A garage sale is an efficient, cheap way to get rid of a huge number of your possessions in one day and make a profit while you’re at it. Essentially, you’re an entrepreneur and a shop owner for a day, and you have a great amount of control over the success of your yard sale, because the difference between a great garage sale and a disaster of a yard sale is all in the planning. With a little foresight, you can concentrate your selling efforts on what will make you the most money for the least amount of effort, and leave your other things for charity or another selling outlet. And don’t despair if your home doesn’t have an area suitable for selling items to many people at once. You can consider getting a booth at your local worship center or town center, as many of these organizations conduct regular group yard sales that you can participate in. Plus, you will probably attract a large crowd that way.
Before the garage sale:
- Put up large, clearly-labeled signs with “Garage Sale,” your address, the date of the sale (including the time it opens), and an arrow pointing the way to your home. Try to make all your signs look the same, so if you have competitors with their own signs, your potential customers won’t start following those accidentally instead. Also stay away from posting on utility poles; it’s against city ordinances in many areas, and with your address right on the flyer, it’s an admission of guilt.)
- Talk to your friends and neighbors about having a sale with them. The more items for sale, the more customers you get. If you want to get a newspaper ad, you can also split the cost with them.
- Place an online ad on Craigslist, at the very least, and consider some of the other online classifieds available, including Garage Sale Hunter and the online classifieds section of your local newspaper. Mention some of your most desirable items for sale, such as TVS or couches.
- Buy stickers and write prices clearly on every item that is unique. Prepare signs for items that people will probably buy in bulk, like clothes, toys, or shoes, and list the price for each item, such as “every pair of shoes $2.”
- Don’t choose a major holiday weekend. On the holidays, people are on holiday, usually somewhere far away from home, and aren’t interested in going to yard sales.
The day of the garage sale:
- Put up large, clearly-labeled signs with “Garage Sale,” your address, the date of the sale (in
- Keep your money in a fanny pack or close-fitting purse around your body. Have many dollars’ worth in coins for making change, and bill amounts in all sizes. Some people will pay you in nickels and dimes, and others will hand you a $50 bill for an item worth $1.50.
- Stand up and walk around, but don’t be a nuisance. Be ready to answer questions for people driving by and for customers, but leave them alone unless they talk to you first. You can also watch out for shoplifters more easily if you are walking around.
- Have plastic grocery bags ready to give people who buy your things. They will be grateful and perhaps even more inclined to shop a little bit more.
- Be ready to pull out an electric extension cord to prove that electronics and appliances do run. Most people won’t buy them unless they see them running.
- Borrow long plastic tables from everyone you can think of. No one wants to go digging through stuff that’s just lying on the ground. Your stuff will sell much better on tables.
The initial investment to have a good garage sale is fairly small, and the money to have a successful venture is small compared to the increase in profits. For more tips, check out Yard Sale Queen’s extensive list of tips from her own personal experience.
Related Posts:
Tags: clutter, garage sale, Purging, yard sale