“March Madness”
usually evokes thoughts of college basketball playoffs – the elimination
brackets, the “Sweet Sixteen”, the “Elite Eight” and the “Final Four”. My March madness is the culmination of a
year’s worth of collecting, sorting, organizing, and then pricing scores of
items for my women’s club annual garage sale.
And then there’s the set up and take down of the table and items not
sold. Welcome to my March madness!
It starts in February,
and the panic sets in as not all of the items have been priced. I’ve only been gathering items since last
April! The items are placed on my table for the sale which starts promptly at
8:30am. The anticipation
grows as the doors swing open wide and the crowd hurries through. And so the annual garage sale begins again!
The Garden Ridge
Women’s Club sponsors an annual garage sale where I purchase a table and can sell just
about anything that fits on or around the table. Of course I find things in the house and our garage
and store them just for this occasion.
It’s amazing what I find and plan to sell, hoping that someone will see my
“treasures” and just have to have them. I
do quite well and often sell out of everything that I bring for sale.
I include a
rack of clothing items and mark them at reasonable prices so those items sell
quickly. Purses, shoes, baseball caps
with familiar logos also sell well. It
depends on what the buyers are seeking
each year. Sometimes the buyers are
looking for particular household items like small kitchen appliances for a
college student, linens or books. One
year I sold 6 antique dining room chairs.
You just never know!
My “someday”
items are included this year. You know,
those items that you hold onto, that you plan to use “someday”. But somehow, “someday” never comes, and the
item sits in a cabinet or cupboard. One day you find the item and think when
did I buy this? Why am I saving it? The “someday” item. And so it becomes part of this year’s garage
sale inventory.
Of course I have
364 days to prepare for the next garage sale, but seem to procrastinate until February
and begin the process of marking the items for sale. I know how I want to price the items, it’s
just actually doing it. And then I run
out of the pre-marked stickers, have to get in the car and drive
12 miles to the nearest Walmart for more pre-marked stickers. But at least it’s a pleasant break from
taking the items from the plastic tub, deciding on a fair price (at least one
that I think is fair), putting it back in the tub, and moving on to the next item.
I am fortunate to have secured a good location
for my table. I have requested the exact
table for the past 6 or 7 years as it has proven successful for me. Although it is in front of the room’s air
conditioning vent, I just wear a sweater if necessary. The location does provide a bit more room for
my clothing rack. A girlfriend and I usually request tables next to each other. We help each other and adjust our
tables just a bit if either of us requires a bit more room.
Shoppers look for my table as my prices are fair and they get to know me and the
type of items I traditionally sell.
And I like that. I recognize
familiar faces each year. People that I
know or have worked with, friends in the community, all stop by to chat, but
sometimes the sales are so brisk that it’s hard to chat. Sales come first!
I’ve already
“found” a few items in the house to put in the sale for next year, March
2016. Although the sale is a year away,
I will be collecting things all year.
Time and time again, as I find things, they will be added to the plastic
tub and await their turn at the annual garage sale. Who knows?
They may just be the “treasure” that someone has been searching for all
year. Oh, no! March madness has already started for next
year!
