yep,........that's right,..............I'm talking about the world famous Jeff, and James yard sale!! me and bubba has been working out butts off for the past 9 days having a yard sale. we have done OK,......at least it was better than nothing. actually, we have done pretty good, and it gets better everyday. i have grown use to nothing, but that has changed.
i got my training at the Salvation Army, and so did bubba. i go into this actor mode with a quickness. i really need to get into that frame of mind, because I'm naturally shy. i know that is a crying shame to be like that, but it's true. the good Lord has blessed me with two different personalities. the first one of being who i really am, a soft spoken, mild mannered man, and the second one is an extreme actor mode.
the extreme actor mode has saved me in the last jobs that I've had in the last ten years. in each one of these job i had to preform. i could not have done it without this gift act of performance. i never have really liked people until ten years ago. i think that was because secretly i was scared of them. although now, because of the grace of God I've come to love them. i even don't mind talking to strangers anymore. in fact there are few strangers in my life today.
speaking of bubba, i really need to devote an entire blog to telling who he really is. he is a great dude in reality, but he's human...............he has some flaws, but being my friend i look over most of them, and more important i will never expose his grossest one's. if i did,.......what kind of a friend would that make me?
back to the yard sale this week.................me and bubba has really worked hard on this event. we ran an 8 straight day event, and we blessed a lot of people this week. every child got a free toy, some of the little buggers got two!! most of our adult shoppers went any very happy, and only a select few went away sad, because they were extreme hagglers. some folks,........you just can't bless them no matter how hard that you try!! it's really sad when nothing is actually good enough. over-all, most of the folks left with smiles on their faces.
i need to give you yard sale enthusiast a few pointers that bubba, and myself have gathered in the retail business, and on a smaller market scale place called the yard sale.
the first thing you need to determine is why your having the sale to begin. i know how stupid that might sound to you right now, but i promise it will eventually come back to bite you in the butt. most people have a sale mainly to generate cash, and i can fully understand that reason. it's usually followed closely by the need to create more room, so you can accumulate more stuff, and that is an evil truth in itself.
now,.......back to the basics of gathering money, and creating space. the first thing that you need to do is detach from your prize possessions that you selling. we all have fond memories of that junk,.......ehh,......i mean fine treasures, that you will be attempting to sale. on basic truth is that you prize possessions are only worth as much, as someone is willing to pay for them. if you are not willing to nearly give them away, then do yourself a favor, and keep them in the attic. it will pay off in the long run, and you still can keep your memories. the reason being is that your trying to make money, and the second is that people will simply piss you off if your trying to sale something that your still attached to. simply,...............don't sale anything that you attached to is the number one rule!!
the key to the difference is just selling shit, and having a great yard sale is in your attitude. you have to remain calm at all times when dealing with the human race. they are all not the same, so get ready to entertain a few psycho one's. every different kind of this race will enter the confines of you yard during this time, and no matter how belligerent that you want to get, or how many that you think the shotgun would cause to leave your property quickly,..........don't do it!!! it not only will freak the freaks out, it will freak the rest of your customers out, and word of mouth can be your worst enemy in times like these.
people talk,...........and if your shoppers feel that they had a great time at your yard sale they will tell others, but if your banish a shotgun, or break loose screaming those purely evil words that makes you flesh rejoice until you hear what your really saying a few minutes later, .........in other words,................if you appear to be the most psycotic person at your sale,............then you might as well just pack it up!! people talk, ..........the good thing is that they only talk about what they have seen.
don't be afraid to put out anything that you think is a worthless piece of junk, because someone will buy it for a dollar or two. nothing is worthless to the right person, and you never can tell who they are.
I'm gonna talk about the set up of your sale. different people have their own way of placement techniques. some people just throw the boxes full of junk down in the driveway, and that's what it is too. if you don't care enough about to display this fine quality merchandise, then it is a pile of junk. plain and simple.
it really don't make a difference if you keep things in some kind of order. i have learned to spread it out, so everything has to be looked for, but not hidden. your sale should be fun to your customers and yourself.
now,..........this is the last thing that i'm going to say about this, and it is the most important strategy to a yard sale success. you must have a children section, and it really needs to be together. if you don't have any kids toys might i suggest that you come up with some. a few dollars investment of kids toys at your local goodwill will make a lot of difference in your sale.
please allow me to explain what I'm saying. it's no major feat to do this, but you have to think about the positive side of this. first....................you put the kids section at the beginning of your sale. toys attract kids like crap attracts flies. it just a simple rule of life. the kids will stay in that section allowing the parents to have time to look around. kids find the most entertainment is something that they can play with. if you don't have a kid section, then they will find something to play with, and your not going to like what they choose.
you need to announce that every child gets one of the smaller toys. the larger ones are worth money, witch the parent will buy for them if the price is low enough. by giving each child a toy that really warms the parents heart, so you've accomplished two things with one simple act. most of the parents will buy at least one thing from you, but if they don't,............at least their child got something, and that's really important to make a child happy in this evil world that we live in today!!
oh,.............dang the luck of the stars,............i almost forgot one really very important detail,..............have fun!!! if you can have fun while doing this, then i promise that your customers will sense this, and a happy customer will spend more money!! it's a win-win situation!!
...................much love
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