We started the summer off with an impressive burst of motivation to have a rummage sale. DD was a huge help and went through every box of toys and kid books, and clothes too! We hit the stage where it’s pretty clear what toys are with us for the duration and which could be better served with a new friend.
Things we found helpful in making the rummage a success were:
- Having pre-printed Avery price tags. They were inexpensive and what kid doesn’t love to put stickers on things!
- We lacked a hanging clothes rack, but we found people were willing to go through bins on a table that were labeled by size.
- We also found it worthwhile to bag like items together in a Ziploc and sell them as a bundle. Within the first 20 minutes all of our Melissa and Doug wooden toy food was gone.
Our 4 hour sale netted us about 100.00. From that $100 I paid our daughter a flat rate for labor and a 10% commission on sales.
It feels great to have things like her old bike out of the garage. The longer it sits around the more likely it is to become broken or rusty. I’d rather price it reasonably and have someone using it.
We used the cash from the rummage to buy some portable folding chairs that we need for an event later this summer. It felt great to meet a future expense with items taking up room in our basement.
I did break a cardinal rule of having a garage sale… I brought three boxes of stuff back inside the house. I labeled the bins and hope to have a rummage with the rest of it at my mom’s house that has great street traffic. I put the bins in my laundry room so I won’t forget my plan!
The Healthful Saver 