Episode 21: Garage Sale Preparation — 5,000 Core English Words

📖 This lesson is part of the comprehensive series 5,000 Common English Words Through 46 Real-Life Conversations by Echo Stories English.

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Chapter twenty-one. The garage sale.

The basement must be empty before the work begins, and the garage is already full. So Ryan and Emma make a decision. On Saturday they will put everything on tables in front of the house, and sell it.

Listen to how they sort and price their things, and to the short, useful language of buying and selling: asking a price, making an offer, and giving change.

Emma: Okay. Three boxes. This one is "keep," this one is "sell," and the brown one is "throw away." Let's be realistic.

Ryan: What about the golf clubs?

Emma: Sell.

Ryan: My jeans from college?

Emma: Ryan, they have holes. Throw away.

Ryan: They're popular again. Used clothing is worth a lot online.

Emma: Not those. What's this?

Ryan: A scientific calculator, a universal remote, and a gym membership card. I went four times.

Emma: Sell, sell, and that's just sad. What about the star lamp?

Ryan: I secretly love that lamp.

Emma: Then keep it. I mean it. We don't have to sell things that give us happiness.

Ryan: The truth is, I didn't know we had so much. Any normal person would have a list.

Emma: I have a list. It's complete, including prices. Look. Large things on the left table, clothes on the right, and a basket of small things for one dollar each.

Ryan: You're a super organized woman. How much for the records?

Emma: We're keeping the records. Let me finish. Do we have change? Coins and small bills?

Ryan: I went to the bank yesterday. Forty dollars in ones and fives, and a bag of quarters.

Emma: Good. And if someone wants to pay by card?

Ryan: I have an app on my phone. It's secure, and it takes half a minute.

At eight o'clock on Saturday, the garage door is open. A sign on the fence says "Garage Sale, Today Only." The first caller is a man in a baseball cap.

Customer: Morning. Do you mind if I look around?

Ryan: Not at all. Let me know if you have any questions.

Customer: How much is this bike?

Ryan: Forty dollars.

Customer: Does it work? The back tire looks flat.

Ryan: It just needs air. Everything else is fine. I rode it last summer.

Customer: Would you take thirty for it?

Ryan: I could do thirty-five.

Customer: Thirty-five. Okay. And what about the golf clubs?

Ryan: The price on those is fifty for the whole set, with the cart.

Customer: That's a bit much. Can you do any better?

Ryan: I can't go lower on those. They've only been used twice.

Customer: Tell you what. I'll give you seventy-five for the bike and the clubs together.

Ryan: Make it eighty, and you have a deal.

Customer: Eighty. Done. Do you have change for a hundred?

Ryan: Let me check. Yes. Here's twenty back.

Customer: Thanks. I'll come back with my truck in an hour. Can you hold them for me?

Ryan: Sure. I'll put a "sold" sign on them.

Shopper: Excuse me. Are these children's clothes for sale too?

Emma: Yes, everything on that table. They're from my cousin's daughter. Two dollars each, or five for eight dollars.

Shopper: They're in great condition. Do you have anything for a newly born baby?

Emma: There's a small box under the counter. Let me get it for you.

Shopper: Oh, these are sweet. I'll take these three. And how much is the lamp? The brown one.

Emma: Twelve dollars.

Shopper: Is that your best price?

Emma: For you, ten.

Shopper: I'll take it. Do you take cards? I don't have any cash.

Emma: We do. Ryan, can you bring your phone?

Ryan: Here. Just tap your card on the screen. That's sixteen dollars. Would you like a bag?

Shopper: Yes, please. Do you guarantee the lamp works?

Ryan: We tested it this morning. If it doesn't, we live here. You know where to find us.

Shopper: Fair enough. Thank you! Have a good one.

By noon, the street is busy. People choose, pay, and carry things away. A boy buys the calculator for fifty cents. Rosa buys nothing, but she stays until two and tells every customer the price.

Emma: Is that everything?

Ryan: Almost. Nobody made a bid on the old television. Not one.

Emma: Without a remote, there's no demand. We'll take it to the recycling center. How did we do?

Ryan: Let me count. Three hundred and forty-two dollars. That exceeds my estimate by a hundred.

Emma: That's wonderful! That's our joint fund for the studio.

Ryan: It's not exactly an income. We don't have to pay tax on it, I think.

Emma: It's not strictly business. It's a scheme to see the floor of our own garage. Look at it. The bareness is beautiful.

Ryan: I was optimistic, but not this optimistic. I thought we'd decline every offer and carry it all back in.

Emma: You were good at it. "Make it eighty, and you have a deal." Who taught you that?

Ryan: My dad. He bought and sold cars when I was little. Imports, mostly, and a few exports. He used to say, "Never sell cheap just because you're tired."

Emma: What didn't sell?

Ryan: The jet ski poster, a broken shelf that collapsed on Tuesday, and the gym card.

Emma: Purely for security, cut the card in half.

Ryan: I will. Can I say something? It was enjoyable, and we did it all by ourselves. I met more neighbors in one morning than in six months.

Emma: Me too. There's a disabled man two doors down who repairs radios. He wants to see yours. And a woman from the supermarket at the mall asked about my class.

Ryan: So it didn't do any harm.

Emma: None. It didn't depress me to see our things go, either. I thought it would.

Ryan: Now let's bathe the dog we don't have, and sleep until Monday.

Emma: First, let me put the money in the box. Then pizza. We can afford it, proudly, without a loan or any aid.

Ryan: Until the contractor tells us what the pump will really cost.

Emma: Don't. Let me enjoy this.

That is the end of chapter twenty-one. The garage is empty, the neighbors have new lamps and bicycles, and there are three hundred and forty-two dollars in a box.

Keep these with you: "How much is this?" "Would you take thirty for it?" "Can you do any better?" "I'll take it." "Do you have change for a hundred?"

In the next chapter, Ryan's company changes the way it works, and he needs a proper desk at home.

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