Hosting a garage sale is not for those who are afraid of hard work. Like most things in life, in order for it to be a success, you need to be willing to put in the time and effort to make the experience pleasant for buyers and yourself. You need to be sure that the items you want to sell are going to be worth the time it’s going to take. If you don’t have any big ticket items, it is less likely that your sale will do well, as it will not be as attractive to buyers. Your time has value and we want to ensure you make the most of yours! If you have decided to move forward with the garage sale, utilize these three tips to make yours a smash!
- Prepare
Start by going through each room in your home with three boxes. Go through cabinets and closets and start weeding out items to sell, toss or donate in separate boxes. You are going to feel so much better afterwards in your home, knowing that you mostly only have wanted or needed items taking up space.
Purchase pre-marked stickers for your items to make it simple. You don’t want introverted people putting an item down because they couldn’t read your handwriting and felt uncomfortable asking. Additionally, you will want to organize all of these items into their appropriate categories (women’s clothing, toys, books, etc.). A rule of thumb is typically pricing items about ⅓ of the original purchase price, but some items may even require a lower sticker price. Don’t assume that people will haggle with you, as many feel uncomfortable doing so. The most popular items you can have is: furniture, kids’ toys and collectibles.
- Advertise, Advertise, Advertise!
There’s no point in preparing if you can’t convince people to come to your sale. If there’s a local newspaper or community bulletin for free or a small price, post your biggest ticket items for sale here. Make sure you are specific with every ad. This will make people more likely to come to a sale where they know what they can expect. If you can join in with another family and label the sale as “multi-family,” you are more likely to draw a larger crowd. Create large, easy to read signs and post them the night before. You are going to want 15-20 signs to draw attention. Make it fun and in an easy to read font.
Don’t try to make the ad too cutesy, but simply list what you have. Post on at least three online sites, whether that’s Craigslist or multiple social networking groups. Quality pictures can only help! Post these ads 1-2 days before your sale, so it stays top of mind. We recommend having the sale on Friday and Saturday mornings, starting as early as 6. Most people don’t like to interrupt their day plans for a sale and would rather get it out of the way.
If you really want to think outside of the box, have a themed garage sale! If you mostly have outdoor, sports or entertainment items-list them as such! This will generate more curiosity and interested buyers.
- Create an Experience
Having a sale that will make people come back next year is all about creating an experience! Make your sale similar to a department store environment that is accommodating and causes customers to linger. Greet guests with a simple hello and nice background music when they enter. Display your best items at the front, with a couple of eye catching items at the very back to attract visitors to the whole space. If you haphazardly throw your items into a box, they may think that you don’t take very good care of your things and will not want to buy them. You will have to keep up on this throughout the day. When selling accessories, have a mirror ready for people to try on items. If you are selling electronics, have a plugin available for guests to test. To really step it up, have refreshments to suit the weather. Lemonade for the hot days or coffee for the chilly ones.
All of these recommendations will make your items more attractive to potential buyers. If you are going to have a sale, we believe going all out in order to not only clean your home, but to have a nice stack of cash at the end of the day!