I went garage saling fourteen times in 2011: once in March, once in July, once in August, four times in September, three times in October, twice in November, and twice in December. In total, I spent $61.40, or approximately $4.39 per weekend.
I won't bore you with breakdowns of what I spent every weekend, but I would like to take the time to highlight some of my more impressive purchases. Or you know, brag:
Item | Purchase Date | Cost | Resold? | Est. Resale Value |
TI-84+ Silver Edition Graphing Calculator | 7/30 | $3 | Yes, $75 | $60-$80 |
New Kindle 3 | 9/3 | $13 | No, kept for myself | $60-$80 |
Sony PRS-50 Ereader | 9/17 | $5 | No, gift | $40-$50 |
Thermarest Camping Pad | 10/22 | $1 | No, kept for myself | $30-$40 |
Playstation 2 | 11/5 | $3 | Not yet | $30-$40 |
TI-92 Graphing Calculator | 11/5 | $1 | Not yet | $35-$50 |
Laser Challenge Laser Tag Set | 12/10 | $3 | Not yet | $40-$70 |
As I thought I mentioned before, for me, garage saling is a profitable enterprise even after accounting for gas. This is where I prove it. I will make a number of assumptions in my calculations, which I will mention, but I will be sure to err on the side of conservatism because (1) I am an engineer and (2) I want to make my point as convincing as possible.
As I mentioned above, I spent a total of $61.40 at garage sales this year. After accounting for shipping costs and Amazon/eBay fees, I sold a number of purchased items for $141.75. This leaves me at a profit of $80.35 before gas costs.
I will make the following assumptions for gas calculations: fuel price was a constant $4.25 per gallon -- the absolute maximum average price for regular in the state of California in 2011 according to the state government -- throughout the year; the vehicle will get only 15 miles to the gallon; I drove 50% of the trips (even though I have three friends with whom I typically garage sale and we rotate driving relatively evenly); and we drove forty miles per trip, an unusually high figure. Therefore, gas costs are calculated by:
Cost = 14 trips * 0.5 * 40 miles / trip * 1 gallon / 15 miles * $4.25 / gallon = $79.33
"But wait!" you say. "That's only $1.02 less than pre-gas profit! That's not even significant given the uncertainties in your calculation." Well, yes, but that is a based on a conservative calculation and it doesn't not include profits from items which I have not yet sold, such as the PS2 or the TI-92 graphing calculator. From these items I anticipate earning an additional $100 minimum, up to $200 if I'm lucky.
Also keep in mind that this figure only includes cash payments on items which I purchased March-December 2011. During this period, I earned an additional $99.75 on items I purchased before March and I still have a few small things from then I not yet sold. I also sold a textbook purchased at a garage sale in September for an Amazon gift card valued at $27.51. I didn't include this in my calculations because it is not cash.
All in all, 2011 wasn't a great year for garage sales. With only two or three exceptions, sales were rather poor. It wasn't all negative, though. I managed to acquire my all-time favorite purchase: my Kindle, even if it was a little pricey. I also had my most profitable day ever, in which I spent $7 to earn $100. Sales were starting to look better towards the end of the year, so hopefully they'll continue to pick up in 2012
Now that garage saling season is over until January or February sometime, there won't be any posts bragging about recent purchases for a while. I'll continue to post, starting with some more introductory bargaining techniques and then I'll get started on pricing items, especially if you intend to resell them. This is a pretty complex topic and will probably require several weeks of posting.
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