Teamwork results in fun, success

Our house is lighter, my daughters' checking accounts are heavier and you can walk through the dining room now. I love yard sales.

After coming up with all sorts of excuses not to do it - mainly because I'm lazy and try to avoid extra work of any kind - I finally realized a yard sale is the best house-decluttering diet around.

And because I'm lazy and didn't want to do it by myself, I offered my two daughters - ages 25 and 22 - a deal: Help me and split the profits.

We were on. And it was a success.

Now, I know I've only had one yard sale so far, which doesn't make me an expert. But in that one effort I learned three keys to a good yard sale and I'm going to share. Ready?

To have a fun and worth-the-aggravation sale, you need buyers, sellers and teamwork.

First, you need buyers. You need people to bring their hard-earned money and spend it on your junk ... I mean, your high-quality items. To get buyers, you need to advertise. Buy an ad in the paper. Tell your neighbors and your friends and your friends' friends.

Spread the word.

Second, you need sellers. If you've got buyers, you need to give them something to buy. I was amazed at what sold. We sold new clothes and old cat-hair-covered pillows. We sold in-the-box crystal bowls and 10-year-old CDs. We got more offers for the broken and crooked flower-pot stand and half-filled bags of charcoal in the garage than I could count, and I believe we could have sold glimpses of my grandson, Capt. Adorable, for $5 each. Despite the bad economy, folks don't seem to mind parting with money when they can get a deal. My daughters were so impressed they kept disappearing into the house and hauling out more stuff.

And, third, you need teamwork. I'm telling you: Do not try this by yourself. My daughters moved boxes, priced and organized merchandise and perfected their selling patter honed from years of being excellent shoppers themselves. ("Look, you need this coffee maker to go with that set of mugs.") My son-in-law did the heavy lifting. Friends stopped for moral support. Even my parents came from Tennessee to lend expertise - they are seasoned yard-salers - and helping hands for the taking down and cleaning up.

And my husband contributed. He donated items, didn't complain as the pre-sale pile in the dining room grew ever larger and afterwards suggested my daughters and I become yard-sale advisers - much easier than actually having a sale, but not nearly as much fun.

Cathy Wood is a freelance writer living in the Shoals. For more from her, visit TimesDaily.com.