Garage Sale, pricing woes and letting go of a dream

Apologies for not having a 'real' post to offer today, but I am in full 'Garage Sale' mode here... ruthlessly throwing things into the 'To Sell' pile and slapping prices on them!

Pricing is hard!

For example:
My son has this huge collection of Little People toys he adored as a toddler.  Those have to go, and thankfully he is seeing dollar signs dancing before his eyes, and has agreed to sell them.

The one pirate ship retails for $59!  So what price do I put on it?  It's complete... gently used.
I've been pricing things at 1/3 retail price, and of course am totally in the mindset of 'I want this gone, make me an offer!'.
I just hope I am not pricing things too high that people will walk without discussing!

I have a train table and one of those giant ZipLock storage bags [and I mean the REALLY big one!] full of Thomas train track and cars... and I threw in all the other Thomas stuff he had as well like books and activity books and whatnot.
Thomas train cars cost about $10 each, and he has at least 3 sets of track, those go for over $50 each.
I priced the entire bag at $50 and the train table at $50 also.
Ya' think that's too high?

Again, I am thinking the real thrill of going to a garage sale is finding a bargain and then haggling the person down some more.

Am I mistaken that others also go into a sale like this figuring they can whittle the price down a bit?  Am I mistaken that $50 for a train table that retails for $130, is a decent price?



I am so excited to have this place cleaned out, stuff we no longer use gone and into homes where they will get used... and some cash would be nice too!



I am sad to say, I am also cleaning out the Late Bloomers stock. 

I had such high hopes.

I've sold one item in the last 12 months, the black China Cabinet, and made a whopping $400.
I dunno' what it is that is slowing down interest in used or upcycled furniture.  You would think with this economy, it would be thriving!  But I think it's time to admit the venture has died and needs to be buried.   I had such hopes for this to help me donate some to the Horse Rescue, as well as make me some spending money.

These girls need surgery...

She needs her old teeth cleaned and maybe some removed

She's getting spayed, 'cause the last thing we need is Coyote/Beagle puppies!

Would those be Coygles?  Ceagles?  BeYotes?  I don't want to find out!

... I had hoped that Late Bloomers income would make these kinds of 'extra' costs hurt less.


How are sales where you are?  Do you sell on Craigslist or elsewhere?




Again regarding pricing, I have slashed the prices on the remaining Late Bloomers stock.

This started out priced at $450.  I slashed it back to $350 and then $250 on Craigslist.

That's the price I have on it for the Garage sale, fully understanding I will have to go lower to get it gone.  

What do you think?

Same with this China Cabinet... slashed from original of $450, all the way down to $250.

And I am just hoping someone takes it!  It's a waste for it to rot [not literally] out in the garage.

I did absolutely nothing to these Mid Century chairs... I am selling them as is.

Do you think $10 for the pair will get them out of here?

Remember these?

They came out like this:

Is $40 for the pair crazy?  I could just keep them to use in the 'Bonus Space'

Won't someone buy me?  Please?

These beds are all solid wood, painted and distressed, and upholstered.

The dresser is painted and the drawers lined.

They are appropriate size for American Girl Dolls, and we all know how much the AG furniture, that isn't even wood, goes for.  

So all that being said, is $50 too much for each?  $100 for the set of 3?  

I also have a hutch of the same scale and paint finish...

I tried to get the dog beds into a few local 'Natural' Pet stores, thinking recycled and locally upcycled was a nice fit.  No one was the least bit interested in having them in their stores.  Most of them never even responded to my inquiries.

The one retail location I wanted to get my 'human' furniture into, a resale decor shop, closed.
So sad.  They had great stuff besides being a retail option for me.

Plus the lady who ran it was very nice and creative... it just seemed like she was always running, which is the nature of having your own business.  But I wonder how that played into the demise of her place?  I do know the flood didn't help, she lost alot of stock because the creek behind her first location overflowed into her shop!  Yuck!

I look to the demise of her shop, and consider that if she couldn't make it with that prime location, then the fact that I am selling nothing out of my garage isn't really as much 'failure' as just what it is.


So, wish me luck for this garage sale, keep your fingers crossed that I sell out, and that D doesn't lose his mind over people parking on the grass [HORRORS!].



I'm linking up with Savvy Southern Styles Wow us Wednesday Cause truth be told, her Wow us Wednesday is my 'goal' to blog each week.  I tell myself I must have a new blog post by Wednesday to post at her gathering... and the last couple weeks it's worked a charm.  Thanks SSS!