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Tis the season for…Yard Sales!
I adore going to these types of sales. It’s a fun hobby, plus a great way to get desired items for huge savings.
On the flip side, I don’t particularly enjoy having a garage sale, but I recognize that it’s a great way to de-junk, de-clutter, and make some extra cash in the process. I not only love going to garage sale, I do enjoy having them every summer as a way to clear the crap from our home and gain some moola.
However, there are some things that are creepy, tacky, inappropriate and just plain bad karma to sell at a yard sale. Just to give you a heads-up on these items (for your future reference), here’s a list of things that I would advise not selling:
Things You Should Never Sell a Yard Sale
1.Used Underwear: Nope. Just NOPE. I don’t care how broke you are, that is just nasty.
2. Medicine. Besides being illegal to buy and sell drugs at a garage sale, who would be dumb enough to pop someone’s old prescription meds? I take that back, I know a bunch of people who would take them, but that doesn’t make it right, safe, or legal.
3. Taxidermy Animals: Since other people didn’t shoot it or catch it, don’t sell it.
4. Used Personal Hygiene Products. I’ve always been stumped when I see other sellers selling half-empty bottles of shampoo and slightly used makeup. I will spare you the germs and bacteria speech and instead suggest you give it a quiet “burial at sea” (flush).
5. Adult Movies: OK…that’s just ALL I got to say about THAT. This is a family show, folks.
6. Broken or Expired items: DO NOT try to sell items that are mangled, broken, damaged, inoperable, or not in working order. Rude AND nasty Karma all rolled into one. Additionally, refrain from selling expired items. Doing something like that is light-weight and disrespectful. It’s like saying, “It’s too gross for me to use, so let me sell it to you.”
7. Worn plates, pots, and other cookware: Rust, flaky non-stick coatings, and chemicals that leach out are just a few of the safety concerns you can encounter with older cookware. No, it’s not even suitable for “deer camp.”
8. Drop-Side Cribs: There have been numerous recalls of drop-side cribs in the past. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports:
“The cribs’ drop sides can malfunction, detach, or otherwise fail, causing part of the drop side to fall out of position, creating a space into which an infant or toddler can roll and become wedged or entrapped, which can lead to strangulation or suffocation. A child can also fall out of the crib. Drop-side incidents can also occur due to incorrect assembly and with age-related wear and tear.”
If you have a drop-side crib, check the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s list of crib recalls.
9. Child Car Seats. Yes, these can be a little pricey, but it’s a child’s safety we’re talking about here. I would say not to sell your child’s outgrown car seat unless you know for sure there have been no recalls on it. Check the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s list of car seat recalls.
10. Dusty Stuff: Unless it’s a Rembrandt or a vase from the Ming Dynasty, most people won’t want your dust-coated items.
11. Stained Leather Coats: I’ve seen sellers tell some unsuspecting garage-saler, “It shouldn’t cost much to clean…” I call B.S. on that one. Leather can cost almost as much to dry clean as the item’s original price.
12. Moldy items: YES, I have seen that at garage sales before. One time, I questioned a woman having a yard sale about the obvious mold evidence on a hat—her response. “I washed it. It’s clean, mold.” Moving on now.
13. Outdated Technology: If you know it’s outdated and unusable, and you’re still selling it anyway, that’s just plain shady.
14. Smelly items: Seriously, do you want items that reek of smoke or mustiness in your house? I am sure it’s possible to “get the smell out”…but it may take several runs through the washer to do so. Pro Tip: The musty smell will likely never come out of paper items, so keep that in mind when making a purchase.
Essentially, when conducting your sale, most of the time, the items you would be caught dead buying second-hand are the same ones you don’t want to sell yourself.
