Yard Sale

Well, we had our company yard sale to raise funds for the ADA yesterday. It didn't even rain on us - even though it threatened! I was there at 7 am to help get ready - we had to haul everything outside onto the lawn, and then slowly throughout the morning we got it organized and looking a little better. Having never participated in or attended a yard sale before, I didn't know quite what to expect, but it turned out that I thought it was kind of fun!

Everything that we had there to sell had been donated by employees of DSC, families or friends of employees, a few ADA employees, and I don't know who else. Man, we sure had a lot of junk to sell! There were some good things too; we had a lot of good quality clothing, a bunch of different books and children's toys, about a million stuffed animals, a couple of decent pieces of furniture, and my boss Marc donated what must have been his previous surround sound system to sell (it was really nice - it sold before we even officially opened at 8 - not even five minutes after I brought it outside). There were several things that I was really embarrassed to have out there - these two ancient lamps that were made completely out of this old greenish-goldish metal; they were all broken and leaning to the side, and I wouldn't have taken them away if someone had paid me. This guy paid $10 for the two of them! Who knows; maybe he saw something in the that I couldn't.

The worst steal of the day was for this recliner; the others said it was really comfortable, and it really wasn't in bad shape. Looked a little used, but was still perfectly fine. These people came by who wanted it, and we told them we wanted at least $15 for it. They offered five. The person who was working with the pushed and pushed, but for some reason finally let it go for a measly $6! We had all reminded the buyers that the sales are for a good cause (they just laughed at us), and that they would be getting something worth more than the $15 we were asking. These people carried their newly-acquired recliner away in a brand new Jeep Grand Cherokee with fancy rims. Made me so mad.

On the other hand, we had a guy come out of our store from getting his supplies (the yard we were using was right by our store on State Street) and head over to check out our sale. He asked if the marked price ($20) for a marble-topped coffee table was the actual price, and we said that it was, but that it was negotiable if he didn't think $20 was fair. He said no - he'd just pay the $20! We also had a donation jar on the table where people paid, and suggested that if people couldn't find anything they wanted to buy but still wanted to contribute, they could do so. One lady wrote us out a check for $20, and another guy paid us $20 for a bottle of water! There really were a few good people who cared about what we were doing.

I bet you won't believe me when I say that I met Ringo Starr from the Beatles! In truth, he was some schizophrenic old guy roaming around State Street who told us all kinds of crazy stuff. In addition to being Ringo Starr, he also said that he has a big old Rolls Royce in a garage in California with $95 billion locked in the trunk. He gets $75 million a year out to live on, and doesn't have to do a thing! He bought two ladies dress shirts with holes in them. Seriously, there is no shortage of colorful characters in South Salt Lake!

I stuck around until about 12:30, before leaving. When I left, we had made about $350 or so including donations; kind of a ways away from our goal of $500-$600 - especially since it was only to last another hour and a half. I don't know yet how they faired - I hope well! Now we have to get rid of all the stuff that was left. I believe The Arc (an organization that helps those who suffer from different forms of mental retardation and their families) will take some of it, and the rest will go to the D.I.

Last night it occurred to me that I could probably sacrifice a little more, so I gathered up a few DVDs and became an eBay seller. It was a pain getting started and took a lot of time to read all the stuff a person should know before getting involved in selling, but I got my four items listed sometime in the early hours this morning. I have NO idea what will happen with that, but if they actually sell, I'll have a lot more money to put towards our fundraising goal than we would have earned for these items at our yard sale. I also put a big note all over the listings saying that the proceeds benefit the ADA, so maybe that will be good inducement for a few people. I decided to sell The Office, Third Season, Gilmore Girls, First Season, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (special edition no less!) and Nicholas Nickleby, which my mom actually gave me to take to the yard sale but I forgot to bring with me.

I would still love to take donations from anyone who feels so inclined! I also realized today that I should explain that this fundraising walk that I am doing is not your typical fundraising walk or run. You don't have to pledge a certain amount of money per mile that I walk, you just give whatever flat amount you choose. The walk has a set number of miles, so it won't impact your wallet if I'm able to walk more than you anticipated. If you choose to donate, click the Sponsor Me link at the top right of my blog to do it online, or you can give me cash or check personally. I don't honestly how how they handle checks, but I think if you write it out to me and I just cash it to turn in that way it should be fine.

I'll let you know how the eBay thing works though - maybe it'll be fun!