Garage Sale Tips

[LSURyan]

We are planing on having a garage sale next weekend. We have never had a garage sale before. Any tips or must do's?

Thanks

 

[Kirby]

Be organized. I hate going to a garage sale that has things just jumbled all together.

Pay attention to how hot it might be and place your items accordingly. Don't put candles out in the sun or use stick on tags that might come off when they get hot.

 

[twinkletoesmom]

If you have clothes try hanging them, people are more likely to go through them if it is easy to do. At places like meijer & KMart they have racks that are not that pricey ($15-25). Also mark things w/ the price and a little desription so that you know what it is. (ex. if it is a gap sweatshirt write $? gap ss) You would be surprised at how many people will try to switch the price tags. Also be ready early !!! Evertime we have one at least 10 people will show up at least 1/2-1 hr early!!! Also if you have a lot of baby/kid stuff that has not sold look for Mom to Mom sales to join. If you find one keep your clothes on hangers and in order and store them laying flat in storage bins. This may be a little work in the begining but it saves sooo much time for future sales. Mom to Moms are great I do 2 a year and make $300-450 dollars each time. I also do at least 1-2 garage sales in the summer those are more hit and miss but bring in at least a couple hundred $. And no I don't buy stuff on clearence to sell, this is just our used stuff. So I guess my point is if you can be organized it can more profitable then alot of people think and not that much work. Also if you have kids let them sell pop my kids LOVE this and make pretty good money I was shocked! But it keeps them busy and in your sight so you don't have to worry about them and strangers. Lots of luck!!!!

 

[ChristmasElf]

I used to maske as killing selling name brand childrens clothing like Gymboree or OshKosh.

I wash and put everything on hangers and that always seems to make more money. I put all boys clothes like shorts on one table with a price of $1-$2 per pair. All girls shorts on another table placed according to size.

Any toys like games that have small pieces like Sorry or Monopoly I put the pieces in a small ziploc bag so people can see that all the pieces are there.

Old Fisher Price toys that have the smaller little people than what is sold now seem to sell very quickly. I put all the small little people in a small ziploc as well.

Toys like the Tupperware ShapeO I put the whole toy in a large gallon size or larger Ziploc bag-that helps in keeping kids from touching them at the sale.

I run an extension cord out the driveway for anything that runs on electricity to show that it works.

I sold my daughters Playschool Playhouse recently. It was a little faded from the sun so I went to Home Depot and bought that spray paint that adheres to plastic and I totally repainted the playhouse. It came out so nice I almost didn't want to sell it! Needless to say, I sold the playhouse for only $10 less than the guy could have bought new at ToysRUs

OPEN EARLY. That's when all the diehard shoppers will show up. Let your kids sell lemonade or soda and chips or snacks and they will clean up from people that have hungry kids with them! My kids made $600 in hotdog and soda sales alone! (I let them keep the money from that)

Make eye catching signs by using florescant colored tag board. Shape the signs like a little house.

Have your sale on a Thursday, Friday and Sat. You will get all the shoppers that dont want to tie up their Sat mornings. (my BEST days have been all day Thursdays and early Friday mornings)

 

[ntburns22]

I used to maske as killing selling name brand childrens clothing like Gymboree or OshKosh.

I wash and put everything on hangers and that always seems to make more money. I put all boys clothes like shorts on one table with a price of $1-$2 per pair. All girls shorts on another table placed according to size.

Any toys like games that have small pieces like Sorry or Monopoly I put the pieces in a small ziploc bag so people can see that all the pieces are there.

Old Fisher Price toys that have the smaller little people than what is sold now seem to sell very quickly. I put all the small little people in a small ziploc as well.

Toys like the Tupperware ShapeO I put the whole toy in a large gallon size or larger Ziploc bag-that helps in keeping kids from touching them at the sale.

I run an extension cord out the driveway for anything that runs on electricity to show that it works.

I sold my daughters Playschool Playhouse recently. It was a little faded from the sun so I went to Home Depot and bought that spray paint that adheres to plastic and I totally repainted the playhouse. It came out so nice I almost didn't want to sell it! Needless to say, I sold the playhouse for only $10 less than the guy could have bought new at ToysRUs

OPEN EARLY. That's when all the diehard shoppers will show up. Let your kids sell lemonade or soda and chips or snacks and they will clean up from people that have hungry kids with them! My kids made $600 in hotdog and soda sales alone! (I let them keep the money from that)

Make eye catching signs by using florescant colored tag board. Shape the signs like a little house.

Have your sale on a Thursday, Friday and Sat. You will get all the shoppers that dont want to tie up their Sat mornings. (my BEST days have been all day Thursdays and early Friday mornings)

These are all great tips. I am having mine in 2 weeks. I thought about the hotdog thing and was unsure about it, now I am going to do it.

 

[ChristmasElf]

Thanks!

Washing all the clothes and ironing the wrinkles did take time, but it is amazing the difference in what price you will get for the items when they are neat and on hangers!! (Wash the clothes in GAIN as they smell soooo nice and people will notice)

Also, when I sold my little valances, I washed and ironed them and put them in gallon size ZIPLOCS, people paid me top dollar as they could see they were just washed and clean and not full of dust.

Another thing I forgot to add, before the sale hit BJ's or Costco and grab a few small boxes for people to put their "finds" at your sale in. When they have something to put the glassware in, people tend to buy more which equals spend more!!!!

 

[Snow Brite]

You got some great tips there!

A few other things....

Beg, borrow or steal tables, but get everything up off the ground except furniture.

Put the cool stuff further out towards the front so that people can see it when they drive by. Furniture, bikes, etc. So many people cruise by slowly and then don't stop. Make 'em!

Wear a fanny pack with your money in it. That way you dont have to go somewhere else to make change, and you are free to walk around. It also means that you will have your money with you at all times and cannot get distracted by someone while their partner in crime steals you blind.

Get $200 in change and expect that for the first two hours everyone who shows up will have a $20 for their $.50 item.

Packaging is everything. One time my aunt had these left over coins from different trips overseas. The bank only takes back paper money, so we put them in little plastic jewelry ziploc bags and they sold out.

I have had amazing success taking a few of my kids happy meal toys and putting them in plain brown lunch sacks with some clearance candy from whatever holiday just passed, folding them over and stapling them and selling them as grab bags for $1 each. I put them in the wicker laundry basket near the front and they sell out everytime in a few hours. Fascinates me that the same people that would not pay $.50 for the toys will pay $1 if they are a "grab bag". So funny.

If you have a drying rack this is a good way to display linens. Make sure everything is clean and smells good. If you dont, then I like to put big things in clear plastic bags to keep them neat and clean. If someone wants to buy it they can take it out of the bag and examine it, but it keep the people who dont want to buy it from pushing it around while they look for other things so that the sheets end up in a gob instead of the neatly folded stack I had them in.

If you can swing opening at 7am, that will be your most profitable hour.

Have nice music playing, something fun. Make it look "nice" and like your things have been well taken care of. Create some atmosphere! I know I am more likely to stop if it looks like nice things than if it looks like trashy stuff someone was hauling out to the garbage and got distracted.

Good luck! Its lots of fun!

 

[ChristmasElf]

One more crazy tip is if you have an extra lawn chair or 2, put it in an out of the way space for the shopper that dragged her poor DH along with her. If he can sit, she will look around abit longer!!! Also great if someone wants to try on a pair of shoes that you are selling!

If you have a place where someone can try something on, like a sheet over a clothesline in the corner of the garage, not many adults will try things on, but I have found that a lot of mothers want their child to possibly try something on to see if it will fit.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL I LET ANYONE USE A BATHROOM INSIDE THE HOUSE TO TRY SOMETHING ON as I need to be outside and can't watch both at the same time!! (people will ask, it never fails)

 

[MBeds]

This isn't a tip but a funny story about a garage sale...

At my garage sale, just for the heck of it, i had this tote bag (pretty cute one, i might add) and i put a sign on it that said "free"...All day long people picked it up and looked at it and had a puzzled look on their faces..Finally near the end of the garage sale a woman was looking at the tote (with the same puzzled look at the 30 previous lookers) and she finally turned to me and said "is this really free?"
THe tote finally found a home after all that...

 

[Kirby]

Speaking of "free" stuff, I put out a cracked ceramic hot pad one year and marked it free. It was gone before I knew it.

When you make your signs, make sure that they are readable from a distance. Nothing is more irritating than to have to drive right up to one to read it. And the less on it the better. Just what it is, the address and an arrow pointing the way.

 

[dolphinrescuegirl]

These are great tips! I didn't even think about happy meal toys in a grab bag. I have a ton of those sitting around, great idea

 

[The Mystery Machine]

Dh and I went to sales Fri & today. I have had many sales. Lots of good tips, I will have to remember the Fanny Pack with the change...love that!

We have TONS of "Free stuff" in boxes & totes at the end of our driveway. That always works getting people out of the car. We continue to through stuff in it if items keep getting overlooked. People have even paid for our "free stuff" so they can say what a bargain they got!

I mark alot of things 10cents that I want to leave my house. Knick-knacks, clothes, worn stuff. Trust me, if you have alot of clothes people will sift through if they are 10cents. Silly but I have made more money with things cheaper than marking it high.

Like today there was a guy selling T-shirts for $2...gimmie a break. How about 50cents or 1 dollar? He would have sold them all if he had them marked 50cents and made more money.
Then he was selling a basball cap collection, like over 1 hundred. No one was buying them. He should have realized his price was too high. They were used.

The name of the game is finding the selling price.

 

[twinkletoesmom]

These are all great tips!!! One more thing I thought of that is VERY important is SIGNS. Be smart about where you put your sale signs, have them start at the main roads then have one at each turn. The signs should lead people there even if they don't know the area. You will get alot more business that way! Also I'm sure this was said but put an ad in your local paper.

 

[taeja71]

These are all great tips!!! One more thing I thought of that is VERY important is SIGNS. Be smart about where you put your sale signs, have them start at the main roads then have one at each turn. The signs should lead people there even if they don't know the area. You will get alot more business that way! Also I'm sure this was said but put an ad in your local paper.

I agree, there are great tips on this thread.

I think having easy signs to read will help people find your house faster. Some thing like, "garage sale 1234 ABC St." w/an arrow. Some times people cram tooo much info on one sign. For me, show me where to go with a simple arrow and an address is enough. As long as you are consistant with your sign info (same sign color and info) I'll find you.

Plus, if you can put your things outside your garage that would be great too. Its not hot yet. I think having things out down the drive will attract more people. You want to attract people out of their cars etc.

Good luck.

 

[LSURyan]

thanks,

I know I'd get lots of help here. I'll try my best to remember to give an update. now i just got to find more tables.

 

[ImarriedGrumpy]

If you are interested in selling hot dogs/chips/lemonade, etc. and you are going to open early (7 or 8 am), you might also think about selling hot coffee at the start of the sale. I've done this a couple times - I borrowed thermal carafes from friends & family and had one friend who started making coffee 30 min. before we "opened". I bought inexpensive hot cups & lids and stir-sticks at Costco, had sugar in a tupperwere container w/lid, kept half-and-half in a cooler next to the table. We charged $1.00 per cup and sold almost 100 cups of coffee each time! I think some people stoped just because they saw the signs and the "coffee stand". It was a major money maker, even with the cost of supplies, and it drew in some people that might not have stopped otherwise.

I agree with the posts about displaying things nicely. You might also try putting together some "outfits" and displaying things as a set.

 

[taeja71]

It's been a while, but how was your garage sale Original Poster? What ideas did you use from this thread? I'm curious to know what worked and what didn't.

Thanks!

 

[LSURyan]

We made about $400. We'd consider that a success.

I think we might have priced some things a little too high. I'd recommend keeping things real cheap. Sometimes I had to reming myself that I was just trying to get rid of my junk...stuff I didn't want anymore and will either throw away or donate to charity of it doesn't sell.

We did sell children's clothes by the garbage bag full. It was to a lady that would give the close to others. Three huge lawn bags for $20/each. We actually took this person's information and called her near the end of the sale and she purchased what was remaining of the children's clothes.

I'd have another one. It was a bit of work, but $400 for essentially selling stuff that I did not want was nice.

 

[taeja71]

Wow, that's great!

I was thinking of using color coding for pricing instead of indiv. stickers w/ prices (fear of price swapping). I wouldn't use a rainbow of colors, just 3 or 4. Did you place an ad in your paper? What did you write?

Thanks for your reply and I look forward to your next.

 

[LSURyan]

We placed an ad in the local paper, LSU's paper, and craigslist.com. We also put out signs directing people to our house. I actually put out the signs the morning of with arrows pointing the way.

For privicing we used blank labels and wrote the prices on them. As the day went on if we felt the need to change the price, we just placed a new label over the old one with the new price.