MARSHENKULOVA: Garage sales bring fun, money

The only garage sale I'd ever seen was the one in the "Desperate Housewives," when Gabby was getting rid of her things to piss someone off. But there I was, on 17th Street, by our little apartment house with my friends, selling my things for the first time in my life. And it wasn't even Sunday.

I was dreading that day. It was too hot for the weather, there were too many things and too little time left before leaving the United States with my fresh master's degree. Who wants to do a garage sale in such conditions and in such a spirit?

But at the end of the day, tired but with some cash, my roommate Leyla and I had a different feeling about it all. International students — any students, really — should do a garage sale at least once in their lives, because IT'S FUN!

So what can you do to make a garage sale not a burden but a joy?

Smile.  

Our first customer was an American of German descent coming back from night shift on his bike. Tired, sleepy and not in need of anything, he passed by on the bike, but turned around to buy a boom box player "just because he likes music." But he stopped initially because we smiled at him and his bike. In a while, he came back because we forgot to take out the CD with Russian cartoon songs from the boom box, which was very nice of him. Later he came back again, this time with a friend, to buy something else just because he was nice. Smile, people!

Ask a friend to cook for you.

At one point, we were very hungry. There was no time to cook and there was no food at home to cook with. But if you have friends, those things can be easily fixed. You take one onion from one friend, tuna from another, add tomatoes and mayonnaise, and the best salad in the world is ready in a couple minutes. Or if your boyfriend happens to be your neighbor, your friend and a great cook, then you might even get fried zucchini with yogurt and garlic, Turkish style. Whatever it is, it tastes a hundred times better outside than inside of the house. I think we attracted more customers enjoying our meal right there on the street.

Bring a friend to share the experience.

Our friends, also international students, helped us to go through the garage sale together. The more, the merrier — that's our motto. People attract more people, at least when it comes to a garage sale. The time flies by while talking, laughing, helping the customers to choose the needed item from the pile of tangled cords.

One of our helpers even got a date. A young man bought a book and afterwards, without hesitation, came up to her, introduced himself and invited her for a cup of coffee. We were struck by his forwardness, but later found out that he was from New York. That explained everything. He didn't even think for a split second that it might be her garage sale as well and she needed to stay with us (it wasn't her garage sale, but still). My friend thought for a second and then decided to go for it. It doesn't matter that nothing came out of this date. The fact is — you'll get noticed (even if you don't want to).

Make sure you are selling it cheap.

You can always sell things on Craigslist if you still have time. But if you don't, people expect good deals on the garage sales. Sometimes it's alright to bargain. For example, we had a customer who wanted to buy our jewelry for one-tenth of its original price. From our experience, we knew he wanted to buy them not for his wife, a sister or daughter, but to sell them elsewhere for much more expensive price. So we bargained. But there are times when you don't want to bargain, like with used clothes. Those are the things that go the hardest.

You might also consider giving out some things for free. For example, we had a customer who offered us a box of peaches, and then decided to buy a couple of books. Of course, we gave the books for free, even though he really wanted to pay for them. It was nice of him to give us fruit, and we wanted to be nice in return. The peaches were delicious, by the way.

All sales are final.

This sign should be vivid for all the customers to see. We were told by experienced garage sale junkies that sometimes people might change their mind and bring the bought stuff back to you. But guess what? You don't want it back! Of course, make sure that you don't lie to your customers selling something that is not in proper condition. If it's not, make sure they know about it. It's only fair.

Have some cash. Try to do it on Sunday. Wake up early for the garage sale. Go to garage sales yourself to get a feel of what it's like. Pay attention when people look through your stuff. Pay attention when people give you money. Pay attention in general.

Our garage sale went just fine. The weather was perfect: It wasn't too hot, it wasn't too rainy, it was "a garage sale weather."

Was it a hard work? Yes. You'll have to place an ad on Facebook, Craigslist and other places about your event. You'll have to carry out a lot of things and put them nicely for the customers to see and you'll have to carry the rest back into the house.

Nevertheless, after a long, tiresome day, my roommate and I were sitting in the living room and counting the cash we've made throughout the day and remembering the funny things, we felt joyful and relieved. Our packed-with-things apartment looked less packed. Some kitchenware was gone, clothes, an iron, a DVD player and many other little things left the house for good. The day was over. But would we do it again? Hell, yeah!