Organized Living

How to Have a Great Garage Sale

Hosting a garage sale offers so many benefits, it’s no wonder they flourish in neighborhoods all across the country. They let us clean out some clutter, make a little money, and teach our kids how to make change. They force us to take a long, hard look at our stuff and get organized, at least temporarily. And they re-circulate out into the world all the still-usable goods we no longer need or want.

Make your garage sale a success with these simple think-ahead tips:

• If at all possible, have a staging area in your garage or home that allows you to stack everything you are selling before the actual sale. This makes setup and pricing easier. If you don’t want to affix a separate price sticker to every item, color code your pricing on the bulk of your items---red sticker means $1.00, blue sticker .50, etc.---and create a large, easy to read poster illustrating your system. Pricier items can be individually stickered.
  
  
• When it comes time to set up, you get to play storekeeper. Create logical “departments” of merchandise: dishes and decorative items, clothing, toys, baby gear, tools, gardening related stuff, books. This makes it easy for people to find what they are looking for. Furniture you are selling can be used to attractively display objects. Try to place a few premium items close to the street so people can see you have things worth browsing. Small valuables such as good jewelry or antique collectibles should be kept on a table of its own with someone staying nearby to keep watch, and in the event someone wants to negotiate price.
  
  
• It pays to advertise. Most local newspapers have special rates for garage sales, and the increased traffic you will generate for your sale are well worth the cost. In addition, you can post a free notice on Craigslist and other free sites. Name the kinds of things you are offering, such as baby gear or toys, or furniture, and try to include specific mention of some of your best items. Name brands are also good. Including “NO EARLY BIRDS” will help discourage shrewd bargain shoppers from showing up at your door before you’ve had your coffee. A one-time ad should suffice, but if you are having a particularly large sale, consider running it on the Wednesday prior to the sale, as well as the day of the sale.
  
  
• Don’t forget to put a sign in your yard as well as at the corner of your street, showing dates, times and your address (and don’t neglect to take the sign down once the sale’s over).
  
  
• Decide ahead of time if you will allow personal checks for payment. Most people expect it, but if you are selling, say, a bedroom set for a few hundred dollars, most people are also understanding of requiring “cash only” as long as you are willing to hold the item with a deposit while they run to the bank and arrange for transportation.
  
  
• Time your sale strategically. Fridays seem to bring the heaviest flow of die-hard garage salers looking for prime merchandise, and Saturday mornings will bring in folks out on errands and ferrying children to various activities. Business tends to slow down after 3:00, and most sales end by 4:00. Sundays are often not worth the trouble of setting up and tearing down. If there is an event going on in your town that typically brings in people from other areas ---craft shows, garden tours, pancake breakfasts, for example—you might pick up customers you otherwise wouldn’t.
  
  
• Try to keep clothing in neat piles on tables arranged by sizes so as not to frustrate browsers.
  
  
• Let your age-appropriate children participate by letting them choose things they are willing to part with. They can price them, display them and keep the proceeds. Older children can make change, as well as bag and carry items to people’s cars for them. Including a lemonade stand can be lots of fun and will keep children occupied during the day.
  
  
• Create a box of small odds and ends and toys that children can paw through and buy for a nickel each, or a penny each. Lay an old clean blanket on the ground for displaying all the stuffed animals you have for sale. These distractions can entertain children, buy parents lots of shopping time and ultimately increase your sales.
  
  
• Consider a neighborhood sale. These can be great fun and bring in lots of buyers, and expenses for signage and advertising can be shared. Enlist local teens or spouses to help out with parking and traffic control.
  
  
• An idea that is gaining in popularity is using garage sales as fund raisers, with all proceeds going to a local or well known charity. Letting your customers know this in advance and on site can make for more generous shoppers.
  
  
• Don’t forget to get lots of change in advance so you can break bigger bills if necessary. It’s a good idea to start out with at least 20 one dollar bills, a few fives, and ten dollars worth of silver.
  
  
• It helps to have a helper, and it’s also more fun. If you’re alone when you host the sale, wear an apron with pockets and carry all of your change and earned sale proceeds on your person, so you can walk around to assist shoppers, answer questions and, if necessary, help carry items to cars.
  
  
• Have a variety of boxes and bags available for enthusiastic buyers, as well as a good stack of newspapers for wrapping breakables.
  
  
• If sales are slow and you are nearing the end of your sale, immediately initiate a half price sale, or “everything you can fit in a bag for two dollars” special. Some people automatically mark everything down to half price on the second day of their sale. The less you have to box up for donation at the end of the sale, the better.