Ronald McDonald House Sale

The Ronald McDonald House Sale has been on my radar since about a year after I moved here, but I’ve never bothered, because, really, do we need any more stuff? But since this isn’t just a sale, it’s an event, I decided it was time to go. My friend Sarah, an experienced house-sale shopper, volunteered to accompany me, and gave me some sage advice – limit my liquid intake immediately prior (I did not see one sign for a restroom!).

I didn’t know what to expect, so Sarah tried to prepare me – explaining the different areas for furniture, silver, art, collectibles, clothes, etc. Words can’t do it justice! The sale is held in a 75,000+ square foot warehouse at Rochester Tech Park. We decided to go on the donor day, which cost $25 for the two of us, since we hadn’t donated anything (but of course goes to a great cause). The parking lot was packed, and when we entered the shopping area, I was overwhelmed – there was so much…everything, everywhere! Sarah’s always on the lookout for a few particular items she collects, so she made our plan, and we decided, for my sake, to stick together. It turned out to be a good thing, because if we’d separated, we’d have never found each other again – there are no sightlines from one department to another, and although I had decent phone service, she had none!

"I already got one..."

Our first stop was the photography aisles – she was after a tripod, and she found a darling little mini one. For $5, I thought, why not buy a large, telescoping one for my husband? If we don’t need it, I can always donate it back for the next sale… Then we made our way to the “boutique,” the area with masses of china (I had to stop myself from buying a violets teacup to add to my collection), Asian objects, crystal, and more. Sarah kept trying to talk me into buying things (because when something is only $2, or $5 or, horrors, $10, why not? If I didn’t keep it for myself, I could always gift it!). But I was paralyzed by the sheer enormity, and could barely focus. I was impressed with the breadth of goods, and the deals that were to be had on most of them. There were lots of things I almost bought – a pair of beautiful martini glasses (for $10), and some very twee shot glasses ($2 each), but honestly, what would I do with them? Sarah, however, managed to find a few curiosities to add to her collections, and I finally broke down and picked up some bunches of holiday tags.

Sarah with one of her finds

The checkout process was enormously efficient. First, in most of the departments, you take your goods to a table where they get bagged and tagged with a total of what’s inside. So when you go to pay, the volunteers only have to total the subtotals – so smart! There were at least 150 people ahead of us in line when we finally called it quits, and I was worried we’d be there forever, but the queue moved quickly, we had nice chats with the people ahead of and behind us, and we emerged from the hall about 20 minutes later. All of the volunteers were extremely friendly, and one thanked us on our way out, telling us how much it meant for the kids. I was exhausted by the time we got back to the car – not just from being on my feet for 2 hours, but from the sensory overload.

Next year, I’ll have to remember to donate something to the sale in September, so I’ll be able to attend the donor pre-sale day for free (though I was happy to pay the entrance fee – it goes to a great cause!). The sale goes until Sunday, with increasing discounts daily. This could become a habit…