That $40.00 VCR? Yeah, sure, you can have it for $5.00.

Yesterday was the annual "purge and sell" yard sale at my mom's house. In the past, we've made upwards of $600.00. But this year? This year was "It's all gotta go!" and so, many items were sold for less than fifty cents.

Ben has a good handle on the mentality of the yard sale customer: They are not coming to a yard sale to buy anything they need. They are just coming to poke around and see what they can get. So if you really want to sell all your stuff, you have to completely separate yourself from the knowledge of a)how much an items costs, b) how much a similar item would go for in another forum and c) common sense. Here's the facts: We sold an under cabinet dishwasher...not a thing in the world wrong with it dishwasher...for $10.00.

TEN DOLLARS.

You know why? Because people would rather buy a dishwasher for $200.00 brand new than buy your used one at a yard sale for $40.00. I don't get it. It's not my way. But it is the way of the typical yardsaler. I mean, we had a Rockford Fosgate Stereo for sale. My dad wanted $25.00 for it. I remember it costing well over $250.00 when he bought it for my Sentra. Ben couldn't even sell it for FIVE DOLLARS. And one man said, "Can you guarantee it'll work?"

For FIVE DOLLARS? Seriously? You don't want to just take a chance for five dollars on a really nice car stereo?

Another girl struggled over whether to purchase a thin wool knit top from The Limited for fifty cents. It was in good shape! I only wore it about 4 times. I mean, she stood there, looking at it, feeling it, asking her mom over and over what she thought, if she thought it would work, ten minutes this went on...and finally, I heard her say, "I guess it won't hurt to try it...you know, for fifty cents."

YOU THINK?! That maybe fifty cents isn't too big of an investment in a shirt that IS your size and that you liked when you saw it? Where else can you see something you like and get it for fifty cents? Um, that'd be nowhere. Not even Goodwill has prices that low on name brand stuff.

Anyway. It's just odd to me because I would never ask anyone to come down on a price at a yard sale. Unless it just seemed ridiculous. But then I would also assume that they aren't very well versed in yard sale stuff, so they probably won't come down.

But keep this in mind, folks: If you want to have a yard sale, price your stuff to move. If you want to get money for your good items, then you need to find an alternative method of selling them. I would like to suggest eBay or Craigslist.

My mom says this is the last yard sale she's ever hosting. I think she's going to find she has way more stuff that she doesn't want to just get rid of and then we can have another one after it stops being so stupid hot next fall.

But we'll see.

And if we do, I'll be ready with my rock bottom prices...and hope to get rid of it ALL.