Saturday, February 16, 2013

My first yard sale experience

I have never  tried to sell anything at a yard sale . In my country the tax office make this innocent way of making money  very difficult .This year  when I saw  Doha Mum's yard sale   I thought  I would try . Why not ? The kids wanted it very much  - it is holiday  for them and their happiness makes me happy .

It was very hard work to select the items / clean them and labeling them .I  selected toys for  girls and boys  and  a lots of clothes   for females .I included brand names as well hoping that it would attract  shoppers .

It was a nice sunny   spring  day  - we arrived  just before 12 . Everything was organized very well . Someone from the organizers even was carrying our heavy  boxes to the spot .The spot itself was  generously large place in the yard .( I  had seen places  before  with very small tables )My friend borrowed me a tall clothes  dryer to hang the clothes on . We  turned our big boxes into tables .Hanged the clothes and the rest  of the things went on the blankets . Everything was fine and relaxed  - green grass ,hedges  singing birds .  The sellers were looking around and shopping from each other .
Then at one o'clock the gates were opened for  shoppers . Suddenly a lots of people around us .I want this I want that . Take the money - I will take this . Can you give back   from 500 qr ? I felt dizzy .It seemed that many people came to make a bargain .Originally I thought  that my  nine year old   would do the selling  but  the rush was too  big and  was hard to handle even for me .
After  half an hour it became normal  and the last  one hour was rather  slow . Most people were very nice and lovely . Some shoppers  wanted  me to reduce the prices  to very low  and they were aggressive when asking for it . But  they were only a few .
 I was  happy  including a lots of very small toys  for one rial -  it attracted many little  guys to our place .I felt  sorry that I did not bring plastic bags for shoppers . Most of them wanted one . About  clothes  - it seemed that brand names did not attract people  . I should have highlighted  the size  and the age of kids  rather than brands . I did not expect  working class  men looking for cheap clothes . I had thought that it was a middle class event   and I felt sorry  that I did not include  my husband  clothes that he wanted to give away  anyway .
All in all it was a nice experience . We sold a lots of things and brought back a lot . I   found some " treasures" for ourselves among our own stuff as well . There were a lots of baby clothes on sale and other stuff for kids  but for bigger kids the selection of clothes was limited and  clothes for men were only a few .Much more ladies  wear . Most of the shoppers were  American looking / Phillipinos / very few Indians ,Pakistanis and  expat Arabs .
At the food section   there were fun cup cakes , waffle , some Asian and Arab dishes for sale .

Leaving the place was not so simple as only four cars were allowed into the yard at a time .So  as we were  short of time  we had to carry out  our boxes  from the yard to  the parking .It was OK .
 

No comments:

expat Qatar