Garage Sale Sat- Any tips or advise?

[jacksmom]

Hi! We are having a garage sale this weekend and I am wondering if anyone has any tips or advise to maximize profits! Also wondering what type of items sell the best?? Thanks for any advise for any advise! We have not had one in a while and I am feeling a little anxious!

 

[mickeymaker2003]

I go to lots of garage sales. Here is my advice:

Price everything. If you go with priced tables instead of priced items, be aware that people may move items from table to table or may say (true or not) that they found it on a lower priced table.

If you have lots of clothes, you might want to set a flat rate for them.

You might want to consider a bag sale at the end if you aren't taking anything back inside.

Hang up as much as possible. A chain hung between the garage door beams or a broom handle bewteen ladders works.

Put stuff on tables as much as possible. People don't like to bend over to dig through stuff.

Clean your items. Your stuff will look nicer and you'll get a better price for it.

Don't be offended if people try to negotiate the price. I tend to make a counter offer if I don't like their offer or explain why the price I have on it is firm.

A free box is fun for the kids and may make parents stick around a little longer to shop.

If you are selling with other people who won't be at the sale, find out the lowest price they will accept on larger items. I hate it when people say "well, it's not mine so I don't know if they will go down or not." Our rule is, if you aren't there and you haven't specified, you get the best judgement of the person who is running the sale at the time.

Get lots of change. First thing in the morning, you'll see a lot of $20 bills for $1 purchases.

Have a plan for leftover items. Decide in advance if you are willing to take it back in the house, planning to donate it, or something else. It may help you decide when you are thinking about a lower offer.

On big ticket items you can also accept offers. Collect names/phone number & offer amount if someone offers less. You can tell them if it doesn't sell for your asking price, you will call them. They may decide to take it on the spot for your original price or at least you'll have a plan B if it doesn't sell.

Put up good signs. I think a good sign has a large arrow that can be seen from the street and each sign is the same so you know you are still following the same set of signs. Your address and sale hours are also helpful.

After your sale, take the signs down (I hate following an old sign).

That's all I can think of for the moment. Good luck!

 

[jacksmom]

Thanks for all the great advise! You have helped answer a lot of questions I had! I love the broom through the ladders! I was wondering about hanging items!

 

[mollybug2]

I tend to be a "low pricer" for garage sales, I just want it GONE and those 25 and 50 cent items really add up! Always be willing to negotiate. Have bags and newspaper to wrap items if possible. One of my neighbors' kids set up a cooler with bottled water and soda... 50 cents each and made a lot of money! My cutie pie 4 year old sold lemonade and cookies at ours and didn't make more than a few bucks. This summer she will do soda and water! Hope it is a huge success! I am having one in June!

 

[MyGirlLovesTink]

Also, keep an eye on your stuff. I once had someone steal something from my garage sale. I had a watch for sale and someone swiped it when we weren't looking.

 

[Truelovernr1122]

My mom and I attend a lot of garage sales and nothing annoys us more than items priced like you are at the store!! People go to garage sales to get a good deal on items, not to pay full price for used items. Price accordingly! I find myself more attracted to items priced $10 and under, that's typically what people carry with them to garage sales anyway! Asking $40 for a piece of luggage will make people run!!

Also, I have to agree with the post above mine! Have someone watching one end of your sale while you handle cash at another end. At garage sales that we've run, we've had many people just try to walk away with items without paying and it's terrible! Keep more expensive items (like jewelry, DVDs, etc.) up close to where you are sitting and heavier items that are harder to steal further away and along the sidewalk. People are less likely to try and sneak a dresser away, LOL!

 

[Mom_Rides]

Advertise on Craigslist. I search CL for sales all the time, especially if I am looking for something specific.

My SIL and I had a garage sale at her place last year and I advertised on CL for the entire week before and then updated a couple of times during the day, striking out bigger items during the day. I also made a listing on my post about our bigger items and things that we had an overabundance of (baby clothes/gear).

Our total sales were about $2000! Good luck to you!!

 

[meghanlea]

we are having one sat too, i have a TON of new and unused bath adn body works stuff. what would be a reasonable price that you would pay for these items?

 

[elsie7119]

*

 

[jacksmom]

Thanks for all the great ideas! Now, What are the "hot" items for a garage sale?? What items get the most attention?? I am just wondering what else to look around my house for!

 

[elsie7119]

*

 

[mickeymaker2003]

Here is what I found this afternoon when I went to a few garage sales:

I got a Lego Racers car for $2 and a bucket of misc. Legos (604 pcs set) for $10. I bought both and just finished checking--every piece is here. Plus, there were three other small sets in with the big bucket and they are all here too (the directions were even there for each set). I also got a deck storage box (a fairly big one) for $10 to store firewood in (it's dirty and ugly, but no one will ever see it behind our shed and it will keep the wood dry and I can wash it), a replacement toy box just like one I already have (but without the giant gouge mine had) for $5--thinking of putting them side by side to make a window seat out of them and make a cushion to cover them, 7 complete View Master sets for $2 (with viewer and storage case), 4 12 piece Melissa & Doug wooden puzzles for $2 (all in one wooden storage box), a three piece Disney windbreaker/pants/shirt set for $2, and three nice fabric kites for $1 each (gotta go buy kite string for them). I also found a huge 5 foot rainbow colored umbrella (like a patio table one) that can sit at an angle for $5. I buried the pole about 8" into the ground next to my daughter's sandbox so she'll have shade while she plays and the umbrella is removable from the lower pole so we can store it in the shed when we aren't using it so it will last longer. I also got five DVDs for $1 each (Atlantis (Disney one), Polar Express, Dora Map Adventures, Kung Fu Panda, and Soccer Dog). I bought five Tupperware Rock N Serve containers for $6 (five 2.5 cup ones and the huge deep rectangle). I even picked up a Thomas Aquadoodle ($2) and a giant Matchbox cars coloring pad ($1.50) for a birthday party on Sunday (to go with his other presents)--my daughter's best friend (he won't care they are from a garage sale and neither will his mom). Also paid $3 for a set of 3 step sequencing cards that would have been about $10 from the teacher store.

All in all, I got lots of good stuff (and solved several problems that were on my list of things to deal with--dry firewood storage, shade for the sandbox, and the damaged toy box). Now I'd better go back to being good and staying away from them before I drown in stuff. I'm trying to de-stash, not add to it... Although I was a little bit good in that I only bought things I knew exactly where to put when I got home. I listed the prices I paid to give you an idea of what things sell for around here (although the toy box was marked $10 and I offered $5 (bottom is about to fall out) and the puzzles were marked $3 and I offered $2).

 

[3mickeymom]

or make sure someone is inside to keep an eye on things. While my Aunt was busy with a customer who was asking alot of questions, the customers friends were checking out their garage(which was not locked) When my uncle happened to walk in the garage from inside, they all ran, including the lady asking questions. Who knows what they were up to or planning on stealing. Just BE SMART and BE SAFE and hopefully you will have a successful sale.

 

[Colinsmom]

Have a stash of grocery bags that you can use to bag people's purchases. Although I often have people ask for a bag to carry the items they want before they pay - I always decline and let them put the stuff in a pile near me because otherwise my "watchers" won't know if someone has paid or not when they walk out with a bag full of items.

I don't bother much with clothing. It doesn't sell well, and what does sell nets so little that it isn't worth the sorting, folding, pricing, etc.

No personal checks, cash only. I allow holds for a short but reasonable period of time so someone can run to the ATM.

Rather than haggling on individual small items, I prefer to add up someone's whole purchase and give a discount off of that total. I tend to give bigger discounts for bigger purchases (and tell people that).

My last four garage sales have netted well over $1000 each (two were over $2000)!

 

[MarilIncredible]

we are having one sat too, i have a TON of new and unused bath adn body works stuff. what would be a reasonable price that you would pay for these items?

I wouldn't expect to pay more than $1 each at a yard sale for this type of thing.

 

[jacksmom]

Here is what I found this afternoon when I went to a few garage sales:

I got a Lego Racers car for $2 and a bucket of misc. Legos (604 pcs set) for $10. I bought both and just finished checking--every piece is here. Plus, there were three other small sets in with the big bucket and they are all here too (the directions were even there for each set). I also got a deck storage box (a fairly big one) for $10 to store firewood in (it's dirty and ugly, but no one will ever see it behind our shed and it will keep the wood dry and I can wash it), a replacement toy box just like one I already have (but without the giant gouge mine had) for $5--thinking of putting them side by side to make a window seat out of them and make a cushion to cover them, 7 complete View Master sets for $2 (with viewer and storage case), 4 12 piece Melissa & Doug wooden puzzles for $2 (all in one wooden storage box), a three piece Disney windbreaker/pants/shirt set for $2, and three nice fabric kites for $1 each (gotta go buy kite string for them). I also found a huge 5 foot rainbow colored umbrella (like a patio table one) that can sit at an angle. I buried the pole about 8" into the ground next to my daughter's sandbox so she'll have shade while she plays and the umbrella is removable from the lower pole so we can store it in the shed when we aren't using it so it will last longer. I also got five DVDs for $1 each (Atlantis (Disney one), Polar Express, Dora Map Adventures, Kung Fu Panda, and something else I can't remember right now). I bought five Tupperware Rock N Serve containers for $6 (five 2.5 cup ones and the huge deep rectangle). I even picked up a Thomas Aquadoodle ($2) and a giant Matchbox cars coloring pad ($1.50) for a birthday party on Sunday (to go with his other presents)--my daughter's best friend (he won't care they are from a garage sale and neither will his mom). Also paid $3 for a set of 3 step sequencing cards that would have been about $10 from the teacher store.

All in all, I got lots of good stuff (and solved several problems that were on my list of things to deal with--dry firewood storage, shade for the sandbox, and the damaged toy box). Now I'd better go back to being good and staying away from them before I drown in stuff. I'm trying to de-stash, not add to it... Although I was a little bit good in that I only bought things I knew exactly where to put when I got home. I listed the prices I paid to give you an idea of what things sell for around here (although the toy box was marked $10 and I offered $5 (bottom is about to fall out) and the puzzles were marked $3 and I offered $2).

Thanks for the examples for pricing! That has helped me a lot!

 

[Jill in Chicago]

- Agree with hanging those clothes up. The sell for more money.

- "Display" your items. I put out a ladder and hung clothes so you could see them from the road. Those clothes ALWAYS sold before the other ones.

- Adult clothes have to be cheap, say a $1.00 or less.

- Get cheap (not ziplock) baggies and bag up little items in groups, or toys with small parts.

- Free bin. "Spend $5.00 and choose and item for free."

- 25 cent table or 5 for a $1.00. People love this.

- Kitchen items sell. Mismatched wine glasses...

- Home decor items must be cheap, cheap, cheap.

- Shoes rarely sell, even kid shoes in perfect condition

- Do a good dead. Give something to someone as an "add on" for free. The lock of shock will make you smile all day.

- Let people negotiate. It's part of the garage sale mentality. Enjoy versus getting annoyed. Play along.

When the garage sale is over call a charity and have them cart it all away, or it WILL work it's way back into your home.

 

[Evi]

If its hot have your kids sell iced sofa cans and bottled water like little small ones. I've seen people sell hotdogs but I wouldn't buy one unless I knew the family personally lol but you could sell small bags of chips or maybe cookies. I'd also go with posting your sale on craigslist.