People were literally lining up at least an hour before the sale they were sitting in their cars.

And then they came up and we were giving them numbers.

So people were coming in and out.

So I found this big rock that kept the screen door open.

And one of the people that came asked if the rock was for sale.

I said, of course, everything's for sale.

So they literally bought the rock for $5.

Welcome to how to. I'm Courtney Martin. I want to come clean about something today. I am a bit of a secondhand junkie. It's true. I never pass by a box of free stuff on the sidewalk without taking at least a quick glance, sometimes much longer.

Goodwill is my happy place, especially in a town with a lot of old people, with amazing stuff they don't realize has come back into style.

And so, of course, I'm also a big fan of a yard sale.

Or depending on where you live, a garage sale or a stoop sale, they are full of surprises.

All these objects representing so many quirky human stories, obsessions, abandoned goals, inheritances, disinheritances.

They're just so full of intrigue. They're also a lot harder to pull off than they look.

As one of our producers learned the hard way.

My name is Joel Meyer. I'm an editor and producer at How To. And also, I recently completed a garage sale.

And I have questions about whether I failed miserably or not.

I love it. So, Joel, let's dig into your question.

Tell us a little bit more about this yard sale and why you suspect it might have been a failure.

Well, this all started with not my garage sale, but my friend's garage sale a couple of months ago.

She was moving to a new apartment and downsizing from a big,

one-bedroom apartment down to a much nicer but smaller studio apartment. She had a yard sale

that also included stuff from some other friends. So it was kind of a combined, you know, family yard sale.

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