I haven’t blogged much about garage sales or consignment/resale shops lately. This is because I feel conflicted about the subject. I love going to those places and finding things to remake into something special! But for most of my clients and some of my readers, these places can be quite problematic because they are sources of cheap stuff. After sitting in the original bag on the dining room table for a week, the cheap stuff undergoes a magical transformation into something called “clutter.”
So I’ve made two lists — types of people who should avoid resale and types of people who can sensibly shop resale. See which category you fall into.
Avoid Resale If
1. You are prone to making piles of stuff around your house that get ignored for more than two weeks.
2. You have more than two unfinished projects you are “working on” at home.
3. You haven’t sorted through the clothes in your closet in the last year.
4. You can’t sit on your couch, eat at your dining room table or sleep on your bed because they are covered in stuff.
5. Your family complains about the mess in the house, and most of the mess is made up of your things.
Resale Is For You If
1. You can use what you buy immediately because you were lacking it before or it replaces something else (eg. new toy for the kids, replacement shovel, new canister set).
2. What you buy allows you to finish a project you’ve been working on this week.
3. You already have a specific place to store it at home without overfilling that storage spot (eg. shoes in a closet, toys in a toy box, flatware in the cupboards).
4. You consider yourself an organized person. Then maybe I’ll see you in the land of resale!
