There are many places to sell your unwanted items online, but a good-old garage sale is still my favorite way to get rid of a bunch of stuff all at once. A garage sale takes a lot of work and can be frustrating, especially if you are not get organized. You will have greater success with a well-planned garage sale, and it would also be less stressful.
Running a Successful Garage Sale is Simple
Label everything
Make it easier for shoppers to find items the more you will sell. It can be tempting to put things in big bins but try to label everything so there will be less confusion for the shoppers. You can get help from your kids and the best part it can keep them busy for hours.
Group like items.
Group them by theme or use. For example, you may sell someone a bucket and pair that with a hose. Think of your garage sale as an outside store. Make sure you only place items that you are interested in selling.
Get Lots of Help
Running a yard sale is a lot of work so having extra help will be greatly needed. Have the helpers assigned to different areas of the sale so that they can help more people and have one person in charge of processing the purchases.
Check your insurance policy
Hey, it seems innocent enough until someone slips and falls and breaks a bone. Suddenly you’re on the hook for their medical expenses. Do you have enough coverage for this? Check with your agent before you start that big sale.
Donating to Charity
Many people make arrangements with a local charity to collect the items that did not sell. You can do this, too, just keep in mind that most charities will not allow their volunteers inside your home. In these cases, you’ll have to be present in order to donate stuff. It might be just as easy to box up the remains and toss them in the back of your vehicle for a ride to the Goodwill.
Work the Crowd
In a perfect world, a garage sale would work like Target. Folks would come in, grab what they want, pay, and leave. Garage sales are a highly interactive experience. There will be lots of question, haggling and picking up everything.
And you don’t have to give in to the haggling right away. Don’t part with your sofa for a low-ball offer for the first customer. Wait it out a bit and odds are you will have someone who’s willing to pay the price you’ve set. You can get more aggressive on the haggling at the end of the day.
Tip: Position yourself where you can easily spot people walking up and greet everyone. Saying hello makes shoppers more comfortable about standing in your driveway.
Tables Everywhere
Set tables so as to not make people bend down to look at your things. Use regular tables for most items and low tables for kids’ items.
Advertise Online
There are lots of websites where you can advertise your garage sale for free.
Here are a few:
- Craigslist
- Yard Sale Search
- Garage Sale Hunter
- Yard Hopper
- Garage Sale Source
- Garage Sales Tracker
Common Pitfalls
There are several mistakes that can cost you time and money which defeats the purpose of the yard sale. One key to a successful yard sale is knowing when to schedule the yard sale to attract the most buyers. There are days you want to avoid:
Do not schedule a yard sale on an “off” day such. Friday and Saturday are typical days for yard sales. Its also becoming common to start yard sales on Thursday’s, but only when the sale is on Friday and/or Saturday. You can do Sunday’s but only do this if it’s customary in your area.
Don’s schedule your yard sale on a holiday such as Labor or Memorial Day. If the 4th of July falls between a Friday and Monday then avoid that weekend for having a yard sale. You may do a yard sale on a holiday if you live in a city that is a tourist destination.
Don’t start the yard sale later than what is typical in your area. If you do so you may miss out on that morning rush of shoppers.
Don’t procrastinate on prepping for the yard sale. Don’t start doing the prepping the night before. It’s not a good idea to stay up late when the next day you will be working hard at a 7 a.m. yard sale.