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Original Message
"Garage Sales"
Posted by frodis on 06-22-08 at 04:37 PM
I have never held a garage sale. My parents never did, either. I didn't think about this in the "summer memories" thread, but some of my summer days were spent riding my bike to neighborhood garage sales and buying junk. My mom used to ask me why I'd bought certain things, and I really never knew. Did I really need a perfume bottle and atomizer that didn't really work? Well, no, but it was pretty and I had a dime burning a hole in my pocket. Nowadays I call them garbage sales.

My neighborhood is having a garage sale weekend in July, where anyone who wants to have a garage sale can get free signs and advertising, in the hopes that carloads of people who are suffering withdrawls from piling downtown to the Taste of Chicago will perhaps come to my sleepy 'burb and buy all of our crap. It's a suburban driveway-fest with no beer or music but plenty of people willing to take your dimes.

I have a lot of crap. Maybe I should sell it. I just have NO IDEA how to go about doing so.

So, OT, is it worth my while? Should I give the street-vendor gig a whirl? I have a lot of old CDs and cassette tapes, some puzzles and board games (some of which are still in their original sealed plastic wrappers) books, telephones and other assorted electronics, an ancient laptop, and miscellaneous stuff like figurines, glassware, crappy jewelry, and dishes that I don't like. I probably have some old furniture and clothing, too.

My primary objective is to get this stuff out of my house. I don't really care if I make much money on it. For instance, I'd happily sell the CD's for cheap. A Quarter. A Dime. Pack up ten of them in brown lunch sacks with a big question mark on them and sell them as "Mystery Packs" for $1. Whatever.

Should I try it? Or will it just be frustrating, and am I better off finding places to donate all of this stuff? Will I wind up dragging most of if back into my house? (That would be sad.) I'd thought that maybe the puzzles and board games might be nice for a senior center or youth center. Maybe the books, too.

Do any of you garage sale aficionados (sellers and buyers) have any tips for me? Do I have to put price tags on everything? What's the best way to display stuff to get it to go away? Should I even bother trying to sell VHS or audio cassette tapes? How many people really buy other people's old junk anyway?



Surfkitten summer sig shop 2008

I'm slowly morphing from a keeper into a tosser. Either that or that nesting thing that never happened pre-baby is finally, finally kicking in.

Table of contents
Messages in this discussion
"Random stuff."
Posted by Estee on 06-22-08 at 04:49 PM
Check all sealed board game titles on eBay before putting them out. Don't let someone make a profit off you.

VHS tapes still sell, but mostly 'cause people use them for blanks. Unless you have a collector's boxed set, don't expect to see more than a dollar each.

You don't have to price tag everything if you have only a few price levels: you can just set out a dollar table, a five dollar table, etc -- and then be prepared to put your foot down when someone insists that all of the pieces they're carrying came off the quarter table, which they will, they will...

The more you want to sell a piece, the more careful you should be about the display: giant rummage piles and bins only seem to work for clothing and toys. (For some strange reason, nothing is more exciting to a certain class of shopper than a huge table with a five-foot-tall pile of fabric on it.)

Don't take returns or exchanges on Mystery Packs, and make it clear from the start that you're not going to. It should cut the number of people insisting you do by -- one.

Never take an absolute insult for an attempt at bargaining. Most sentences which begin with 'I'll give you' are an act of war. 'Will you take' at least offers some room for negotiation.

And of course, please make sure your neighborhood is not holding this event to raise funds for a white supremacy group. That's just common sense.


"RE: Random stuff."
Posted by kingfish on 06-22-08 at 05:16 PM
Beware of lawsuits by people not asking you hold reserve items for them.

"RE: Random stuff."
Posted by frodis on 06-24-08 at 11:03 AM
I checked the board games. Sadly, they're not particularly hot items, which might explain why I never unwrapped them in the first place. One is listed at $6 (missing its timer) and one is listed at $12.99 but neither of them have any bids.

I didn't think about bargaining. Ick. I don't like bargaining.



Surfkitten summer sig shop 2008


"RE: Random stuff."
Posted by easilydistracted on 06-24-08 at 11:29 PM
I've been selling on eBay over 9 years. It's fairly uncommon for items to get bids until the last day, often until the last minutes or hours. Please check completed auctions for prices, not current, running auctions. You have to sign-in to do so, but it's worth it. Frequently, the value of your sealed games in no way compares to opened or used games, missing parts or not.

Most of us won't buy something that's not priced, but the color coding thing is fine. You actually do have stuff that might appeal to us sellers, things that are light and easy to pack, easy to list since they have bar codes. Do an eBay completed search for CD Lot. Even if yer stuff's not worth much individually, there may be decent profit once you group things together.

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by Max Headroom on 06-22-08 at 06:01 PM
We just finished our neighborhood garage sale this weekend. Unlike last year's edition which was poorly advertised and held the same weekend as 15,679 nearby neighborhoods, this one was fairly-well advertised and one of only a handful of similar sales. So we did better this year.

As I noted above, a big key is advertising. Whoever runs the ad needs to specifically say "neighborhood sale". Not multi-family sale (those are different), neighborhood sale. Be sure to list your development name (if there is one) and a good set of directions. And around here, it's best to have the very first word of the ad be the suburb name, so it shows up in the right place in the garage sale section. Remember that people can't buy your stuff if they can't find your house.

Pricing can be done a lot of different ways. We priced most items individually, but there was also a $0.25 box, a $0.50 box, and a $1 table. Like Estee said, keep an eye on those or people will do a switcheroo and try to buy a dollar item for $0.25. High value items like electronics, jewelry, etc. should be kept very close to where you'll be sitting, as we've had a couple of small, higher-value items "grow legs" in past sales. Be prepared to negotiate, as many people view your price as the starting point for them to talk you down.

DW and I have different garage sale goals. I want to get rid of stuff, while she's focused more on making a little cash. (That's why I'm never allowed to run the sale until the last day, as I'll take lower offers almost every time.) My advice: If you price it low enough, it'll go.

Also be careful if a large group of non-English speakers arrive at once; one year a large group of Spanish-speakers converged on DW, and while one person argued with her over the price of a $0.50 item, a couple of others helped themselves and walked away during the distraction.

I haven't seen the tally from the last sale, but I'd estimate we made $250-300 this time around. Really good sales might get $400, but only if we have some furniture that sells. Given the tone of your post, your sale will probably be a good one as it'll contain fresher stuff than most sales.

One final thought, baby stuff usually sells well.

Go for it!


Surfkitten Sigshop Summer 2008

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by Estee on 06-24-08 at 08:08 AM
Also be careful if a large group of non-English speakers arrive at once; one year a large group of Spanish-speakers converged on DW, and while one person argued with her over the price of a $0.50 item, a couple of others helped themselves and walked away during the distraction.

Also works for groups of English speakers, groups of teenagers, groups of men, groups of women, and, for that matter, any number of people totally two or more. As long as one can distract, the other can operate. The local term for such an operation, indoor or outdoor, is convoy: don't ask me how it got started.

The ones I hate to see the most are the family operations: the mother distracts, and the five-year-old happily scoops everything into the bag.

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by frodis on 06-24-08 at 11:10 AM
$400? Really? Wow. I was thinking that I might make about $30. I have really low hopes.

The thing about the neighborhood sale is that everyone is having their own individual sale, but since my neighborhood is a no-outlet series of circles and cul-de-sacs, we don't get any thru-traffic. The idea is that we'll point people into our vortex and they can take the Tour deCrap before heading out the same way they came in.

Not ready to unload the baby stuff yet even though it takes up more space than my own clothes.



Surfkitten summer sig shop 2008


"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by satyrist on 06-22-08 at 06:39 PM
We had a garage sale once. It never sold; most of the prospective buyers wanted the house along with it.
"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by suzzee on 06-22-08 at 07:02 PM
LAST EDITED ON 06-22-08 AT 07:06 PM (EST)

Hey Frodis go for it!

I've had my share of yard sales although not in a neighborhood group deal. If your intention is to not bring the stuff back into your house then pick a time during the sale to just to give it away. I typically sell Friday (biggest sale day)till 1 pm, then go Saturday till 11am, after 11 on Saturday everything is free for the taking. I even help load the junk into the car for them. There aren't many sales after noon anyway so all you're doing is letting someone have the things that were going to Goodwill anyway and saving you the time to pack & haul it away. Don't look back or the stuff will go right back into your house, not the point.

Don't be surprised if what you think is a good item won't sell and the pure carp goes like it's ice in the desert, you never can tell what is worth something to someone. If you see someone "on the fence, drop the price on it, sometimes that's all it takes & some people don't know that they can bargain with you.

Clothes, meh, I can take them or leave them, if you have alot of them try the fill a bag for $2 or whatever, it moves clothes & the like. Oh, nobody wants old shoes, really....

Books paperbacks $ .50 each, 5 for $2, always remember to wheel & deal and no price is final unless you absolutely need to do it, peeps are looking for cheap cheap cheap.

Put your really good stuff (big items, furniture, etc. where people walking or driving by can see it, lots of little stuff people don't stop for, clothes either unless you have baby toddler sizes, if you do, signs work.

Speaking of signs & stuff, neon posterboard works great even if there is a map of sale locations, people are unfamiliar with the area will still see signs.

Sell bottled water for a buck a bottle, ice cold.

Also, keep your change (you should start out with $10-15 in quarters, 20 in singles, $20 in 5's and $20 in 10's, keep you change in a nail apron (has pockets get one at the lumber yard or Home depot or the like) You may get called away from your cash out table and don't want to have to carry around a cash box, better yet have a partner at the sale with you. Lock up your house & garage and keep all your stuff on tables out front.

Get some plastic to cover in case of a quick rainstorm, just cheap dropcloth plastic will do.

Prices on everything keeps people from asking you how much every 10 seconds too, yeah it is a pain but it is a bigger pain to have a bunch of stuff without prices.

Color code if you want, blue dots $1, red dots .50, you get the idea.

enough for now.....ta ta and good luck!

ETA: I forgot about the "early birds", those are the people who will show up at 7am even though your sign says 8am. It's up to you but they will be there, they also buy stuff so be ready 1st and you'll get those first comers and all their money while your neighbors are still sucking down that first cup of coffee.



Spring outfit thanks to Sharnina

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by frodis on 06-24-08 at 11:14 AM
This is a ton of great advice, suzee, thanks!

It also scares me a little. This sounds like work.

I might have to get a nail apron even if I don't end up having the sale. I really like the idea of an apron with a zillion little pockets.

Maybe I'll keep my crap and just sell water. I don't mind keeping the leftovers, there.


Surfkitten summer sig shop 2008


"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by easilydistracted on 06-25-08 at 00:49 AM
Suzzee, pretty much perfect. I forgot only one thing. On your neon signage. A single big black arrow and the hours of operaton like this helps those of us who sniff out garage sale sfrom a distance.
12 July 7-1
13 July 8-1

On the lower 1/3 of your sign, give 'em a reason to stop. On two rows I suggest the following: Cds Games Books/Collectibles. With a large sign the third row should say electronics or just do 50/50 with some saying collectibles, the others saying electronics.

Your buyer can decide how collectible yer stuff is even though you've checked out completed auctions on eBay and have determined it's crap. Those words on the bottom of your sign are the words that may get peeps to stop and spend their dimes.

"I'll give ya fiddy cent"
Posted by moonbaby on 06-22-08 at 07:26 PM
for that bird on a stick!

"Sold!"
Posted by satyrist on 06-22-08 at 08:50 PM

I always wanted an eye-candy rapper.

"Lemme 'splain sumthin'"
Posted by IceCat on 06-22-08 at 10:46 PM

'eye candy' is just an expression. It isn't real candy that you can eat. So it doesn't require a wrapper.
"RE: I'll give ya fiddy cent"
Posted by frodis on 06-24-08 at 11:26 AM
My mascot! Never! He still lives in my purse.


Surfkitten summer sig shop 2008

throw in some cookies or a pie and we have a deal.

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by qwertypie on 06-22-08 at 07:30 PM
A friend of mine had a goodwill truck come for the end of the sale and she loaded up everything that didn't go (it would save you hauling all the stuff back).

And you will never know what will go. Just to spite my dad, we put a price tag on old screw legs for a box spring. That was the very first thing that sold.

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by Puffy on 06-22-08 at 07:53 PM
You've received great advice here. I say "go for it!"


Surfkitten Siggie Shop
2007,thanks to Smokeysmom

"Here's an experiment"
Posted by IceCat on 06-22-08 at 10:52 PM

Keep track of all the hours that you use for this garage sale including prep, setup, sale, cleanup. After you total up your final sales, divide that number by the number of hours and figure out the hourly rate you made for your work.

I did that one time and never did a garage sale again in my life.

If I have stuff that I don't want but others might use, I take it to the thrift shop and donate it. Less time and I'm giving to charity as well.

"RE: Here's an experiment"
Posted by frodis on 06-24-08 at 11:28 AM
I actually stopped at a Goodwill thrift store yesterday to see what kinds of stuff they take. It might be a better option, since the idea of sitting outside all day collecting quarters in my nail apron isn't as appealing as you might think it would be.

It will also largely depend on my actually getting my self in gear and cleaning out the old dusty corners of the basement where all of this stuff is stored.


Surfkitten summer sig shop 2008


"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by jbug on 06-23-08 at 06:29 PM
Agree with just about everything above (except 11:00 is too early to stop on Sat in our area). People here still shop till 2 or 3!

Yep, either have each table clearly marked with prices;
or mark each item.
There's nothing I hate more than having to ask 'how much'.
If I can't find a price, I usually put it back down.

Around noon, put up a 1/2 price sign.
If you have a few items you just can't let go for 1/2, set them to the side with an "except these" sign.

And if you have pretty plants - especially lilies or iris'? Be willing to give away a few tubers to a few women who may admire them.


Snidget put me on the cover!

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by frodis on 06-24-08 at 11:32 AM
Do you think the ladies will want a couple of clods from my dirt garden?


Surfkitten summer sig shop 2008

If I have tubers they are in deep, deep hibernation. Maybe they're 17-year tubers.

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by Snidget on 06-24-08 at 01:58 PM


Surfkitten summer sig shop 2008 and Dancing with the Tribe!

do they climb up other plants when they come to and make lots of noise?

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by Karchita on 06-27-08 at 00:37 AM

Those would be tubas, I think.

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by Scuba Steve on 06-24-08 at 11:21 AM
One important thing: check the weather. We had a garage sale a couple of months ago, but we sold hardly anything because it was pouring down rain the entire day.


"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by SilverStar on 06-24-08 at 01:55 PM
LAST EDITED ON 06-24-08 AT 01:57 PM (EST)

I just had my first garage sale experience this past weekend. The city where my sister lives has a city wide garage sale event, so it's kind of the same thing as a neighborhood deal. There were about 3 other people on her street having one, and tons more just a block away.

I had some crap that I wanted to sell, so I took it over to her house. I made $50, woohoo! I did have some higher priced items like an old computer and some computer accesories, but I also had some trinket-y type crap that was 50 cents, and those things added up.
The major thing that I wanted to sell was my old computer desk (that was a bitch and a half to get in my car), and nobody bought that. *grr* But that was the only thing I was really upset about having to drag home again.

If there was stuff that didn't sell that we really didn't want anymore, we put it in a donation box, or if it was real crap, we put it in a box with a "FREE" sign and set it on the curb.

It was definitely worth it for me since I didn't have to do any of the set up or advertising. I just showed up with my junk and made money.

ETA-- Obviously the majority of stuff at the sale was my sister's, and she made about $200. She said it was well worth it, and she plans on doing it again next year.


"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by samboohoo on 06-24-08 at 02:26 PM
I think it could go either way. I did one and after I swore I would never do another.

Community/Neighborhood sales can be good - especially if advertised well.

But make sure what you plan to sell is out and there is no easy access to something you don't want sold. I had people trying to go into my garage.

You will need bags (paper/plastic shopping bags) and change.

You will get people who want to bargain with you or talk you down. Expect that.

If you plan to start at 7 a.m., be ready for people to show up at 6:30.

It was not my cup of tea, but some people really rake in.




Tribe is pushing up my daisies!


"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by StarryLuna on 06-24-08 at 02:51 PM
You've got lots of good advice. One thing I'd recommend is get some of the little circle price labels that come in multiple colors, then just use those to set up your price system. Anything with a pink label is $0.50, a green label is $1, orange label is $5, etc. That way, you still know how much you're asking for stuff, but you don't have to write the price on every.single.thing.

My other piece of advice? Ask a good friend to come over and help you out and keep you company. That way, you have another pair of eyes to watch for swindlers and thieves, and someone to talk to during the slow periods (it will happen.) We had a yard sale with my best friend two years ago before we moved into our house. We held it in her front yard and used different colored price stickers (i.e., all of my stuff had pink and green labels, hers had orange and blue.) It was fun and we each made a couple hundred bucks. Now she's getting ready to move out of her house and we need to clean out some stuff to make room for baby, so we're planning to have another one next month.


Place witty comment here.

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by jbug on 06-24-08 at 03:25 PM
You can even buy the little colored stickers with the prices already on them. I found a pkg in the 1/2 off bin at the store the other day (50 cents) & bought it. It has I think 300 stickers in it?
Not that I'm planning a yard sale, but 50 cents was such a bargain.
"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by Lisapooh on 06-24-08 at 04:04 PM
my neighborhood does community garage sales twice a year. Some work better than others.

If lots of other people on your street are having one, you'll do better obviously. One thing our neighborhood did that has worked out great is doing a map of the community and marking which houses have sales. We give each house that's participating a stack of those maps and they can hand them out to people as they shop, check out or whatever.

The haggling kills me as I find it more than a little annoying.

I also put out a box marked free toys - just stupid stuff no one would want to buy anyway. It keeps the kids occupied and lets their moms shop more. (I mostly sell kids clothes & toys so this works for me)

Keep things as organized as possible (not so easy with people traipsing through everything.

I also pay my kid (and usually a friend of hers) a few bucks to help me out during the sale. They can refold stuff, help keep an eye on things, etc.

I've stuck bottled water out and sold it during too. You make more money off that then any of your crap.

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by Maroonclown on 06-24-08 at 04:21 PM
We've had neighbourhood sales before. They're fun and you stand to make a couple of bucks.

I go with the rule that if it doesn't sell it doesn't go back in the house. Either leave it on the curb and it will go very quickly or throw it in the trunk and drop it off at Goodwill on your way home.

Odd thing at our last sale - DH put out 1/2 empty cans of paint and stain and they went within 5 minutes. Cassette tapes went really fast too. Had some old rock 'n rollers buy most of them. Great conversations with them.

If you look at it more as a social thing, you'll have a good time.

copyright smokeysmom

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by Lisapooh on 06-24-08 at 04:24 PM
I was shocked at how quickly I sold hangers. HANGERS of all things!! I had a ton of kid-sized ones and bundled them up 10 for a $1. They were cleaned out so fast.
"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by true on 06-24-08 at 05:41 PM
I'll reply before I read responses, so I may be repeating some things.

If you don't care about making money, and all you want to do is get rid of junk, I'd say pack it up and donate. It will save tons of time and effort.

If you're interested in making a few bucks, go for it. Be prepared to really clean up and organize your junk if you want to make more than a few cents.

I'm afraid the garage sales you remember have changed quite a bit in recent years.

Instead of people looking for a bargain on useable items, many, if not most of the garage sale shoppers are looking for stuff to resell on EBAY at a higher price. You can spot these vultures a mile away. Sometimes it's fun to mess with them by not selling for what they want to pay. I tell some of them I'd much rather donate to charity than sell it for THAT.

You'll also get collectors of particular things, just swinging through looking for that rare old time Fischer Price little people figure, or some other collectible. No doubt these peeps are also out to resell on EBAY.

I've also found that traffic at garage sales is way down this year. High gas prices seem to be keeping most honest shoppers from driving around from sale to sale looking for well priced stuff they can actually use.

Overall, I've found that the effort and time it takes to have a sale is not worth the money. Especially if all you have to sell is nickel and dime stuff. If you have anything decent to sell, you're probably much better off listing it on EBAY yourself.

And yes, you will end up with a lot of stuff left over.

As a side note, I took several board games and puzzles to Good Will after our last sale. They took them, but told me that they would just trash them because they didn't have the time or the man power to check that all the pieces were there. Sadly, I wasted tons of time doing just that. So, before you donate games, you might want to make sure they will be wanted.

Good luck!


"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by jbug on 06-25-08 at 08:16 AM
A retirement center or day care or after school program might like to have the puzzles or board games.


"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by MKitty on 06-25-08 at 04:34 PM
LAST EDITED ON 06-25-08 AT 04:35 PM (EST)

I was just part of a large garage sale last weekend for my son's soccer team. We made $1100 on a bunch of total crap! It is amazing what people will buy!!

I totally suggest it if you don't mind taking a few hours on a Saturday.

My best tips: (and yes, some of these have already been mentioned)
1. Have a 25 cent table, 50 cent table, 1 dollar, etc.. Label anything more expensive than one dollar.
2. Take offers.
3. Arrange ahead of a time for a charity to come pick up leftovers, as the cardinal rule should always be: once it leaves the house, it does NOT come back in. Have pick up or load up a pick up and drop off EVERYTHING that does not sell. You don't need that extra clutter and crap in your life....so move it on!!
4. Make it from 8:30 - 1pm. You will have early birds, so be ready by 8 if you want to let them take stuff. The serious garage salers are always early morning. You may be out of all your good stuff by 1pm anyway, and sick of it..so pack up by then.
5. Rake in the bucks...all you did was either sit around in the sunshine and have people give you money all day...it's really not that hard!

Good luck!!



Goin' Tuscan from Surfkitten 2008


"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by syren on 06-25-08 at 04:54 PM

Just another suggestion...

If you choose to donate another option besides Goodwill is your local Women and Children's shelter. They are always in need of..well pretty much everything.

The women there are starting over from scratch, and many times the kids there need things too.

Toys for the shelter to have for kids to play with like balls, board games and such, are also great items to donate.



Warcrack, it's not for kids.

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by jbug on 06-26-08 at 09:06 AM
Great suggestion Syren. Also the locations of some women's shelters are not well known - for obvious reasons. Call your local YWCA. They may have a shelter and can use some of your stuff.

This is a threadjack but - an organization I belong to collects hotel shampoos, lotions, soaps and takes them to the YWCA. They have an emergency shelter for abused women & children.

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by DoodleBug on 06-26-08 at 10:10 PM
If you don't care how much you make and you want to get rid of stuff - go for it. It can be somewhat fun really. We have sold baby gear, tools, furniture, and just random knick-knacks in our sales. We've made anywhere from $150 to $250. I was just happy to see the stuff outta my house! Oh, and the kids set up a lemonade stand and earned a little cash for themselves.


>

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by Karchita on 06-27-08 at 00:50 AM
LAST EDITED ON 06-27-08 AT 00:50 AM (EST)

I have had sales where I made $700 (when I was moving) and hugely unsuccessful garage sales where I barely sold anything.

My tips:

The goal is to move the merchandise. Set your prices ridiculously low. You're giving away the leftovers anyhow.

Put a bunch of items in a box marked free and put it in a spot that is clearly visible from the street. You'll be amazed at the people who drive by and eyeball your sale and make up their minds to park and come in when they spot that box.

Be really friendly and greet and chat with everyone.

Overdo the signs. Then be a good neighbor and collect them all as soon as the sale is over.

Good luck!


Edited because I'm an idiot.

"RE: Garage Sales"
Posted by mysticwolf on 06-27-08 at 02:46 AM
Since people have already suggested some ideas for donation of stuff that doesn't sell (and stuff that you might think of as crap), I'd be remiss if I didn't at least mention the stuff our zoo uses. If your zoo doesn't, I'd be asking why and trying to get them to start an enrichment program.

* Boxes - all sizes. If cereal type boxes it's best if there're other boxes that can be telescoped with them.
* Paper towel tubes. Even toilet paper, although those build up pretty fast, so longer tubes are more in demand
* Heavy duty carpet tubes. Recycling centers won't take them. Most carpet stores don't know, or don't want to transport, that they are valuable to someone. Elephants, monkeys, apes, etc. love them.
* Paper. Stuff (newspaper/ads/whatever - even glossy) that can be shredded for bedding, enrichment, cage liners, creation of papier mache enrichment balls, children's (visitors) activities (office papers, etc. where one side is clean, the other can still be used - make sure the printed side doesn't contain anything you wouldn't want seen by the public).
* Perfume and spices. The big cats LOVE the scents. My Lush boxes and wrapping paper (the stuff they put inside to keep anything from being crushed) have been a BIG hit with the Snow Leopards. Great use for the magazine inserts (scratch and sniff) or the trial sizes you might get as dept. store freebies that you don't care for.
* Old sheets, blankets, bathrobes, etc. Orangutans and Chimps need bedding and things that mimic the leaves they'd use in the wild to keep the rain/sun off of them. I finally gave up my mom's last bathrobe. I'd kept and used it since she died. It was torn and tattered - the silk torn and the stuffing coming out, unuseable to me other than as a keepsake. I gave it to my favorite Orangutan. It was a real kick to see her putting it on or using it as a covering. Oh, mom died in '69 - so, you see, it doesn't have to be in great shape. It's an almost equal kick when I check in on them and see them using a sheet and realize that I recognize it as one of my old favories. Now, it's their favorite.
* Towels, washclothes, pillow cases (without holes). Cage liners for animals being transported (even short distances, like across grounds), snake bags.
* Paper bags. Particularly larger feed bags, for those of you who may have birds, horses, etc. They're used like boxes to create enriching treat bags.
* Baby/toddler toys. Monkeys like to play, too.
* Kids snow saucers. Frisbees/Boogie Boards for the Polar Bears.
* Giant plastic barrels. Making popscicles for Polar Bears, along with other uses.
* 2 qt. plastic bottles. Breeding brine shrimp for feeding aquarium fish.


The list is almost endless. Not only for zoos, but some will be useful for other animal shelters, as well.

Check with them. They're going to push the bigger ticket items. I don't know of any zoo that would turn down a fairly recent model refrigerator, washer, dryer, microwave, etc. Even some seemingly really bizarre items. I know one of the things on our zoo's list for awhile now has been a pair of night-vision goggles.

But, the little stuff makes a big difference in the animal's care if the zoo understands what to do with it. And, if they don't have enough internal sources to get it all, external resources will be more than welcome.

And, again, if they respond as if you have 2 heads because they have no idea why they might want this stuff - I'd start asking questions. If, in this day and age, they don't understand enrichment and if it's not so much a part of their culture that the switchboard doesn't know who to connect you to, there's a problem. "Roadside" zoos may get a temporary pass, but only temporary. They need to learn, too.

They may turn you down for some items. If it's because they have enough, fine. If it's truly because they don't know what they might want it for tell them to contact us for ideas.


A smokeysmom
"In the end we will conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught." - Baba Dioum