Post-Sale ... or is it?!

The sale was scheduled for today from 8-1.  My alarm was set for 5:00, but of course, I woke at 4:00.  And I couldn't go back to sleep, knowing I only had an hour till the alarm was going to go off.  So I got up.  I showered.  I was downstairs and outside working in the front yard by 4:30.  What is this kind of crazy?

My kind.

Anyway, I woke H at 5:00, who was the only kid who volunteered to be up early to help.  I let him get an extra half-hour while I finished up some pricing, moved the vehicles to various spots around the block and took a moment to breathe a prayer.

By 5:30, D and her girls were over.  They helped us continue setting up, while the rest of our family slept.  E was extra cuddly early in the morning and didn't want to be put down.  So I brought her up to S to watch in her room till she was ready to come downstairs.  It was 6:10 when I asked C if he was getting up soon and he said he planned on 6:30.  I left him in bed and he did come downstairs promptly at 6:30.  What a nice man.

We were pretty well set up by 7:15.  The first shoppers were there right about then.  I sold a pair of dumbbells, marked for $10, for $7.  Seconds later, the second purchase, two pairs of women's shorts, went for $1.00 each.

And then we sat.

It was after 8:00 before the next shoppers arrived.  It was kind of like this all day.  We'd get four or five families all at once and then nothing for 20 or 30 minutes.

Around 11:00am, C still finding goodies in the garage to put out, we decided it was getting really hot and customers were scarce.  C had the idea of an evening yard sale.  So we put a notice on Craigslist and at 1pm, we closed up shop and posted a sign for people to come back at 6pm.

We're not done yet, folks!  I don't know if this concept will be successful or not, but here in the desert, it's a grand idea.  The sun will start to set and the evening will cool down.  C is going to cook up some hot dogs and we have chips and cold drinks and we'll sell a whole meal for $2.00 and still make a profit.

But so far, I think we've done pretty well.  We had no giant ticket items like major furnishings, but we've had some good $10-20 purchases, as well as a lot of smaller $1-2 purchases.  It'll be fun to count up our rewards at the end of the day and divvy up the profits.   The kids are all really excited to get their cuts.

Oh, and on the subject of small bills... we never needed them.  The first few shoppers paid with small bills and after that, we were set.  We have had no change shortage issues.  Praise God for that!

Take that, WalMart. Hehehe.  Next thing you know, their Money Center employees will be knocking at our door saying, "We heard you have small change..."

And I can say, "Yes, and we have hot dogs and cold drinks, too.  And we'll only charge you $2.00 to get some money changed out.  A bargain compared to what you all charge."