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jimmytavino

Honor System Yard Sale

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Ok so we are relocating and gradually clearing things out from the house and garage, after nearly 30 years there..:(
Quite a few items which are still good and useful, but for which we have a bit LESS room,,,,, at the new place...
NOT really inclined to sit all day and "host " a yard sale... but i hate to just toss everything...
Soooo.. I'm thinking to set up some tables near the well traveled public sidewalk out front and to post a sign.... with wording something to the effect of....
Honor System Yard Sale !!
take whatever you can Use and Pay what it is worth, to You.
Limit 4 items, per person. Please don't Take my tables...

I'd figure to fasten a lockable money box to one of the tables and trust to the decency of folks to put a few bucks into it,,,, for anything that they might want..
Good idea??:)Bad Idea ? [:/]
stupid idea? :S
feedback is welcome...
Bear in mind that we are in a NICE residential area... Not the hood ;). pretty well traveled street. with frequent garage sale enthusiasts who frequent it...
B|

jmy

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If you don't really need the money, it'd be a good study in human behavior. You should set up a camera in the house and video people to see what they do. Well, as long as that's not against the law. Don't get yourself in trouble!

I still wish we lived closer so I could have your Little Tykes car so I could take a photo like this for Bradley. :ph34r:

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

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Too much work for too little reward.

Folks go to garage sales to dicker.

Call AMVETS for any furniture

Take the rest to your local SERTOMA or Goodwill.

Take the tax deductions and move on.
Nobody has time to listen; because they're desperately chasing the need of being heard.

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I agree with Skymama- it could be an interesting experiment assuming you aren't counting on making any money and you are not emotionally attached to anything you are getting rid of.
You might be surprised to discover your neighbor with the MBA and 6 figure salary is a closet klepto!:o

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I've recently done a lot of cleaning up, and I took a similar approach to what BIGUN advocated; I gave away and sold a few things on my neighborhood's NextDoor site (which is very heavily used, so I got enough interest in those things pretty quickly).

The rest I identified local charities for - Wardrobe for Opportunity (similar to Dress for Success) for dressier work clothes, Goodwill for the rest of the clothing & shoes, the local children's hospital thrift store for board games, the Lions Club for old eyeglasses, and the Friends of the Library bookstore for books. I took everything except the books around yesterday and today, and it didn't take me more than a couple of hours to get rid of it all. Probably took another 30 minutes or so to write up an inventory of everything and file it away for tax time. Granted, I had nothing particularly large, so I was able to get it all into my car for donation.

That said, I think you'll find the honor system yard sale pretty interesting. :)

"There is only one basic human right, the right to do as you damn well please. And with it comes the only basic human duty, the duty to take the consequences." -P.J. O'Rourke

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We downsized too. In our case, we used Freecycle for bigger stuff that we didn't want money for, donated some, and left some behind for the new owners of our old house. We can afford it, and they're starting out with very little.

Enjoy your honor yard sale. Then enjoy that smaller house.

Wendy P.
There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

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I would give it a try.
What do you have to lose, well other then your tables.
As long as you can keep a positive attitude.
Hey, if they leave money great, if they don't well maybe they didn't have the cash to spare and really needed the item. No biggie.
That's how I would see it.
No matter how slowly you say oranges it never sounds like gullible.
Believe me I tried.

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promise5

I would give it a try.
What do you have to lose, well other then your tables.
As long as you can keep a positive attitude.
Hey, if they leave money great, if they don't well maybe they didn't have the cash to spare and really needed the item. No biggie.
That's how I would see it.

That's why we love you;):)
You are not now, nor will you ever be, good enough to not die in this sport (Sparky)
My Life ROCKS!
How's yours doing?

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I think it depends on where you live.

Here in southern MD, many people have veggie stands that are an honor stand. They put out produce with prices and leave a jar that magically fills up with money that is still there at the end of the day.

When we lived in El Paso it was a different story. If you put something remotely useful out on the curb for the trash collection, you could see the lurkers out of corner of your eyes waiting for you to turn to walk back in the house so they could snatch it off the curb. If you had a yard sale, you had to keep a keen eye out for pilfering or worse.
lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

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well little by little we are getting things thinned out... and either relocated, or given away, or dumpsterized...:) It WAS a study of sorts, in human behavior... Some people grabbed multiple items, some looked over things carefully and took One item. One guy took damn near every rake and shovel and yard tool,,, that i had leaning up against the table. Little thought,, for If the " Next Guy " might want something[:/] One guy pulls into the driveway, then starts going through a bucket full of PVC plumbing parts, elbows, couplings etc.. and Now he's Takins Some.. but tossing the others Back... and then he says to me,, " do you have any plastic bags " ?? I replied "sorry , no " " will you please Move you truck.. i have to get out of My driveway " 5 minutes later he's getting it into reverse....
And so then,,, i put out a Big piece of Nice carpet. maybe 10 by 14 and so it's folded over and lying on one of my 4 wheeled dollys, where i rolled it down the driveway. well i go out and when i return,, i See that the carpet is still there... but my Wheels are GONE !!!!!! right out from under it !!.... man-o-man... lucky that i have 3 more of them... Still have some nice things that i just couldn't put out...so Maybe before this is over we WILL have a conventional sale and SELL things.:o... we'll see. I DID get a P.M. from a person who made a good suggestion, for the Honor System approach... which is to Use The Mail slot on the house.. IF you have one,, for people to deposit the $$$$$

pic attached, jmy:)

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