Garage sale worth the trouble??

[mmfox316]

Funny. We are prepping for ours today. It is a ton of work if you are serious about it. That said my wife regularly makes over $1000. But around here it is Friday that is the big day. Then Saturday is half what you make on Friday. Sunday is just not worth it. Also, there are FB groups for selling items and people advertise the sales there to get people to come.

Above all you have to want to meet a bunch of people who will offer you 50 cents for something you tagged at $5. I hate it. I just help set up and take down.

 

[LynnTH]

I too have a sale every year. Our city puts on a city wide sale in May. Tons of people. I make about $1000- $1500 per year. ( I do couponing also and sell my extras). I would try and sell the childrens clothes at the garage sale instead of consigning them.. It may depend on the area but one year I had a few tubs I brought to a consignment shop. They were going to give me $70. I took the stuff back and put them in the garage sale. Those same clothes made over $400. Craigslist is a great place to advertise. Lots of people look on there. Also have Big Bright Signs with Arrows for people to follow.

 

[aprilchem]

In my area yard sales run from 8-noon on Saturdays, I'll usually make between $500-$1000 in that period of time. We're having one this Saturday and we've spent 4 hours prepping (and will spend maybe another 4 hours before Saturday). So that's more than $100 an hour for my time - it's worth it to me!

 

[virge]

Everyone has a different opinion. For my family, it's worth it because it helps motivate us to clean & purge every summer. We live in a neighborhood that gets a lot of traffic. We hold it on a Saturday from 8-12 & price everything really cheap (i.e. most stuff for less than $5 & LOTS of stuff for just a quarter). It's a lot of work but part of the value to me is that we're cleaning stuff out. I clean & go through every room each summer. This is stuff I would donate or throw out anyway so the only extra time the yard sale requires is the set up, sale, & take down. I pay a set amount to each of my sons (this year it was $20 each) & the rest goes in our vacation savings account.

 

[APiratesLifeForMe2]

We used to do a multi-family yard sale every 2 or so years but haven't done one in about 4 years now. It became less and less fruitful and the only thing worse than the work going into the sale, is having to figure out what to do with the stuff left over. I don't think people buy at yard sales like they used to (at least in our area). Our church started a facebook page where we can buy and sell things from other members who typically live in the same neighborhood as we do and that is how I get rid of things now. If you don't want the headache, maybe try something along those lines.

 

[wishinitwas]

I have never had one either but I am hoping to have one next month. I have all my kids outgrown clothes and baby items. Some toys and random stuff. Any tips on pricing, esp clothes? We live in a high low to moderate cost of living area. I think it will be worth it this time bc of all the stuff we have the kids have outgrown. Our neighborhood always has one in May but we are camping so can never participate.

 

[Gracie09]

I sell a lot of things through an online kids swap Facebook page. My girls clothes actually make the most money, especially dresses they wore once or twice or are popular brands (Hanna Anderson, tea collection). But also their old play clothes that are in good condition. I lay them out in outfits. Take pictures of groups, and upload. Usually they have multiple offers. I leave them on the porch and the money is left in the mailbox (cash only).
I also have sold toys and outdoor play things.

 

[bigtony777]

I don't think they are worth it. If there are some big price items, just list those on your neighborhood facebook/nextdoor site to sell them. All the little things I just take to goodwill and use as a tax deduction.

 

[DizMe]

No, not for me. My kids and I put one together to try and raise Disney money. I had some beautiful items and lots of stuff, but our location is not ideal for yard sales so we didn't get much traffic and it was a ton of work. I ended up selling a lot of things in batches and we made about $350. We spent hours getting it ready and selling it all day so no, not worth it to me at all.

Now I just sell the good things on a FB virtual yard sale site. I can make $100 on one item that would have sold for $10 at my yard sale.

 

[tvguy]

I'm beginning to think the best way to make money on a garage sale is to BUY stuff at them, and put it on e-bay. A couple of co-workers do pretty well at this, but they really know what items to buy. Always quirky items, never more than $5 paid. The second way they make money is knowing which items to have a "BUY IT NOW" price....usually double what they paid for the item, and which to let go to the highest bidder. They try and turn 20 items a week.

 

[KarenAylwood]

This is probably a dumb question and not meant to hijack... but all of you talking about taking a deduction on your taxes: how does that work? Say you are itemizing (we do) and you donated $100 worth of stuff to charity. How will that $100 translate to money back on your tax return?

 

[Mouse7116]

I turn it all over to our accountant. However, for Goodwill we have a list of what we are bringing in and the folks at the drop off part staple a receipt to it. You have to assign a value to your items - but the back of the receipt has suggested values. I try to simplify my lists like 10 - Adult Male Shirts $1 ea and then total everything at the end of the list.

After that, it goes in the folder to go to the accountant at tax time.

 

[tvguy]

This is probably a dumb question and not meant to hijack... but all of you talking about taking a deduction on your taxes: how does that work? Say you are itemizing (we do) and you donated $100 worth of stuff to charity. How will that $100 translate to money back on your tax return?

You donate something to a qualifying charity with a value of $100.....you can subtract $100 from your taxable income, thus you don't pay income tax on that $100.

 

[Jen and Ashwin]

This is probably a dumb question and not meant to hijack... but all of you talking about taking a deduction on your taxes: how does that work? Say you are itemizing (we do) and you donated $100 worth of stuff to charity. How will that $100 translate to money back on your tax return?

If you file taxes with TurboTax, I would check out their program Deduct It. It helps you keep track of everything you donate and imports it right into TurboTax when you go to file.

As tvguy said, it is a deduction from your income. This is helpful because it can put you into a lower tax bracket if you are on the edge between two brackets and might significantly reduce your tax burden.

 

[minushka72]

If you do decide to have a yard/garage sale, make sure you check with your town hall as some require a permit to be issued.

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

To me if you have enough stuff to have a profitable garage sale, you have too much stuff.

YES! YES! YES!

 

[North of Mouse]

We have had occasional garage sales for years and have never regretted a one of them. We've always made money, plus I have the satisfaction/incentive to keep clutter/unused/unneeded things to a minimum.

Donating and using the deduction on taxable income does not always give you very much return - so many variables. Having no mortgage/car payment deductions now, we take standard. When we were doing other deductions, a few hundred dollars was just a drop in the bucket and didn't make any difference. I'd rather have the 4-6 hundred $$'s cash! Always use it as 'extra' for vacations - not just Disney.

I actually don't find them that much work - the hardest part is putting it outside. I used to price 'everything' which was so time consuming - haven't though for the last few sales.
I tend to price higher first thing - lower later. Haven't had any issues with that.

The people I know that won't have one just don't want the work and bother - 'not' that they wouldn't make money!

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

In my area yard sales run from 8-noon on Saturdays, I'll usually make between $500-$1000 in that period of time. We're having one this Saturday and we've spent 4 hours prepping (and will spend maybe another 4 hours before Saturday). So that's more than $100 an hour for my time - it's worth it to me!

How'd you fare this year?

 

[MinnieSweetheart]

The people I know that won't have one just don't want the work and bother - 'not' that they wouldn't make money!

We truly would not make money. We have 2 vases, less than 10 items of clothing, old party supplies and a bookcase that we need to get rid of before the end of the month.

 

[North of Mouse]

We truly would not make money. We have 2 vases, less than 10 items of clothing, old party supplies and a bookcase that we need to get rid of before the end of the month.

LOL Guess there are exceptions!! We've been married many many years, 3 grown children, etc. etc. so we 'always' have things to 'clear out'!!

Clutter just seems to accumulate as the years go by unfortunately, especially when redecorating, raising children, grands, etc. etc.