Preparing for a Garage Sale



Organizing a garage sale involves so much more than picking out everything that you don’t need and tossing it out into your empty garage. In order to make back the profit you would like for the effort you have put into organizing your sale, you must treat the sale like a strategic plan. With proper planning, reliable allies, and a clean garage, you can build your garage sale to be the most profitable sale on the block. As you prepare for the big day, keep these things in mind…

  1. The more friends you include, the bigger the bank. Think about it. As a consumer, you want to go to the location where you know you will find the product you are looking for and will enjoy most. When you are at a single garage sale, you’re taking a chance on whether or not this person has things for sale that you would actually buy. If several garages on the same block open up their automatic doors and price their things to go, more people are likely to come out for that sale. So get together everyone on your block. Chances are, your whole neighborhood is ready to unload all the things they don’t need anymore.
  1. Be ready for anything. The more you have set up before the sale, the easier it will be on the day. A lot of garage sale patrons will be up by 8:00am and banging on your garage door to be let in. They can be competitive like that. If you don’t want to wake up at an inappropriate hour then have everything done the night before so all you have to do is roll out of bed and accept money.
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  1. Think like your customer. When you go into a garage sale setting, you’re more likely to buy things that are categorized and clean. So organize your things by like items, display them so each item can be viewed clearly and make sure there is no dust or residue that could deter your customer.
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  1. Price reasonably. Yes, you did pay a lot for that item. Sure, it might be an antique. Okay, maybe it does sell for a lot more on eBay but this is a garage sale. These people are out at 8:00am on a chilly day for savings, not to pay eBay prices or to haggle. Before you go to price, think. Do I want this to sell right away? How much could I honestly accept for it? At the end of the day, once its sold, you probably won’t even remember ever having it.
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  1. Mark things clearly. People don’t generally buy things they can’t name. If you have labels describing the products with the price clearly marked then people will feel invited to at least look at it, if not snatch it up that very second.
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  1. Ever hear the expression, “you’ll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”? The same goes for garage sales. As it is so early and because you worked late getting everything ready, it's no wonder you might be a little groggy, even cranky in the morning. Just don’t let your customers know that. Grab your biggest mug of coffee and slap a permanent smile on your face. Make everyone feel welcome and engage in conversation with anyone who wants to talk to you. Who knows, you might make a sale and a new friend.
  1. Don’t ever talk down about your items. Sure, it's just stuff you’re trying to get rid of but to this customer, it could be the product they’ve been dreaming of. They might be ready to pay top dollar for it. If you mention that you could care less about it, not only does your item seem less valuable, but you might have turned off your customer, lost some profit or lost the sale altogether. You don’t necessarily have to talk up your product. Just present it well and let your trash become someone else's treasure.
  1. At 8:00am, you’re probably not ready to haggle. That's reasonable. As the day winds down, round about noon, expect the real bargain hunters to start coming out. These guys are ready to take the things that haven't moved off of your lawn and take them off of your hands...at greatly reduced prices. Prepare yourself by deciding how much you are willing to make off of your item before you say yes or no to their offer.
  1. Create your own list of every item you have for sale, how much you priced it and how much you actually sold it for. This will help you to keep a running tally of your profits as well as a clear idea of how much you have gotten rid of and what else needs to go.
  1. Forgo the cash box. A box filled with money is just a shiny opportunity for sticky fingers. As lame as it may look, a fanny pack is just the sort of thing you need for a garage sale. Your money will be securely packed on you at all times. I mean, really, who could bring themselves to rob someone with a fanny pack?
  1. Let your customers know exactly why you are having your garage sale. If you say you want everything to go, get ready to price them that way. The interesting and counterintuitive thing about pricing is, the lower you set the price, the more you will sell overall. So sell things to go if you want to make the profit you deserve.
  1. Advertise! Garage sale patrons often look for signs throughout the week and scour the local newspaper. If you want to reach your target audience, take an ad out in the newspaper and get a big sharpie for signs. If you’re going to make signs, just make sure they are easy to read and easily distinguishable from everyone else's.
  1. Get cash and accept cash. No experienced garage sale enthusiast comes with only a checkbook or credit card. If someone does, direct them to the nearest ATM or let them go. You don’t want to get stuck with a bad check. As for you, take your money in twenty-five, one dollar bills, and enough five dollar bills. If you want to be an overachiever, you can get ten dollar bills, but it is unlikely you will be breaking anything over a twenty dollar bill all day.