I
was off to the rummage sale at 8:30 Saturday morning (March 7), the doll
sitting primly in the passenger seat beside me. “What’s going to happen?” she asked
nervously. I told her I just didn’t know, but hopefully she would eventually
land in a loving home. Arriving at the sale, she was pleased when workers
admired her. I slipped her back on the toy table.
Yard-salers
were lined up at the door well in advance of the 9:00 o’clock opening. (Yes,
9:00. With one exception, we are all seniors, and we need our rest!) Shoppers are an
assertive lot, so occasionally one would slip in the back door, and we would politely
remind them of the opening time.
That
first hour is crucial. That’s when we make the money. The room was packed with
people, and they lined up and waited patiently to make their purchases. The
doll was gone in that first wave of shoppers, and I hope she finds a home with
a little girl, but it’s possible she is still in transit. The first shoppers
are often the “professionals” looking for desirable items at bargain prices to
sell online or at their own sales.
As
expected, the salesroom was quiet by 10:00, but shopping remained steady for the
next hour or so. At 12:30, shoppers came (or returned) for our one-hour “bag
sale” – all you can stuff into a paper bag for $3.00. That’s when we remove
from the floor any items we don’t want to sell at bargain prices.
Promptly
at 1:30, husbands arrived and we began to work as fast as we could to box and
bundle the leftovers and carry them to waiting pick-ups to be transported to a
thrift store. A beautiful set of queen sheets was left on the table, so it came
home with me, as well as a couple of jigsaw puzzles, some ribbed-knit tank tops
(useful as ribbing on knits for dolls), and a large needlepoint throw pillow
with a rooster on it for the sofa at the farm.
There’s
always a good story or two. One of our pricer/cashiers told me that a man arrived
at her table with a couple of Ty Beanie Baby Easter bunnies which she had donated.
These had been decorative items in her home and were in excellent condition. She
was disappointed to hear that he was buying them as chewies for his dog. That’s
the way it goes with a rummage sale. Hopefully, the doll met with a better
fate. KW
Oh my goodness! The beanie baby story made me sad. Now I'm sorry you didn't take the doll home! I don't think I could work something like this--I'd be taking things back out of people's hands and donating the cost myself.
ReplyDeleteI find the rummage sale an interesting study in human nature and our changing times.
ReplyDeleteI wasn't there when the Beanie Babies were purchased, but in retrospect, the point could have been made that the stuffing was going to make a mess and perhaps be unhealthy for his dog. The Beanie Babies shouldn't have been with the toys.
One year, we had about 15 Beanie Babies. We made a display -- $2.00 each. No one bought, so we decreased to $.50. Still no go. In the end, they went in the bag sale. The next year, a woman showed up asking for Beanie Babies. So much depends on who comes and what they're looking for.
It's true that you have no control over what happens to anything you give away, and some things just aren't rummage. It's sad to see the lovely things we used to treasure that nobody wants. A stack of decorative plates that sold for $10-20 each at the antique show back in the '90s went for $3.00 (the whole stack) in the bag sale. Two big boxes of lovely goblets went on to the thrift store. You can't give that stuff away, and when we were buying it new, it was expensive.
And -- some of our members DO make a monetary donation rather than working the sale. Some do both.