Garage Sales Do & Don't list

I spent about 2 hours perusing garage sales this morning with a friend from work. Here's my tips to help you have a more successful garage sale should you ever decide to put your junk at the curb for total strangers to pick through.

Mark your prices clearly. If you don't want to label everything than at least make a sign that states "all items this table $1 each". I hate asking prices on everything. It makes me not want to buy it because I suspect you may just make something up 0nce you see I'm interested.

Don't pile your junk! I'm sort of interested in your junk, but not enough to dig through piles of it. If I can't see it easily, I'm not interested.

Don't stack your books/videos in bags. I found some garage sales where there were paper bags on the ground stuffed full of paperbacks and videos. Without sitting on the lawn and dumping it out, I had no way of knowing if I wanted anything. What I loved were videos and books shelved so you could easily read the spines. That works in a box too.

Please label videos with no covers. I'm not inclined to buy videos without covers, but if I were it would sure be nice if you had labeled it with a piece of tape with the title so I don't have to wade through all the princess pony cartoon videos to find a real gem.

Don't set your children up to bug me about buying over-priced home-baked goodies. Yes, your children are precious, but I'm not paying $2 for a brownie (especially when the sign used to say $1, but the kid crossed it out and it now says $2!) Maybe 25 cents. I'm happy to buy that 25 cent paper cup of delicious country time lemonade too.

Don't let your dog sniff my bottom. Yes, I love dogs. And I think your dog is wonderful too, but it's a bit embarrassing when he won't stop sniffing me. I have three dogs, I'm sure that's what he's smelling, but I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea here.

Organize stuff together. I might be interested in your cut-glass relish tray but not if it's mixed in with the tools so I didn't even see it. Most garage sales I saw today were set up well, but a few had stuff willy nilly all over.

Put stuff on tables. I know not everyone has card tables, but it is so much nicer looking at things at waist height. I don't like bending down or kneeling in your driveway on the little bits of rocks and asphalt. At least put a sheet of plywood over some saw-horses to make some tables.

I didn't buy much today. I was tempted to buy a "tupperware lady" ceramic figurine which looked like it was from the 50's. It was sooooo kitschy. Who really ever put one in their home? I guess a top-sales Tupperware Lady might have. It was $10 and I was wondering what I could sell it on e-bay for. I googled it when I got home and found one for $45. I'm glad I didn't buy it. I would have wanted a higher profit margin.

I did buy a metal Moose salt & pepper shaker set for 50 cents. A roasting pan for $3. A ziploc bag full of partial tape dispensers, glues and glue sticks for $1 (you can never have enough tape or glue). And a stretchy toy thingy that I thought JoJo might like for $2. I'll keep it at our house and the next time he comes over he'll have something new to play with.