and other online yardsale boards. A goodly number of people stopped by, to my surprise. Quite a lot of stuff headed out the front door at the fire-sale prices I posted, too. We met a number of locals and neighbors, out walking on a Saturday morning who stopped by to see our sale, which was a nice bonus – I’m a huge believer in getting to know your neighbors. The dear little old lady across the street came back three times for more goodies. And told me I should have called it an estate sale, since so much of what was laid out for display was much nicer than rummage sale stuff.
None of the barware or stemware or dishes sold, nor did any of the furniture. Probably because rummage sale goers aren’t looking for that sort of thing. We may keep some of the old crystal, if I can find the storage space. It’s an old set of fine, thin pieces of all shapes and sizes, originally twelve of each, etched with a delicate bamboo leaf design. Very asian or oriental; I wish I could find the right buyer who would appreciate its fragile beauty. I’d rather keep it for posterity than donate it, if a buyer can’t be found. And Bear will have room for the art deco curio cabinet, as well as the oak sofa table, once I pack up all my stuff for the Kentucky move. We just needed to whittle the pile of stuff down, and we did.
Washing everything up for display took two days, but the place looked very nice, like a little antique store, when I opened the door for business at 9 am Saturday morning. I woke at 4 and arrived at 6 to put price tags on everything, and though it was a scramble to get it all done in time, it worked out fine. I had customers waiting to come in at 8:45. Bear showed up with coffee and extra newspaper for wrapping things at 9:30 and was a big help plugging things in for folks and taking the dog for a walk every couple of hours. Plenty of customers went away with bargains, I made enough money to paint the downstairs, and have a lot less stuff to box up to donate or store. I’d say it was a successful endeavor.
A lot of work, and I’m glad it’s done.
Thistledog's Farm 
Refreshing indeed, especially when considering “things of value” more than a donation bin. The website “replacements.com” is an excellent site for selling back stemware, crystal, silver, etc. You could send them photos with a brief description of the set and they would tell you the current market value and if it’s in the their best interest for you to consider selling. Might save you the effort and time to know truly if it’s worth more than the donation bin.
E, that was a great tip. Went on their site and found the pattern, they are “Bamboo” by Noritake. Some of the pieces I have, they are actively searching for. I’ll contact them this next week, thanks again.
The older woman is right…estate sale or even a tag sale; but whatever you call it, sounds like a success.
Meant to say a few posts ago but forgot…a friend who has a lot of rental property **never** puts down carpet…it just gets nasty fast. He puts down hardwood floors because the first thing renters do is put down rugs so they don’t slip, fall down and break their backside. -grin-
Yes, I would have voted for hardwood floors, too! It was a point of concession to just replace the carpet – Bear was stubborn and it’s really his rental property. So carpet it is. I only *hope* we can find the caliber of tenants that will take care of it like it is their own. I know I would!
If you ever try it again, you can call it a moving sale.
Excellent idea. We may attempt it a second time in February and that’s what I’ll call it. Thanks for stopping by!