A garage sale or yard sale is a great way to get rid of your household clutter and unneeded furniture. What seems useless or tired to you might turn out to be the greatest find for someone. Besides, what's better than turning your junk into cash?
However, a successful garage sale takes some planning and forethought. You will have greater success if you have a strategy, and depending on how much and what you sell, you can make a decent amount of money.
Here's How:
Before you do anything, check with your city or homeowners association about a permit or any restrictions. Make sure you have everything before proceeding, as you can end up paying penalties if you are not in compliance with your local regulations. Do this early on so that you give yourself enough enough time to organize.
Start gathering items. Walk around your house to identify what needs to go. If you have the time and energy, do some light repairs, cleaning and polishing. However, don't spend an inordinate amount of time on this task as people will buy broken pieces as well and fix them to their own liking.
Pick a date and time for the sale, keeping in mind that the best days are Fridays and Saturdays. If you have a lot of inventory, you can keep going on Sunday as well, but the traffic is bound to taper off.
Advertise the week before in your local paper and free publications like the Pennysaver.Check with your local stores, laundromats, churches, etc. to see if you can post your advertising there. Online adverising resources such as Craigslist are also a good idea. Remember to include:
- Dates and times
- Your address
- What you are selling. While you don't need to go into detail, make sure to mention any special pieces.
Make and hang signs a few days before the sale. The signs should be easily legible and should have the dates and address prominently displayed.
Gather and make an inventory of all your items. Price everything, and put price labels on your items. You can keep the price a little high on some items to leave room for haggling.
Tidy up the venue and make sure that people can move around without bumping into objects and hurting themselves (or your merchandise.) Figure out how and where you are going to display everything. A little planning ahead will save time when you are actually setting up shop.
On the day of the sale, begin setting up early in the morning. Inevitably you will have early visitors as avid shoppers like to get in ahead of the crowd to pick up the best merchandise. So be prepared to do business even as you are setting up.
Make your display as attractive as possible, and try to keep things organized as your sale progresses.
Let your inner salesperson come out. Smile and be friendly and offer information. Negotiate prices. You can offer bulk discounts and package deals. Towards the end of the sale you can offer special last minute deals and markdowns.
When you are done, remember to take down the signs. If you have stuff left over, there are many options. You can give it away for free, donate it, or store it away for another sale.
Tips:
Don't overprice your items. If a buyer is offering a reasonable price, sell.
While you are gathering and preparing your items for sale, make sure to visit some garage sales in your area to get an idea on pricing.
Get friends and family to help as a safety precaution. Your cashbox needs to be attended at all times to prevent someone from walking away with it.
What You Need:
- City permits
- Posterboard or cardboard for signs (make sure you have permits!)
- Plenty of change in dollar bills and coins.
- Price labels
