Tag Sale Update

The tag sale was a resounding success!  But oh man, is it a lot of work.  We don't have final numbers  but we know we cleared $2k.  We started early Saturday morning in the rain and finished up Sunday afternoon, in the rain.  At the end, tired of haggling with hoarders and cheapskates over a nickel or two, we packed up all the clothes, sports equipment and baby/ kid items to sell at a consignment shop, placed ads on Craigslist for all the furniture and big items and packed up the left overs for charity. 

Things I learned...
1.  Always prepare for rain.
2.  You don't need to price every item, but have signs that say "everything on this table/box $.." (people will still tell you the sign said $1 and you can say "no cheapskate, I wrote the sign and it said $5" but at least the honest people won't lie to your face
3.  No matter how you let them know it's a fundraiser, let them know, again and again.  Maybe they'll feel a little guilty that they offered you 50 cents for that microwave that still in the box and called everything "junk"
4.  List all big items on Craigslist- people don't go to tag sales for furniture, treadmills, copiers (really someone donated a big office copier and it works- perfectly!)
5.  Before the tag sale, pull out things you can sell at consignment (any clothing with labels Banana Republic or better in good condition, baby stuff, sports equipment).  Its not worth your effort haggling with someone whether $3 for hockey skates or a tennis racket is a good price, Play it Again Sports will quote you a price and you can take it or leave it
6.  Have a charity ready to pick up the left overs the next day.  You can never sell it all, we had Vietnam Vets and Big Brother/Big Sister pick up the left overs.  That's a tax deduction higher than the price you'll get for some of these items.
7.  Your volunteers are your life savers- give them coffee, doughnuts, t-shirts, and be sure to send them Thank Yous afterwards.  Remember, these people gave up their weekend, to help you out for no gain for themselves; sat through the rain, haggled, carried heavy things, baked and made homemade items for the sale!  You guys rock! 

A big thank you to all our helpers: Carol, Rich, Cheryl, Raheli, Jim, Able, Sarah, Katie, Ilana, Nancy, Virginia, Helen, Peggy, Jacki, Leslie, Lucas, Ethan and Jon.
I can't thank enough the people who donated to the tag sale, too many to list: Nancy, Katie, Carol, Suzanne, Mike, Patty, Lee, Mike S., Tony, Katie Z., Rich, Amanda, Rosa, Raheli, Jim, Juli, Ethan, Kalyna, Alex, Margot, Anne, Thad, Arlene, Scott, Seany, and Mary.   And to all neighbors and friends of friends and family who were willing to go through their attics, basements and garages to donate items.  To all the people we don't even know- members of my parents' congregation, neighbors in my parents HOA who moved in after I moved out, my Mom's Zumba teacher, my parents' house cleaner's other clients (really, they donated the baby and kid stuff and I don't even know their names!)

Here's a picture of some of the volunteers.  We tried to put a $30,000 price tag on the one with no shirt holding up the watermelon rinds!