How To Have Garage Sale Success
We helped a family member out with a massive garage sale this past weekend. There were plenty of negatives which could have got us down and produced a bad turnout: it was tax-free shopping weekend, it was hot, and it rained. Still, we stayed positive, put in the hard work, and ended up making around $500. More importantly, we got rid of a bunch of unused stuff. A few suggestions for having a successful garage sale:
- Rest Up – Garage sales mean early mornings. With all the stuff you’ll be moving around all day, you’ll need a good night’s sleep before hand to get you started off on the right foot.
- Advertise – Use online services (like craigslist.com or your community message board) the week and day before to advertise your sale. Be as specific as possible about the items you’ll be selling. Also consider placing an small ad in your local paper. Lastly, the night before you should get signs out on all the major intersections leading to your house.
- Prepare the Items – Don’t just have piles of clothes and stuff. Categories and organize your things as much as possible. Get them up on tables for easy viewing. Try to make the sale resemble a retail shop as much as possible. Consider pricing your items. I’m on the fence about whether pricing is worth the time, as some people might be discouraged when they see a price and not make a smaller offer; others may be discouraged by no price because they don’t like to haggle. When in doubt, don’t price it. They’ll ask.
- Have Help – Consider recruiting a friend or family member to help you out. It’s good to have an extra hand in setting up your stuff, and a second pair of eyes for watching people while you do your dealing.
- Define Your Definition of Success – Be honest with yourself about what a garage sale is: you getting rid of stuff you don’t need for a bit of extra cash. You’re not going to make a profit on these sales because it’s used goods. Hopefully by now you’ve received your value from the goods. If not, get ready to pay your stupid tax. Your main goal should be to just get rid of the stuff. Whatever cash you make, in my opinion, is just a bonus.
QuickHits
Alright, on to the QuickHits… I participated in the Carnival of Personal Finance #165: College Football Edition this past week at No Debt Plan. I also was included in the 138th Edition of Festival of Frugality – The First Principles at MoneyNing, and the Carnival of Money Stories #72: Back To School Edition at Broke Grad Student. Thanks for hosting guys.
My favorite posts from the Money Life Network last week were:
- What Do You Do If You Can’t Afford It? @ the MIB
- Why Weren’t You Watching Where I Was Going? @ Remodeling This Life
- Take advantage of manufacturer’s warranties, but don’t buy extended warranties @ Bible Money Matters
- Wear Things Out @ Milk Your Money
- Free From Broke Blasts From The Past
- Things we don’t do ourselves @ Sense To Save
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Great tips and congrats on the successful sale! Thanks for the mention.
Great advice! I’ll be sure to use it the next time I do a garage sell. I think that advertising on the internet is one of the best points. There is so much a person can do with technology!
Getting the info that the garage sale is happening has got to be huge in a successful sale! Nice tip on keeping things organized too!
Totally good tips. I grew up in a “successful garage saling family” – I think most of my everything was purchased there!
Good tips and thanks for the link!
Some of m greatest finds ever in my life have been at garage sales! Great info and staying organized is the key! Good work. Be easy.
Display your garage items in your garage sale on tables where shoppers can walk around the entire area to view them clearly. They will tend to look for cracks and stuffs and ask for a further discount, you have to got a plan to deal with that, it’s a skill you will need to learn and pick up.
Advertising is the number 1 key. Craigslist usually gets lost in the clutter. Try this site called: Http://www.garagesalestracker.com it seems to be much more efficient and uncluttered and brought a bunch of people to my sale!
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