Monday, September 12, 2011

The Dreaded Yard Sale


I swore a few months ago I would never do another yard sale. It seems to be a lot of work for not a lot of money and at the end of the day you are too tired to make dinner so you order in, burning through the measly profit you may have made. It is however a very interesting look at the value of the goods we surround ourselves with and how quickly these goods lose their value. It is sometimes however an exercise one needs to go through in order to liquidate a vast quantity of stuff in a short period of time.

I think about earlier generations, and I know my parents never had a yard sale and they moved alot. I am not sure whether it is that we buy more than we need. Pay more for items so we think we need to recoup some of the money, whether we think things have more value than perhaps they do. Is this a sign of a disposable society? I also wonder if living in larger family, I am the youngest of eight, did things just get worn out by the time they got to me. I do remember church rummage sales, but never garage sales.

So last week we held our yard sale. I had been asked by one of the neighbours to participate in a block yard sale and at time declined as I had just done my last one ever a few months ago. That was of course before our house sold and we were looking at a very short possession date and really needed to do some clearing out. Needless to say, said neighbour had a good laugh when she saw all the stuff I was selling, even though I told her I had nothing to sell. It was a good yard sale I felt, as far as yard sales go, we got rid of a lot of stuff. Made a little money and still had some left over when we ordered thai food for dinner.

But, at the end of the day we still had quite a bit of stuff, things I no longer wanted in our house, things that Sam was definitely not going to let me bring back in the house. If they made it out the door, they were not coming back. But then what, what does one do with all this unwanted unsalable, but seemingly useful stuff. Luckily a friend's mother works for a local charity that sends goods overseas to countries in need. We packed up all the bedding, clothes books and some toys and loaded them into the back of her car. It felt good, not only to clear out, but to know these things would go to someone who needed them, someone who will never have the luxury of a yard sale, because at the end of day, a yard sale is just that, the luxury of being able to sell off some of your unwanted stuff.

And even still, there was more, we tried the yard sale again yesterday and it was a colossal waste of time. I asked myself, why I am holding onto the need to sell these things, I clearly have no need for, regardless of their perceived value. So, I slapped a free sign up on the table and went for lunch. Someone will find a usefulness in these things and they are gone. And I vow that in future, I will try to be more rational when I make purchases, and try to buy only what I need. And if I fail, there will always be a free table. No more yard sales!

2 comments:

  1. Hurrah! I found your blog! I am so very very excited for your great adventure.

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  2. dear mary...must, must, must connect while you're here in vancouver before the italian adventure begins! please call...xoxo cynthia

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