One Man's Junk is Another Man's Treasure

Have you seen Hoarders? It’s one of Discovery Channel's documentary programmes which chronicles the lives of compulsive hoarders in America. I could relate to the show cos these hoarders and my mom have one thing in common: they love to collect stuff. I mean loads and loads of stuff.

My sister would rather use the term junk cos most of the things my mom collects can't be used. Like, who would keep two sacks of waste cloth pieces with the hope that one day someone could make a quilt out of them? My mom would.  Who would keep a book written  in a foreign language? I mean, one that is in Russian? My mom would. And who would keep a sack of old kapok for  more more than 10 years? You guessed it! My mom would! Like I said, mom's an avid collector and this is what keeps her from throwing things away. It drives my sister nuts. 

Unrelated:  Did you know that kapok is also kapok in English? I didn't know that until today.

In an effort to not turn into my mom, I recently had a garage sale to declutter our home. It wasn’t only because of that. We are downsizing to a one-bedroom house very very soon so there'll be no space for junks or big furniture or bulky fitness equipment like this one.

I almost went hysterical when hubby told me he bought this hideous thing online. My concerns were: 1. I didn't think he'd use it (and I was right!) and 2. It takes up a lot of space. But for the sake of our marriage, I kept my mouth shut. Well, it doesn't matter now. He's going to sell it on Trade Me. End of story.

Now, about the sale. You know that feeling when you're all hyped about something and all you want to do is share that excitement with the whole world? That's how I felt after I had my first garage sale. I just couldn't wait to tell everyone how fast and easy it was for me to sell Alva's baby stuff. That was two weeks ago and now some of the excitement has fizzled out.

But I'll talk about it anyway. 

The sale was supposed to start at 9.00 but some people who obviously couldn't read came as early as 8.20. There were ten people waiting in front of the garage and when hubby saw this, he got worried and told me to start the sale immediately. I was like WTH???!!! Are you kidding me? I haven't had my breakfast yet, my hair's a mess, I have no lipstick on and I need to slap on some sunblock! Why can't they just wait??

Like it or not, we had to start early. Hubby opened the garage at 8.30 and let them through. Like scavengers, they rushed in and started searching for items they fancy. Within three hours, we managed to sell tons of stuff from mattresses to sofa bed to portacot to handbags to laundry basket to baby clothes to winter clothes and scarves. I got excited and was eager to sell all of my old clothes so I started getting more and more stuff from my wardrobe.

Each time I saw someone flipping through my outfits on the rack, I'd start talking about the material, how fine it was, how many times I've worn it and where I bought it. I would then coax the buyer into trying it so she could see how it would fit her. "Try it on! Try it on!" Some hated my VIP treatment but I couldn't help it.  I was like a woman possessed. When a buyer walks away, I'd try to stop her by making an offer she can't refuse.

Okay, 70% discount! Seven dollars! Just take the jacket for seven dollars!   SOLD!!!

Yep. That's how I managed to sell most of my stuff. I find it very very effective.








Not much left

  At 1.00 pm we called it a day. Some old items like the king size mattress and baby clothes were give-aways so these went by very quickly. However, there were two free items which nobody wanted.

The evil washing machines! Both are broken btw. Hubby said he's going to put them up for sale as spare parts on Trade Me (something like Mudah.com.) But if no one wants them, we'll bury them in our own back yard. I think that's better than renting a trailer for $50 to dispose two bulky machines. 

Hosting a garage sale can be a pain cos it's a lot work.  Some weirdos will drive you nuts, asking you 25 questions about a mattress that cost $5. Hagglers will try to haggle over every single thing you're selling, even for items that cost $2. And some agressive people will just take what they want and give you half of the amount you're asking for.  It's annoying but if you're serious about decluttering your home, then just let it go. After all, that's what a garage sale is all about.