Our First Garage Give

We did our first Garage Give on October 24, 2009. Here is a brief summary of our experience and some pictures of the event.

The Inspiration

The idea behind GarageGive.com is written about on our About Us Page.

The Preparation

We spend several weeks ahead of our scheduled Garage Give going through all our stuff. I got the whole family involved. We went through all our stuff, bit by bit- tackling a room or a closet at a time and assembling all the stuff for the Garage Give in a spare bedroom and in the garage. Our decision criteria was that if something no longer served a meaningful purpose to us now, it was to be given away- regardless of how much it may have cost originally or how attached we were to the memory of acquiring it in the first place. This was a very useful process to go through by itself. See 9 Ways a Garage Give Can Help You Grow Personally for more detail on this and other ways doing a Garage Give can really make a difference in your life.

The Day of the Garage Give

The day of the Garage Give I got up at 5 AM and started setting up- hauling everything we had collected out on our driveway and organizing it as best I could. There was furniture, electronics, tools, decorations, toys, stuffed animals, clothes of all sizes, tons of shoes, lots of books, and lots of other misc. stuff.

I was expecting people to start showing up at 7 AM- but they started showing up at 6 AM. I threw my "Everything Free" sign out front and then just watched what happened with curiosity. I wasn't sure if people would believe it, or if when they understood that everything was really free that they would horde stuff. I didn't know what to expect, I just knew it was going to be fun.

People's reactions were of genuine surprise. Some just couldn't believe it- asking over and over- "Really? Everything?". Some of my favorite reactions were from some of the kids who were just so excited that they could have a toy or stuffed animal for free. Nobody hoarded stuff- they only took things they wanted and needed and there was no fighting over who got what first.

There was a fairly steady stream of people through about 10 AM and by then, pretty much all our stuff was gone. We started out with what literally filled our garage and by 10 AM we were left with so few items that they all fit inside one small book box.

Because this was a neighborhood garage sale- there were probably 50 other garage sales happening in an area of about 1 square mile. I heard from others that they didn't sell that much stuff and ended up with most of there stuff at the end of the day that they started with.

Pictures

Here are some pictures of our first Garage Give.

My 9 year old son infront of our homemade "Everything Free" sign.

People browsing.

A line up of cars.

Visitors to our Garage Give putting a large artificial potted tree in their truck.  I remember paying about $200 for that tree when we first bought it about 5 years ago.

People sorting through stuff to take what they wanted for free.

Two young children choose their favorite stuffed animals.

Everything not taken at the end we fit in one small book box.