JoeTaxpayer

This week, Felix Baumgartner dove  from 24 miles above the Earth in a record breaking skydiving feat. I salute him and chuckled at the cartoon that acknowledged his amazing accomplishment.

A Guest Post from Shawna Davies –

Estate sales can be intimidating, and they tend to happen in the midst of challenging circumstances; but whatever the reason, planning an estate sale can provide much-needed financial help at a difficult time. If you need to plan an estate sale, have a look at these tips to make it as painless and effective as possible.

1. Don’t assume everyone shares your taste

If you’re preparing to move a parent into a retirement community, there may be quite a few things around their home that you think are tacky or undesirable, that you may be tempted to throw away; but as long as the item is functional, resist the temptation! Many people shop estate sales in search of retro furnishings and curios, and if your crowd is large enough, you’re virtually guaranteed a few surprises.

Get the estate clean and presentable, of course—but the time to haul working items off to the thrift store or junkyard is after your sale is finished.

2. Have a careful discussion with any involved parties

Discussing beforehand what you will sell, and at what price, is an important step to avoid hurt feelings or disagreements in the course of your estate sale. It will also provide a stronger bargaining position—antique dealers and collectors can be highly-motivated and will often haggle aggressively, so it’s important to present a united front when the time comes to discuss price.

3. Provide food

A couple boxes of donuts and a pot of coffee will draw traffic and keep customers browsing, as well as contributing to an open, friendly atmosphere in which more people will feel comfortable buying. If you have kids, encourage them to set up a little concession stand with candy bars and drinks. These little investments will be well worth the cost, and you’ll clear out a lot more of your inventory.

4. Get a mobile credit card reader

Hardly anyone regularly carries cash anymore, and you’d be amazed at how many people will pass over your sale rather than make an extra trip to an ATM. Taking checks is more risk than it’s worth, of course—and most people don’t carry their checkbooks around anyway—but Square, PayPal, and Intuit all offer a free card reader and mobile app that allow you to start taking credit cards face-to-face at your estate sale. You pay a small percentage on each swipe (around 2.75%), but your sale will be far more successful.

5. Display items attractively

Any item that you expect to bring in more than $5 or $10 should be dusted and cleaned off before your sale, and displayed at eye level. If you have items that you think are worth a little more, consider printing out positive reviews from Amazon. For TVs or other consumer electronics, have them running so that people can get an idea of display quality, etc.

6. Determine the reason for your sale

Estate sales can be an excellent way to raise money or clear out clutter, but if you know which one is your primary goal, you’ll be more successful. If your main concern is clearing out the estate as quickly as possible, price accordingly. If you need to turn a significant profit from the sale, you can set prices higher—but be prepared to defend those prices by talking up your items, interacting assertively with customers, and putting on a bit of a show.

Shawna Davies is a staff writer for Going Cellular. She has a talent for organization and helping people navigate new technology. She’s a confessed gadget freak—her latest toy is an iPhone credit card reader for her Etsy home business—but when she gets out of the house, she loves spending time at the lake with her husband and young son. They live in Beaumont, Texas.

I saw a news blurb that announced that on January 27, 2013 the price to mail a one ounce card or letter will rise to 46 cents. Any price increase anywhere for anything is going to bring complaints, but I’d like to share an opposing opinion. I think they should have started charging 50 cents a number of years ago.

Gas is about $4 and if I get about 25 miles a gallon, it’s 16 cents to move one mile. So, a round trip of anything over a mile and a half each way and I just burned over 50 cents in gas. My supermarket is nearly 5 miles away, so even without counting the value of my time, it’s $1.60 to go there and back. On the other hand, if I need to send a birthday card to my family in NY, just under 200 miles away, for 45 cents, it’s there in 2 days, max.

With on line bill payment, I send fewer items by mail, greeting cards, thank you notes, and a very small number of checks that go to people I don’t pay on line. Even if that stamp went up to a dollar, I’d not have the same annual postal bill I had ten years ago. Congress has forced rules regarding future health care funding onto the Post Office and they now have a higher burden than  non-quasi-government companies. This is really a shame, and gives the appearance that our congress folk are looking to do away with the traditional post office and let private carriers take over. I hope that doesn’t happen. I like my postman and in all my years, have had a few pieces of mail that didn’t quite get through 100%. Compared to my driving 33 years and being in 6 accidents, I think the post office record of getting to the destination on time puts my own reputation to shame. If you are a postman (or woman) or have one in the family, please accept my complements, my respect, my sincere gratitude.

Aside from the great service I get, I collected stamps as a youngster, and remember buying the stamps pictured above. There was an excitement that’s tough to describe, to see the new stamp designs each year, designs that included simple thinks like flowers and animals, as well as the stamps that commemorates historical events. It would be the end of a era to have that come to a stop.