Is having a yard sale really worth it?

[kork13]

I learned long ago to never ship with UPS after they broke a couple of items. I will only use USPS.

USPS has actually done alot recently to improve its services. Free tracking on all packages, free $50 insurance on priority packages, and of course their flat rate shipping boxes are great. I never bother with UPS /FedEx, because USPS does a good job & in many cases is cheaper.

[scfr]

In response to the original question, I'd say sometimes. It's definitely not a "one size fits all" question.

They especially make sense when you are experiencing a life transition. When we had a big garage sale prior to a long-distance move it was definitely worth it. Downsizing, death, children grown, etc would be other transitional times when it might make sense.

The homes I've owned were in communities that had community-wide garage sales and that definitely makes it much easier to do. You don't have to have a lot of stuff to have traffic. And if people have a bigger ticket item that they are trying to sell, they seem to put things out just to see if they will sell. At our last community-wide garage sale, someone was selling just a clothes washer. Someone was selling just a few things including several wool rugs ranging $50-200. Someone had a table with a few nicknacks, plus several higher-end items (knives and a firearm). Those people may have been trying to sell on other places (FB garage sale page, Craigslist) but when the community garage sale came up they decided "why not try?"

I also saw yard sales being run by kids, selling their outgrown clothes and toys; I imagined that their parents had decided to take advantage of a great teaching opportunity.

Certain items get snatched up right away . . . At every community-wide garage sale I've attended I see one or two big pickups loaded down with just one type of item, usually furniture or bikes. I imagine those folks have repair/refurbish & resale businesses. I love seeing that.

And as you said, it can just be fun. Especially with the community-wide ones, you can walk around and chat with your neighbors. Local politicians have even been known to set up sales or walk the sales and do a bit of "soft campaigning."

[moneybags]

We just had a garage sale; 2 1/2 days of sale (would have been 2, but thought we were going to get rain, so added a day, then it didn't rain. We really cleaned out the house this time. We pre-sold some furniture items on craigslist & Facebook garage sale pages. The pre-sale items brought in $300. The actual sale brought in another $600.

I think we got a higher price on the pre-sale items by selling them online than we would have if they sold at the garage sale.

[frugal saver]

For the original thread--I had a yard sale last October that brought in $700. I hired a neighbor who likes to organize and she did 98% of the work. I just sat around and chatted with people, so it was totally worth it.

But for me to sort, set out, and do everything? No. Too much work. Now my neighbor has returned to her every-other-month yard sale at her house and I just take stuff over there and leave for her to sell.

I also sell on eBay, but just certain items. Some book, knitting patterns, interesting things I've found at yard sales or thrift stores and fixed up to sell for a profit.

I enjoy the hunt for things that might make a profit, I enjoy researching/cleaning/fixing them. If I sell them for a profit, all good. If I don't, no big deal, there's always the next project.

My current project is a beautiful Rogers coffee pot, cream, sugar and tray that I found in a bin at the Goodwill Outlet for $8. I sit on the patio hand polishing the pieces while I have a book or newspaper open.

As a source of income, it's probably pretty pitiful--I've been working on the tray for 2 weeks now. As a relaxing hobby, it's great.

[DaveInPgh]

USPS has actually done alot recently to improve its services. Free tracking on all packages, free $50 insurance on priority packages, and of course their flat rate shipping boxes are great. I never bother with UPS /FedEx, because USPS does a good job & in many cases is cheaper.

Hopefully those changes are an improvement to their bottom line, which desperately needed improvement. But those free services you are mentioning certainly aren't free. They raised their shipping rates when they made those changes.

I suspect it was probably a good business move, but it pretty much was the final nail for me giving up selling on eBay. When insurance and tracking were add on services, I of course always offered them as an option to my buyers at their expense. Maybe 1 of 10 (probably generous estimate) would pay for those services.

My buyers would be happy to win whatever I was selling and sometimes get it shipped for under $4. Now the shipping is usually $6.50 or more, and I found myself with more and more auctions closing without bids.

[disneysteve]

But those free services you are mentioning certainly aren't free. They raised their shipping rates when they made those changes.

My buyers would be happy to win whatever I was selling and sometimes get it shipped for under $4. Now the shipping is usually $6.50 or more, and I found myself with more and more auctions closing without bids.

Lots of people complain about ebay fees or paypal fees but I think what really has killed ebay sales the most is the rising cost of postage. I sell a lot of lower end items and it has just gotten to the point where it is tough to find buyers who want to spend $6 to ship a $15 item. Of course, the fact that ebay now charges a fee on your postage charge as well as the item price has made it even worse because now you need to tack on 10% to the postage, making that amount even worse.

I have a feeling the next round of cleaning I do in the garage will result in a lot more stuff going directly to Goodwill.

[Outdoorsygal]

Lots of people complain about ebay fees or paypal fees but I think what really has killed ebay sales the most is the rising cost of postage. I sell a lot of lower end items and it has just gotten to the point where it is tough to find buyers who want to spend $6 to ship a $15 item. Of course, the fact that ebay now charges a fee on your postage charge as well as the item price has made it even worse because now you need to tack on 10% to the postage, making that amount even worse.

I have a feeling the next round of cleaning I do in the garage will result in a lot more stuff going directly to Goodwill.

Just curious but did you ever try selling on Etsy? And I agree it is sad that Ebay's greed has gotten the better of them.
Their fees are so much higher than Amazon's and you need to manually create a listing each time.I get most of my inventory for .25-.50 cents
Ebay is riskier for me than Craigslist. Despite the fact I leave the item on the front door step and they just leave the $ underneath the mat.
We just have to remember to ensure our bicycles are not outside at that time.

[disneysteve]

Just curious but did you ever try selling on Etsy?

Isn't Etsy just for craft and homemade type things? Can you sell other stuff there, too?

[Outdoorsygal]

Isn't Etsy just for craft and homemade type things? Can you sell other stuff there, too?

It used to be. I understand it's grown into a mini-ebay but the fees are less costly

[maryadavies]

Yes, ya can sell commercial stuff on Etsy too, tho it's still mostly a crafter's Ebay.

I've sold a few books/crafting supplies on there.

[Fishindude77]

I never liked the idea of having a bunch of strangers in the garage or yard sniffing around. Always figured garage sales be a good way for criminals to check your place out and see what kind of stuff you have.

[rob62521]

If you enjoy doing it, then having a garage sale isn't all about the money. My mom and dad had garage sales the whole time I was growing up. I have had a few, but in our neighborhood unless you have a sale when everyone else does, you get few people driving here so it isn't worth it. We donate our stuff.

[chestynuts]

I really don't do yard sales, we just donate all the things we don't need, it's a good way to help the less fortunate.

[Leo]

Maybe just sell small stuff with some values on EBay, Craiglist, or LetGo app or something. I just sold a very old book that I don't need for $20 and it was listed on EBay for more than 1 year. LOL