So you let them know your garage sale hours. It's in the emails you send out, the "Neighborhood" online notices, the sign that hasn't been moved anywhere like into place in the driveway yet, even the fact that your lights aren't on yet and it's still dark. Yesterday was the worst example so far.
I was running Rich around in the car with the heavy wooden signs he has to set up at strategic corners. We started with those just after 5 AM, after working on the merchandise since just after 3, and it's about a twenty minute job. There was still a lot to set out, bring from the house so it wouldn't get stolen overnight, and to clean because, well, it needed it. It was full dark when we started, with just a couple lights at the front door and carport so any wannabe thieves might feel "seen", and an inside house light to hint that people were up and awake, because it actually means that here. We have weird hours. We were hoping to be in time to finish the job soon after returning to the house, since Rich worked through the night and I was up early to dig in again. Steve needed to sleep because he would mostly be the one sitting out all day chatting up the customers, talking them into sales occasionally. I watched him with an early customer hours later who kept looking at a particular item he didn't need but was repeatedly drawn to, gently reminding him he obviously really wanted it, and made the sale.
But as I said, that was hours later. We were just driving back to the house, planning to pull ahead of the driveway and park at the edge of the yard on the street. But I couldn't because a truck pulled in right at the driveway, so I had to back up instead. Three people piled out of the pickup and headed in to the carport. What the heck? Most stuff was still totally dark. How could they see what they wanted and what prices were, and did they really think we were open, or hope we weren't?
Rich followed them up while I backed up and parked the car, before following. Turned out they spent $29 on miscellaneous stuff before taking off, no comment on why they were there that early, or headed up the driveway with nobody outside and things like cleaning rags and supplies, price tickets and pens, still strewn out from where we'd dropped what we were doing before taking out signs.
Even so. Our sale hours are 8 to 3, and we were set to run two days this time. The book sale made us only about twice this one purchase over its three days, barring selling off my old scooter, but we expected that. Some of those boxes of unsold books were set out on tables in the way of the "real" stuff for this sale, preventing us from laying things out. They'd been put away packed heavy, and in boxes that needed help on their bottoms to not fall apart, and Rich had other priorities than helping me put them under tables, still visible, but out of the way. They still need to go to be donated. Right now I needed to clear space and bring out the collectible stuff, what we were really hoping to sell this time but were keeping inside until I was up and out again. Household junk, well, who really cared? Collectibles? Whole different story.
We lucked into a really wonderful weather day Friday. It topped out at 81, very pleasant for the weekend before Thanksgiving, and my hopes of finding fellow collectors for some of our stuff worked well. We also had bins of free stuff, which I figured nobody'd take, but they did, mostly, and a couple customers even insisted on paying us something. A couple more boxes of books went away, and all in all, we made a really nice profit for the whole day. One fellow loved the small SW pueblo pottery, spent a hundred on a bunch, then returned hours later with his wife to spend another hundred after she reminded him that they made great Christmas presents! Before leaving he left contact info for when I'm ready to sell the big stuff. All the Chinese jadeite dragons and a few other odd pieces I'd had set out sold to a pair of men who just kept scarfing it up. After cleaning and adding more, they sold to others. I was getting used to Steve calling me outside to bring a small box and bubble wrap for somebody else's goodies, and I was happy to do so since it meant a sale, likely bigger than they'd planned with things which were fragile and - as many explained - this wasn't their last planned stop before going home. I'd just hit WalMart and bought a couple large rolls of the stuff, nicely perforated and easy to use, a few days earlier. If it helps things go away....
I mentioned the weather because it had been supposed to rain. Instead it's raining off and on all day today. We have some things water won't hurt to line the driveway with, and the box with our signs on it proclaiming this is the place is just crappy quality cardboard, slightly bent, and if rain destroys its usefulness except maybe as a sign, no biggie. We are getting intermittent showers now this morning, and just heard thunder, but we figure the carport will now hold nearly everything we wanted to sell that's left, so folks can shop in reasonable comfort. Plus any spillover along the walk to the front door is also covered, not, I figure, due to the rare possibility of rain down here, but to keep the sun off.
Knowing rain was for sure scheduled for Saturday, I was busy after the sale was over bringing things inside the carport for the evening. The sign in the driveway was gone, and only a couple items were left out because of the combination of weight and indestructibility. I was still bringing stuff up when a pickup pulled over and its driver leaned out his window and called over his inquiry:
"Have you got any watches?"
"Nope."
"Any Rolexes?"
Now last time I looked... OK, I never actually looked, but... a rolex was a watch. Asked and answered, right? "Nope."
"How about any Patek Phillippi?" He stumbled over that pronunciation, but I've watched enough "Antiques Roadshow" to understand what he wanted.
"Now that would be a very expensive watch, and we don't have any." I figured adding "still don't" into my answer would be rude, though I questioned whether he'd get the point that I knew he'd kept asking about watches as if I were an idiot or at least an easy mark, but it had been a very long day, my legs hurt, and I simply hadn't that much energy left.
Last night's final forecast stated rain would wait till the wee hours this morning, and in that he was right. He also said it would likely sit over the east valley, and we'd only get about 5 hundredths of an inch. I've heard enough heavy rain so far this morning that I'll be heading over to the rain gauge this afternoon once it's stopped to see just how wrong he was on that point. We'll still be out but under shelter, looking optimistic a bit later as cars pass. If anybody can bring in the customers today, it's Steve. If not, the five bills I take to the bank on Monday from yesterday is still a nice compensation.
Still, if we could sell the glass display cabinet and the '64 Kirby that still works.... Oh, and more pottery....
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