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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2010-05-29

Misc

Side Hustle: Garage Sale Tips

Finance

Garage sale week wasn’t enough.    There are so many little things that I did–or meant to do–that I forgot to include them last week.

  1. Advertise everywhere. I do mean everywhere.   Take out an ad in the paper.  Put an ad on Craigslist.   Have fliers in the grocery store, the laundromat, and any place that has a publicly-accessible bulletin board.    Put big, bright signs at every possible turn to get to your sale.  Assume the drivers a dense.  Don’t give them an opportunity to make a wrong turn or–like I did–put conflicting arrows on different sides of a sign.
  2. Use bait. Set out tools and furniture where they are visible.   Lots of people drive past if they only see knick-knacks.   Tools get the men to stop, furniture gets anybody running a household to stop.    If you don’t actually have any tools to sell, put your lawnmower out with an insanely high price on it.   Heck, if someone wants to pay you 125% of retail for your mower, take it!   I had a number of tools and lawn-crafting gear–actually for sale–near the end of the driveway.    If I can get the people out of the car, someone will find something worth buying.
  3. Price it like you’d buy it. People don’t come to garage sales looking for sale prices.  They come looking to pay as little as possible.  They want the crazy deal.   You’ll have to oblige them, at least a bit.  Price some things very low, and everything else almost very low.   Aim for 25% of retail or less, except for a few special items that you won’t mind keeping.
  4. Don’t be afraid to say no. Some hagglers are jerks.  If the offer is insulting, don’t feel obligated to take it.
  5. Bag the little stuff. Instead of pricing every toy 10 cents, put a handful of toys is a zip-lock bag for a dollar.   Mix some of the bad with the good so the crap goes away, too.   Reject every offer to open the bag and sell the stuff separately.
  6. Put the bags of toys on a table in the driveway. Kids stay out of the confined garage and entertain themselves digging.   Kids are clumsy.  They can’t break your lamp if the don’t come near it.   Parents will welcome something to keep their little brats occupied while they shop.  It’s a win for everyone!
  7. Describe anything that isn’t obvious. Make a lot of signs.   To be clear, make a lot of signs.  Describe the furniture.   Show a current ebay auction for the item.  Identify the antiques.  You don’t want to be forced to sell everything yourself.  Let the signs sell for you.
  8. Start early. Price and sort your stuff a month in advance.   The night before the sale, all you want to have to do is set up tables and unbox your stuff.  Don’t try pricing it then.
  9. Multi-day sales are best. It gives people a chance to tell their friends about it, or to come back and buy the thing they passed up.  Don’t lose out on the buzz!
  10. Save your grocery bags. A few weeks before a sale, I go to the grocery store and ask if they mind if a bundle of plastic bags goes home with me.  The manager has always said it’s okay.   If that doesn’t work, just double bag your groceries and save the bags for a few weeks.
  11. Use blankets and tarps to hide anything that isn’t for sale. People will ask about everything they can see.  Save yourself the hassle.
  12. Plan your layout to let people browse and move. You don’t want a traffic jam in the garage.   Give it a clear flow, with enough room for people to pass each other comfortably.   Three people should be able to pass each other in every row.  It’s not always possible, but try.  If two people can’t pass, start over.
  13. Clean your stuff. Clean items sell better.   Dirty stuff will have to be sold for at least 25% less than clean stuff.

That’s it for now.  More to come, I’m sure.

Note: The entire series is contained in the Garage Sale Manual on the sidebar.

Update:  This post has been included in the Money Hacks Carnival.

Disclosure

I’m not terribly commercial, but I do enjoy making money.

As such, it is safe to assume that any company, entity, corporation, person, place, thing, or other that has a product, service, post, or  link has in some way compensated me for said product, service, post or link.  That compensation–direct or indirect–may be in the form of money, swag, free trips, gold bullion, smurf collectibles, super-models, or just warm-fuzzies.  That list is NOT in order of preferred method of compensation.

To reiterate: If it’s commercial, and it’s here, I’m probably being paid for it.

What motivates me financially?

Finance, Parenting

This post was originally written for a blog swap run by the Yakezie personal finance blog network to answer the question “What motivates you to be financially responsible?“

This may not be the most original motivation, but I am financially motivated by my family.  Before I had kids, I didn’t care much about money or “stuff”.   My goal was to sell everything I owned and backpack Europe.   Yeah, it’s a bit cliché, but that’s the way it is.  I  was also considering trying to live out of saddlebags while touring the country 1000 CCs at a time.

Now, I’ve got so many other considerations.  Four, to be exact.   A wife and three kids certainly change your perspective.   If it doesn’t, you’ve got flaws that I can’t help you with.

When my family started, it was a huge wake-up call.   Suddenly, I had responsibilities (cue scary music).  Overnight, I had things to care about that didn’t involve a party, or instant gratification, or, well, me.   Merlin the Stork floated down, waved a wand and Poof! I was a grown-up.   This may not sound like much of a shock, but my wife and I had baby #1 when we were 20.   Adulthood was still pretty new to us, and suddenly we’re parents?

As a grown-up, with three precious little monsters dependent on me for absolutely everything, I had to start worrying about their security.  This was more than just keeping them physically safe.   I’ve had to manage their emotional health, their physical needs, and their entertainment.   They rely on me (and my wife!) for everything.    How could I live with myself if I couldn’t put food on the table and a roof over their heads?  Winter boots?  Clothes without holes?   Visits to the doctor?   Have you ever noticed how much kids cost, even without considering the Japanese fad games and Barbie dreamhouses?  Having a kid is like cutting a hole in your wallet and holding it over a blender nestled comfortably in a roaring fire fueled by napalm.

Then, after I’ve got them clothed, fed, sheltered, and entertained, I have to teach them how to be real people.   I’m of the opinion that children in their natural state are little more than wild animals.  Generally cuter, but that’s about it.  It’s a parent’s job to train that ravenous little beast into an acceptable, successful person.  Part of that consists of teaching the little brats how to start paying for their own clothes, food, shelter, and entertainment, and how to manage that without becoming a drain on society.   Productivity and success can be defined a thousand different ways, but none of them include letting other people pay your way or borrowing money you have no intention or means of repaying.  Ultimately, being an adult–being a successful part of society–involves recognizing your responsibilities and living up to them.

Caring for, providing for, and teaching my children the things I know provides me with an irreplaceable opportunity to watch them grow and learn, while giving me a chance to steer that growth.   It is, without a doubt, the best, most satisfying, and most difficult thing I have ever done.  The pleasure I get from raising my kids reinforces my desire to become the best person I can be.

Really, I just want to be the guy my kids think I am.


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Selling Your Car

Finance

English: Jalopy car in Joshua Tree National Pa...

English: Jalopy car in Joshua Tree National Park in Hidden Valley Campground (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

When it’s time to replace your car, most people focus on the new car, instead of the old, but that is ignoring real money.  Your old car–unless it has disintegrated–still has value.  Sometimes, it’s just time to ask yourself, “When should I sell my car?”

When you’re looking to sell your car (like with We Will Buy Your Car), you generally have several options:

  1. Tow & crush. If your car has been wrecked, doesn’t run, or is just old and beat up, you may be stuck with calling a junkyard and accepting $50 for them to pick up your car and crush it for scrap.
  2. Trade it in. This is probably the least hassle, but–other than #1–doesn’t pay well.  Dealerships are willing to pay something under what they will get at a wholesale auction, which is quite a bit less than the blue book value.
  3. Sell it yourself. Now you’re thinking, “He’s going to buy my car! Oh, bother.”  It can be a pain, but it’s also the best way to get a decent price for your wheels.

When you sell your car, there are a few things to keep in mind, much like when you sell something on Craigslist.

  • Don’t be alone. There are bad people in the world, but they don’t like witnesses.  Bad things are much less likely to happen if you have company.
  • Know your price. Specifically, know three price: your dream price, the price that would make you happy, and the absolute lowest price you are willing to accept.  Make sure you figure these numbers out ahead of time.  Know what you are comfortable with before it comes time to close the deal.
  • Check IDs. The buyer is going to want to test-drive your car.  That’s fine, but you want to make sure you know who is driving off in your car.  “Officer, Sumdood took my car.  He was wearing jeans.”  That won’t get your car back.
  • Clean it up. Get the car detailed before you show it to a potential buyer.   A sparkling-clean car will almost always bring in a few hundred extra dollars.  It’s well worth the expense.

Following this plan should make the sale go as smoothly as possible and bring you the most possible money.

Readers, what have you done to dispose of an old car?

This is a sponsored post written to provide some insight into the world of used car retail.

 

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