gar-bage sale

So, day one of our yard/porch sale (since we have no garage) was pretty successful. We still have a lot of the stuff we really wanted to get rid of, but you can tell that people were coming in from the Craigslist posting. I kept wondering why everyone was asking "So, moving to New York, huh?"

We had advertised that we were going from 11am to 4pm. At about 10am Andrea and Glen we starting to get everything set up. By 10:15am there was a swarm of people sifting through our stuff. By the time 11am rolled around the surge had ebbed and we were a bit dazed. A steady stream of people, mostly looking for some of the things that had been swept up in the first mad rush, came by. It felt great, like we really stood a chance of getting rid of most of our stuff AND making a tiny little profit at the same time. But then the initial surge was over, whether they were mostly craiglist people or just passers by, and the adrenaline ebbed, and then THOSE people started showing up. You know them...garage sale assholes. They drive expensive cars and have deep dark tans and usually ponytails (on the guys) or expensive-yet-badly-done dye jobs. They haggle when haggling is not even needed, when its not even tasteful. They had no rhyme or reason to their garage sale purchases except that they got a deal. These are the people who, when looking through your collection of vintage fur coats that you are obviously selling for MUCH less than they would find in even the most bargain basement thrift shop, they still ask for more off, even if its just a dollar. They ask because they feel like they can, like they've got you over a barrel. And they know you are torn between standing firm on that one dollar but they might also be offering to buy something that you know nobody else probably will. You know, maybe it is the gall to ask for that one dollar that keeps them driving a Lexus, but I can't help but to feel that for them, it doesn't matter what they're buying, its the making a deal, the getting of someone to submit to their will that motivates the to buy the most random assortment of shit, and then haggle over it.

You know these people. They are the ones who will peruse your collection of DVDs and comment on how they can "get this stuff cheaper on ebay." Then go log on, asshole. You pay no shipping and handling here and your gratification is almost instant. Further more, we're not selling because we need the money to pay for kidney transplants, we're selling because we need to de-clutter and perhaps supplement our moving fund. Cripes. It only takes on really bad garage sale asshole to sour a day for me.

And, incidentally, it appears I have not completely forgotten how to speak spanish. A large portion of our customers have been hispanic, many of whom spoke little english. Granted, mostly just saying numbers and pointing at things, or clarifying "Para todos" or "cada uno". But still...helpful. At least I know I can still count to 100 en espanol.

Hopefully we'll do as well on day 2. I need to post to craigslist again and also set up a posting on freecycle to let people know that they can get stuff for free after we're done.