Garage Sale - baby and kids books?

[sksjasams]

We are planning on having our first garage sale this spring. We have lots of little boy clothing, little boy toys, games, puzzles, and a few household items. But we have actually have a huge amount of baby and children's books, ranging from board books to picture books to early chapter books, all in excellent condition, many only read once due to the large volume my son has received over the years. We probably have at least 15 copy paper boxes full of books.

What would be the best way to display and sell these? We have 2 card tables, one pair of saw horses and a plywood board, and maybe our kitchen table. I would like to have all our items (books and other stuff) off the ground, but I think we have too much stuff. Any suggestions? Would you price each book individually?

We are new to this and could use some ideas. Thanks in advance for your help!!

 

[C_leen]

Hi,

I'd group your books into similar cost (board books, paperback picture books, hardcover picture books) & just put a price per book written on the box.

You could also do 'like new' or a bargain bin for loved books.

Best of luck! Table space is always hard to come up with!

 

[zoemurr]

I don't think you'll get much more than 25cents a book. We usually put them in a box or laundry basket and people go through them. They usually are great sellers. Sometimes I price a few of the better ones higher.

 

[mamaLori05]

I don't think you'll get much more than 25cents a book. We usually put them in a box or laundry basket and people go through them. They usually are great sellers. Sometimes I price a few of the better ones higher.

I agree with this. I also have a TON of children's books, and the only ones that seem to go at rummages are the ones marked 25 cents or less. They are all in brand new condition. Anything marked higher, or anything with any wear don't sell.

I also only purchase kid books at rummages for 25 cents or less. Usually it is a "prize" to keep my kids happy while I look around.

You could donate them to a local preschool or daycare. I have started doing this myself.

 

[zoemurr]

Habitat for Humanity has opened a library and kids can earn "hours" for their families by reading.

I have been donating ours there.

 

[tink576]

I agree with this. I also have a TON of children's books, and the only ones that seem to go at rummages are the ones marked 25 cents or less. They are all in brand new condition. Anything marked higher, or anything with any wear don't sell.

I also only purchase kid books at rummages for 25 cents or less. Usually it is a "prize" to keep my kids happy while I look around.

You could donate them to a local preschool or daycare. I have started doing this myself.

Same here. I won't pay more then a quarter for a children's book...That's just how it goes for garage sales.

 

[Ericandjenng]

We had our first garage sale last year. We didn't have any kid's books but did have others. We did not price anything. We did make an offer. For our 3boxes of books, one person paid $25 and took them all.

Best of Luck!

 

[sksjasams]

Thanks for the suggestions so far!

Any other ideas on how to display them to sell? We won't have enough table space for everything.

Thanks again!

 

[NemoMOm]

I sell all of mine that are in mint condition at a $1 a piece, I always sell all of them.

 

[2manyprincesses]

Maybe you could use the boxes you have and sort them by type? (ie: early chapters, board books, etc) Also you could rubber band any that go together and maybe price those separately.

As far as display, I would maybe use the boxes you have or laundry baskets and put them in there. If you have less than a full box, you could put them in side by side with the spines facing up so customers could just read the titles.

I always donate mine to the local library. They put any they want into circulation and then sell the rest to support the library. Quick and easy for me.

HTH!

 

[kldmom2000]

We had 3 huge boxes of children's books and what worked for us was to make a sign that said 25 cents each or 5 for $1.00..... made the boxes get condensed down to 1 that we ended up donating to Big Brother/Big Sister People were more apt to buy 5 books instead of 1 or 2 that way

 

[naomi78155]

What about a children consignment sale? You can google it with the name of the city you live in. I just did this and had about 20 books. They sold for between $2-5 each. You will also make much better $$ on the other stuff.
Just a suggestion.

 

[mamaLori05]

I've always seen books in boxes or laundry baskets with the spines up so people can read them easier. I've never seen them displayed on a table. Just in the box on the ground.

If you have a kids bookshelf, like daycares and preschools have, where the front of the book faces out, that would probably work as well.

 

[nunzia]

Same here. I won't pay more then a quarter for a children's book...That's just how it goes for garage sales.

Ditto...and for those who don't mark just have people make offers..I also won't do that. I live too close to Juarez to even think about enjoying haggling. If they are just pulling amounts off the top of their head or doing the make an offer thing I just walk away. Occasionally if there is a box of something where I might just want it all, then I ask how much for the box.

 

[sksjasams]

We talked about doing the consigment sales for the last year, but the thought of printing our computer labels, cutting them out and taping/pinning them to each item, plus hauling all the items to the other side of the city, was just too overwhelming for me.

Maybe I am overthinking the whole display thing and I shouldn't worry so much about it for the garage sale. I was thinking of trying to convince my DH to carry up a book case from the basement to use for selling the books. Maybe that's a bit over the top...

 

[poohfriend77]

Last summer I put out kids' books in shallow baskets/boxes, standing upright with the covers facing front. Does that make sense? Since paperback books don't have the title on a spine, it was easier for people to flip through, looking at the covers. I condensed them into fewer boxes every so often, so they would remain standing up, instead lying down in the box.

I know table space is at a premium, but I'd recommend keeping them on a table if at all possible. Some moms let kids pick 1-2 books, but I definitely sold most of the books to grandparents and pregnant moms, who are less likely to go through a laundry basket on the driveway. Good luck!

 

[overlyspoiled4sure]

I agree with the pricing people have already mentioned; my DD often puts 5 or more books in a plastic bag (we save clear ones for this purpose). She'll try & have the spines with the titles facing the same way so they're easy to read. Depending on the books in each bag she'll put the price at 50 cents to 75 cents. Chapter books in bags she'll price at a dollar but she does have more than 4 books in each bag. More like 5 to 8.

If space is that tight, would you have any empty boxes to turn upside down for a "table" for the books? It would be so much easier for people to check the books out if they didn't have to stoop over. If I am shopping at a garage sale I won't check out stuff if it's on the ground cuz it's hard on the back to stoop/lean over. You could also bring out chairs to put boxes of books on.

Our deck is nearby & we use the edge of it as our book area unless we have enough room on our saw horses/board tables.

Good luck, OP, with your sale. Ours is coming up at the end of April. I'm hoping for good weather; the last 2 or 3 years have been very miserable & cold/rainy. We want bright sunshine & temps at least in the 60's.

 

[sksjasams]

Thanks again for all the suggestions

I definitely agree that keeping the books off the ground will be important - I know I wouldn't be interested in looking through books if the boxes were on the ground.

I like the idea of putting the book boxes on chairs. And also putting the books in the boxes with spines up. That will free up table space for other items. We have 8 card table chairs and 6 kitchen chairs, so that might work out nicely.

Thank you!!

 

[PHXscuba]

If there's a used-book store near you, take in the better ones. You might be surprised at how much they offer you. You could still sell the ones they reject yourself, but you might make more than 25 cents a book in a store if you have that option.

PHXscuba

 

[tink576]

If you put the books on chairs...consider putting a note on the chair saying its not for sale (You'd be suprised by how many people try to buy the chair)