We just wrapped up our best rummage sale ever. As always, our goal for the sale was to unload a lot of stuff we didn't use or need anymore while adding a little padding to our wallets. (Sadly, all of this year's padding went toward our new furnace. Womp-womp.) We got rid of many big, bulky items that were taking up a lot of real estate in our home: a queen-sized headboard, a HUGE Melissa & Doug dollhouse that I bought when I was pregnant with my second child and positive that I would have a girl someday, a TV cart, two barstools, three baby swings, and two glass-topped tables--a coffee table and a side-table. (Several people asked us why we were selling the beautiful glass-topped tables, and when we told them we had four boys, they applauded our wisdom. #boymom) About half of my maternity clothes sold (including my favorite maternity shorts and jeans, so now that's official, haha), and I was amazed at how many items from my "normal" wardrobe sold as well. Lots of the boys' clothes and little tchotchkes found new homes. When we opened our sale on Thursday, our garage was stuffed, and when we closed on Saturday, our inventory was looking quite scant. Best. Sale. Ever.

There was a time when our rummage sales were not nearly as successful. One might even use the word "pathetic." I remember one sale in particular in which a friend asked if she could put her children's clothes in our sale. We had the room in our garage, so we said yes. We knew we wanted more children and weren't ready to put our own kids' clothes in the sale, so our inventory consisted primarily of our junk from college, including a variety of Britney Spears posters. [blushes with embarrassment] With my friend's well-priced onesies, sleepers, and skirts, she outperformed us at our own sale. Talk about disheartening. But! Since then, we've continued to hold rummage sales almost every year, and we've learned a lot. While much of the credit is due to better inventory, we cannot deny that we've learned a lot about rummage sales over the years.

tip #1 {be prepared}

{a} The earlier you can price, the better. Ideally, you would price an item as soon as you realize you want to discard it. Although I understand this concept, I can never seem to implement it, and we usually pull several late-nighters pricing items for our rummage sale right before it opens.

{b} Advertise! I try to advertise as much as possible. I team-up with my neighbors who are running a newspaper ad. On the Monday before our sale (and again a bit later in the week), I advertise on Craigslist, VarageSale, and Facebook. I list specific items that might draw people, and I include the verbiage: "Sorry, we cannot hold items or do early sales." Unless you want your inbox flooded with emails asking for early access or items to be held, I highly recommend including this in your ad. Also, make sure there is plenty of good signage pointing the way to your sale!

{c} Head to the bank and get change, so you're prepared for customers who pay with larger bills. Here's what I like to have on hand at the start of our sale:

1 roll of quarters ($10)
1 roll of dimes ($5)
1 roll of nickels ($2)
(20) $1 bills
(8) $5 bills
(4) $10 bills

This comes to a total of $117.

tip #2 {price it right}

{a} I'm not going to sugarcoat this. Pricing is hard. When I price items, I often ask myself the question, "If I were going to someone else's rummage sale and was interested in this item, what is the most I would be willing to pay for this and still consider it a good deal?" Now, is everyone going to agree with me on what qualifies as a good deal? Nope. But it does give me a place to start. Another good general guideline for non-clothing goods: figure out how much the item cost originally and price it at 1/3 of that price.

Remember that friend I mentioned earlier who outperformed us at our own rummage sale? I told her she should hire herself out as a rummage sale consultant, because I'm always peppering her with questions on pricing kids' clothes. Here are her guidelines:

• Onesies - $1
• Sleepers - $1.50 - $2.00 (depending on brand, quality, and condition)
• T-shirts - $1.00 for cheaper brands (Jumping Beans, Old Navy, etc.); $2.00-$2.50 for higher-quality (Carter's, Gymboree, etc.)
• Jeans - $3.00
• Pants - $2.00
• Pajamas - $3.00-$4.00

{b} Realize that you're not always going to price items right the first time and be prepared to adjust. We were selling our old video baby monitor and an extra camera. I did some research and priced it at $65.00 firm. I noticed one couple make a beeline for our monitors. The girl zeroed in on those babies with laser vision and hugged them to her chest. Then she took a look at the price, had a long discussion with her husband, and put them back. Ugh! When I saw this happen a second time with a different couple, I hopped back on the computer did some more research and dropped the price by $20. And guess what? They sold.

tip #3 {involve the kiddos}

{a} I'm trying to teach my children to keep the things they need and actually use and to let go of the things they don't. The best way to do this, in my opinion, is to involve them in the entire process. Conner decided he wanted to sell his Imaginext Batman robot. This killed me a little, because it was a super-expensive ($60+) toy that he just had to have two Christmases ago, but the excitement quickly wore off for him, and he never played with it. The robot sold, and Conner is putting the proceeds toward a drone that he's saving up for. Even though I'm thrilled about his goal to have a drone (#sarcasm), I think the whole process of choosing what to discard, pricing it, selling it, and putting the money toward something else is very beneficial for him. My oldest son, Shane, also went through the process of packaging and pricing his Skylanders figures. Not a single one sold, but that can be a good lesson too.

{b} My kids love to sell lemonade and baked goods during our rummage sales. I was feeling overwhelmed this year, so my mother-in-law graciously took my oldest three on a Saturday and did the baking with them. They made muffins, cookies, and brownies and bagged them up in sandwich bags. During the sale, my husband hauled their lemonade stand into the garage (it was too cold to put it in the driveway), and the boys sat awkwardly while people shopped around them. When Shane and Conner complained to me that no one was buying from them, I asked them if they were being good salesmen by greeting their customers and letting them know that there were blueberry muffins available for 25¢ each. After the initial blank stares, they both told me that they were way too shy to do that. They proceeded to attempt to coerce their three-year-old brother to greet the customers, but Logan was much more interested in stealing their inventory than trying to sell it. Eventually, the boys got over their shyness, and their muffins (and later their cookies, brownies, and lemonade) became difficult to keep in stock. By working at their little stand, the boys had fun, practiced their social skills and math (making change), and they were little entrepreneurs.

tip # 4 {expect the unexpected}

{a} Even if you don't think something is going to sell, give it a try. For example, when I was pregnant with Theo, I purchased some maternity/nursing pajamas from Wal-mart. I never liked the top (it was flimsy and poorly constructed), but I did like the bottoms. I kept the bottoms in my pajama drawer, and I threw the top in the rummage sale pile. When it came time to price my items, I hemmed and hawed over whether I should even include this piece in the sale. I was a little nutty from fatigue, though, so I stuck a 50¢ price tag and hung it with my other clothes. The next day, during the sale, I remembered that top and decided to just toss it in the trash before I embarrassed myself further. And then I saw it... slung over a lady's arm as she headed over to my husband to purchase it!

I had a similar experience with cloth diaper liners. Even though I had tried every method I could think of to remove the stains from the 26 cloth diaper liners we owned, nothing worked. Even though I felt like I should probably just toss them in the garbage, I decided to give them a try in the sale. I priced them at 25¢ each or 5 for $1.00, and they all sold!!! Even if you think there's no way something is going to sell, give it a try. I am always surprised by what sells and by what remains when our sale is finished. (Sidenote: Do this within reason! My friend, the rummage sale guru, recommends throwing out clothes that have holes or are stained. You don't want to gross out your customers.)

{b} I always think I have some idea of how a rummage sale is going to go, and I'm proven wrong every time. Even though we had enjoyed warmth and sunshine earlier in the week, Thursday, the opening day of our sale, greeted us with soem nasty weather. I'm talking freezing temperatures, bone-chilling wind, and SNOW. (In Wisconsin, it's not safe to put away your snow boots until May 1st. Even then, you may have one day that's warm enough for shorts and then snow the next day.) Anyhoo, we woke up to a very ominous-looking Thursday. As my husband and I gazed out the window and watched the icy wind throw the branches around like streamers, we lamented that we would probably get a grand total of three customers the entire day. Who would want to go rummage-saling in that? I certainly wouldn't. We opened at 8:00 AM, and we were busy. Like, crazy-busy. We didn't get a break until shortly after lunchtime! You've got to admire the rummage sale die-hards. They will brave the yuckiest weather, even snow, to get a good deal.

tip #5 {buy a space heater and position it by your station}

See tip #4b. This is applicable for rummage sales held in Wisconsin during the spring.

tip #6 {negotiate}

First and foremost, you need to decide what is more important to you: squeezing every penny you can get out of an item or discarding the unused and unwanted. There's no right or wrong, but having your priorities straight will affect how you negotiate. Although my husband and I want to make as much money as we can, when it comes down to it, we really just want to find new homes for our stuff.

One of my favorite negotiation techniques is what I like to call, "Let's meet in the middle." For example, Dan and I were selling a baby swing that we had just purchased three months ago. It had hardly been used and was in Like-New condition, so we priced it at $50. A woman asked me if I would take $40 for it. "How about we meet in the middle at $45?" I offered. Sold! And we were both happy. Now, this doesn't always work. Another woman approached our table with $3 worth of books. She asked me if I would take $2 for them. "How about we meet in the middle at $2.50?" I said. She shook her head. I paused, not really believing she'd pass them up for a paltry 50¢. But she would not compromise! Quickly deciding that I would rather get rid of the books than have an extra 50¢ in my pocket, I told her she could have them for her desired price. Although I was admittedly a little miffed, I do respect that she had a price in mind and had the self-control not to go over it.

If someone asks for a price break, I like to look at how much they are buying from us. If they are purchasing a lot, I am more willing to negotiate the price on one or more items. If someone is only buying one item, a board book, for example, I'm more likely to say no if I feel like the item is already well priced.

Now, you tell me... Do you have rummage sales? What's been your best and worst experiences? Do you have any great tips that I missed?