Last Friday MIG welder reviews had a killer garage sale. Almost everything was sold before noon, my kids made more than fifty bucks each, and I raked in several hundred dollars. I’m no garage sale expert, however, now that I’ve hosted one that was awesome I thought I’d share 10 tips that helped make it a success.
Tip #1:
To advertise, I ran an ad WITH PHOTOS on Craigslist and I posted on our neighborhood facebook group. To find out if your neighborhood has a facebook group, do a search for your neighborhood on facebook, ask neighbors in your neighborhood, and look through the groups that your neighbors have joined on facebook.
I also promoted the garage sale a week in advance by posting pictures of my loot on instagram. Several items sold just from these teaser photos before the sale even began.
A day or two before your sale, place several large signs around your neighborhood. I use foam core board from the dollar store. The most important things on a sign are the words “Garage Sale” written very large and a huge arrow pointing the direction the driver needs to drive. People drive by signs quickly. Make them large, easy to read, and “follow the arrow” type signs.
Tip #2:
You have about 3 seconds as a car drives by to make a good first impression. Either they will stop or they will keep on driving. By placing all your large awesome items out front, you are telling the driver/shopper that you have awesome stuff and lots of it.
Tip #3:
Place a large well-marked “free pile” right out front. The lure of something free will get almost any driver to stop. I put a bunch of stuff I was going to donate that I didn’t think would sell in the free pile. It was just enough temptation to get the shopper out of their car. Also, people feel bad stopping and just taking something for free. They will typically find something to buy so they don’t feel bad for just taking the free stuff.
Tip #4:
To have a really successful garage sale you need to have lots of stuff. The more stuff you have sitting out, the better your chances that people will pull over and shop. My friend Beth from Free Stylin’ came over and brought a car load of stuff to sell. It was just enough extra that it made our garage sale look full.
Tip #5:
Having a garage sale is the last-ditch effort to make some cash on stuff you are probably going to donate. If it doesn’t sell, you will get nothing for it, so price it low! A quarter is better than getting nothing and just donating it to goodwill. If you are wanting to make big bucks off your stuff and sell it for what it’s worth, list it on ebay or craigslist. Garage sales are for just getting rid of the crap already!
Tip #6:
If you want your stuff to sell, put a price tag on it! Most people won’t ask how much something is. They will just set it back down and move on. If you want to sell it, stick a price tag on it. It takes extra time and energy to price everything, but it is worth it.
Tip #7:
Organization is key when hosting a garage sale. As people shop, corral items closer together. Move shelves closer to the front of the garage as you run out of items. Keep your area clean and tidy.
Tip #8:
Plastic bags are a garage sale hosts best friend. I used gallon-size zip-loc bags to keep items with multiple pieces together. For extra large items I used ikea bags and reusable grocery sacks that were clearly labeled with a black sharpie. All the large bagged items sold within an hour!
Tip #9:
The harder you try to keep like items together, the more you will sell. Have an area for bags, kids stuff, kitchen stuff, home decor, books, furniture, clothes and shoes.
Tip #10:
If the price tag on the item wasn’t obvious enough, I’d use tan painters tape and a sharpie to label items even more clearly. I’d label bags with the contents of the bag and I’d label baskets if everything in the basket was the same price.
Bonus tip: have a .25 cent kid bin and put it on the ground! Most people that came brought little toddlers with them. The kid basket was a perfect distraction for the little ones while mom shopped. It kept them busy and out of trouble. Plus, they would always find a toy or two, and at twenty-five cents, mom couldn’t refuse the little trinket at check-out time.
Honorable Mention:
If you want top dollar for an item, list it on craigslist. People shopping at garage sales want $10 furniture, not $200 furniture.
I tried to sell this set of 6 chairs for $200. I thought they would get snatched right up. No one shopping garage sales is looking for a set of 6 chairs, and they probably don’t have $200 in their pocket.
Save the big expensive items for craigslist.
Have fun planning and hosting your very own garage sale!
If you have any other awesome tips, please share them with us in the comments section. Here are the lastest MIG welder reviews.
This is SOOOO good! I’m super impressed, Allison! I think I’ve rubbed off on you–totally organized! I love it!
Becky B.
http://www.organizingmadefun.com
Organizing Made Fun
You are my organizing idol!
All great tips. My other one, which it appears you did- is make sure stuff is clean! I can’t believe how many sales I’ve stopped by where stuff is covered in dust, or otherwise dirty. No one wants to put that in their car!
I noticed you marked all of your books separately, but in the future, I’d just throw them all in a box (with the bindings up so they can see the titles) and then use a sharpie on the box to say “all kid books 25 cents”, “all adult paperback 50 cents”, all adult hardback $1″. I’m with you about selling it cheap!
Clean = absolutely! I didn’t even think to include that. I would never sell something dirty. Gross. I have seen so many yucky garage sales tough. People, clean your stuff!
And great tip on the book box!
the Garage Sale Queen of the Universe is my good friend and all these tips are spot on. Also, she doesn’t like to go to group garage sales very often, she says most of the good stuff is already gone.
I avoid the neighborhood sales. There are too many competing all at once.
I’m having a garage sale weekend after next – excited to get rid of the clutter finally! http://www.styleoyster.blogspot.com
Lots of great advice. I just had a yard sale over the weekend at my house and the previous weekend at a friend’s house. Sold lots of stuff and used a lot of your tips. I posted about what I did to make my sale successful over at my blog here: http://controllingcraziness.blogspot.com/2012/09/how-to-have-successful-yard-sale.html
Thanks for sharing!
Awesome post! I love all the garage sale ideas. Thanks for sharing.
OMG! I wish every garage saler would read this. I have been going to garage sales since I was a kid, tagging along with my mom. Now it is me who is bringing my 2 little ones. My 3 year old now shouts “GARAGE SALE” whenever she sees a sign. I totally agree about pricing things low. If you want big bucks for something, list it on Craigs List. Overpriced items are such a huge pet peeve of mine. I usually bring $30 for the day. You are so right about pricing. I rarely ask the price on an item unless it is something I really want. Something else that I kinda hate are dealers getting to sales before they are open and buying all the good stuff. Part of me knows that this is what some of my super fave DIY bloggers do, but it kinda ruins it for all the normal people who want nice stuff too. Great post. I obviously feel strongly about garage sales ha ha. Love your blog.
I didn’t get too many dealers this go-round. I think it was because I did it on Friday instead of Saturday.
Very timely! I’ve never wanted to have a garage sale because way back when I did have one, it was a major pain in the ass! But I had a design intervention last week so I’ve got a ton of stuff to get rid of. Usually I just donate but I told my husband that I thought we’d participate in the neighborhood garage sale next spring and to start cleaning out his crap too! I’m starting my collection in one room and I figure that by May (in 8 months!!) I’ll be ready for it. I’m grabbing pricing stickers now and pricing them as I put them in the pile!!
And being a major garager myself, I can’t agree more with the price tags!!!!! Nothing irritates me more than to ask the price of something!!!!
PS – I LOVE garage sale-ing in Austin!!! You guys have the best!!!!!!
Trust me, it was a huge pain in the ass to get this ready! But I consider making more than $600 a success. It made it worth all the hours I put into getting it ready.
Let me know next time you are having one, I will plan my vacation around it! ; )
Donna, haha you are awesome. The last one I had before this was 8 years ago, so it may be awhile. I’m hoping I can keep my hoarding tendencies at bay and won’t have to have another one.
I agree about the signs. They are the first thing someone sees and need to be done well. I wrote a whole post on that once! And large arrow and garage sale is all you need…I don’t need to know your address, or what time you think you are going to be out there, I just want to know where you are. That’s it!
Rachel, I remember your post! I forgot it was you that wrote it. I kept that tip in mind when doing my signs. I made 4 signs that all matched. They had a large arrow and said Garage Sale Friday 7am on them. Awesome advice!
Ah but you JUST contradicted yourself Rachel!!!!! I know that you posted in 2012, but still, you put “I don’t need to know your address or what time you think you are going to be out there, I just want to know where you are. That’s it!” BUT you DO need to know the address so you actually KNOW where your going to be when rummaging in the yard sale. And the time IS kinda important too so you know when it actually opens and what time it actually closes. Nothing worse then seeing a sign that says “Garage Sale”, “Yard Sale” or “Rummage Sale” and there is no day or time listed and going by the place where its supposed to be and it is not open. without the dates and times, you don’t know when the sale is/was. It could be for the previous week and the people forgot to get the signs or it could be for the next day and if it starts at 11 am and closes at 3 pm and you get there at say 10-10:30 am or 3:30 or later and they say that they don’t start until 11 or they closed at 3 then it shoots your hopes of scoring some nice stuff out of the air.
Great tips! We’ve had a few garage sales and they’ve always been sucessful because we advertise, price and organize everything. It also helps to have all your signs matching so people know they are following the same signs.
As a buyer, I think everything should be priced. Unless I really, really love something I won’t bother asking the price.
Yes, matching signs! Great tip.
I would love to shop at your garage sale, and I want that hutch!!! 🙂
Larissa, I still have the hutch. It’s Ethan Allen and it’s $60 for both pieces. Live near Austin? I’m about to put in on CL so let me know.
LOVE that black hutch…wish I’d been around when you were selling it. Unfortunately now I”m broke in Dallas…which is why I’m having a garage sale!
OH this is so helpful! I’m prepping for a big garage sale next weekend & this helps big time as I plan! Thanks for sharing!
Good luck on your sale!
Thanks for the ideas..there is one thing that seems to work well where I live because we do have some men that go to garage sales as well as women so we try to have some men stuff too.. working electronics, good used tires and or wheels, tools, sports equipment, jeans and work clothes if possible..anything that moves.. camping stuff, Lawn equipment, garden supplies…I notice a lot of garage sales focus on women and kids and the men that come are bored…So I try to get my husband to clean out old stuff he doesn’t want or need to add to the stuff..it at least gives the guys somehting to look at so the wife can look a little longer..mentioning this in the ads I think will get more interest where guys are concerned over going to a garage sale first that doesn’t..
This is an excellent tip! I should have done this. We had a few men asking about lawn equipment and laptops.
You are so right. I am surprised the number of lone, older gentlemen garage sale. They are always looking for the same thing. Tools, lawn stuff, jewelry, and Hot Wheels. I think a lot of them in my area resell at the 3 local flea markets.
TOOLS! If you want men to attend with their wives/partners, include this word on all signs and in all your advertising. An old boyfriend taught me this. Worked like a charm. But only if you have tools.
So, Allison, you still have any of that American Girl stuff? nice post!
Brandi, sorry, it sold really quickly. It was the Target brand – not real American Girl.
I love all of your tips and they’re all dead-on accurate! I’ve had several sales over the years that each netted $500+ and all by following these same rules. One other tip I have is that if you are selling clothing – hang them up. I can’t tell you how revolting it is to go to sales and see piles of clothing heaped like laundry on tables or in boxes for people to paw through! Ugh. Kids clothes sell great when they’re neat, clean, hung up and matched into outfits and I can make some dough on them to re-outfit my own kids. Garage sales are like painting walls…the more work you put into prepping everything, the better your results will be! (love the HOH!)
Janet, great tip! I didn’t have clothes to sell because I have a twin niece and nephew that get all my kids hand-me-downs, but you are spot on. Wash everything, hang it up, and even better – sort it by size and label it! Makes it so much easier to shop through.
I helped a friend with a sale last weekend. She had all the REALLY nice adult stuff ($5,10, or 20) on hanging racks….but there was not enough room for the boys clothes…also good quality, almost all Quicksilver, clean and ironed. So only the REALLY nice boys stuff got hung…suits, ski clothes etc.
The rest would have to be folded. So I brought over some boxes from Costco the kind for displaying merchandise…where the sides are cut diagonally, and the front is almost all open except for a small lip….and made sure they were the right size for folded items.
Then we sorted the clean and pressed shirts, pants, shorts, then each category into sizes and labeled the inside back, and outside on all sides with what was inside (quicksilver boys pants 26 $5) . (and of course made sure to include this category in the ads). Because they were folded neatly and stacked in an opensided box, 1)people could see exactly what was there and if it was the right size 2) It was easy for some to look the stack or at any one thing without messing everything else up and 3) It set the expectation of “order”. EVERYONE who took an item out to look at it, folded any unwanted item back up properly and put it on the stack where the found it.
We also discovered that Costco boxes are wonderful for displaying and corralling all kinds of things…Shoes can be lined up in long narrow boxes with handles (different box for gender, kids, adult, athletic, new/newer items etc. ) also great for , books (sorted by type) with spines up. The boxes really made it easier to rearrange and condense as things got sold, prices could go on the outside of the box rather than individual ly (mid sale price reductions MUCH easier too!), And at the end of the sale, with just a little bit of combining boxes, leftovers were already packed up!
Great tips, Allison! I love the free pile idea. I don’t know if I have the determination to do a garage sale anytime soon. Hah!
great tips. I consider garage sales a chance for people to pay ME to haul away my junk. I have placed a few valuable items in my yard sale and am always astounded at what people offer. One item was an absolute steal at $150. I knew it was risky, but I figured I’d go for it. Someone offered me $10. It was worth more than that just in scrap metal.
You still have the hutch? I would totally get that from you after I get paid on the 15th!
I do still have the hutch! It’s more like a dresser on bottom and a hutch on top. I am selling it for $60. Let me know if you want it.
The timing of this post is perfect for me, and ful of great tips – good thing as I’m having a garage sale on Saturday and had no idea what to do! Thanks!
Awesome! Good luck with your garage sale.
Hi everyone, great blog and advice!
I accidentally stumbled on this site as I was looking for some Garage Sale advice. I’ve had a few of them over the years and I am always quite organized – pricing on everything, clothing separated by size/sex and neatly folded on tables, good signage, etc. However, it seems like the people that are not organized and literally just throw the stuff into boxes, and/or right on their front lawn, have a lot more people and sell a lot more.
I’m having a hard time with the idea of throwing everything in boxes like that. Our subdivision Fall Garage Sales are this weekend so I’m down to the wire on getting it ready and need to either get things organized on tables, etc. or round up some boxes. I would love to hear your input on this and any other suggestions. There will be a ton of clothes so that is my main concern.
Thank you!!
PS – just realized you are in Austin. We are in Twin Creeks Sub in Cedar Park so if you’re in the area this weekend stop by the sales. The official time is 9-1 on Saturday.
I think it really helps if you have several eye-catching items that people want (big furniture etc) right in the front to hook people in and make them want to pull over. Also, the free pile right in front with a big sign is a great way to lure someone into your sale. Good luck with your garage sale this weekend!
I know this is an older post but what we have found to work also is the last hour or so of the sale we have a fill a bag for $1 and people will take more of the clothing items that way and it is less that we have to haul off to donate.
I just have to say that your words are sooooooo very true. I have wanted to share these tips with others(other people having sales). I have been to so many sales and the items are so overpriced I want to give them a talking to right there. I have had several sales myself and they all have done well. I stick by a few rules myself and you have said them well. Price everything, mark your items cheap (what would I pay for it at another sale) and always make deals, after all you are wanting to get rid of it. Great post!
One last tip I will share that has been very successful for myself, everytrhing on the second day is 1/2 price.
In our area yardsale signage is enough to draw huge crowds- so I prefer NOT to advertise as I don’t want the “pros” showing up at 5am with a $100 bill trying to buy a $50 kitchen table for $8.
Things I want to move I price low. But to enhance my inventory and encourage fewer drive-bys, I also bring out a lot if items that I’d only sell for “the right price” and price them accordingly, and those items there’s no negotiation. I paid $30 for it, would sell it for $20… But for less than $20 I’ll keep it.
I also don’t make ANY deals on value items until after the initial rush. The early birds are the real hagglers and why sell your sewing machine for pennies on the dollar at 7am, when the 9:00 casual Yardsaler will surely pay a fair but higher price.
When negotiating is someone offers $10 for a $20 item, I say “No, but if you give me $20 you can have $10 anything else for free.” This puts more cash in your pocket and more “stuff” off your tables.
Last time I had a yard sale, several neighbors joined in on our street. I won’t do that again! Too many folks stopped at my house… Then we’re going to “come back” after strolling (or driving) up the street to see other offerings… They almost never come back.
After 9:30/10:00 then the rules go out the window, except for my higher-priced filler items.
awesome pics! this looks great. drawing up the yard signs are my favorite part in planning for a garage sale/yard sale! 🙂
Great tips, Allison! My extended family used to have a giant combined yard sale every summer. I’ve been a yard sale rat since I was a toddler, I guess. I had put together some yard sale tips of my own a couple summers ago, but didn’t have any photos to share because I wasn’t a blogger the last time I hosted my own sale. As soon as the weather warms up here, I’m ready to host one again, and I’ll be sure to take photos this time. Your photos really helped illustrate your points and made the post interesting.
Here are my tips in case anyone is interested!
http://www.imbusyprocrastinating.com/2011/07/tips-for-hosting-yard-sale.html
I’m with you on the signs. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen written-in-pencil 1-inch-tall-lettering signs as I whiz past. Ain’t NOBODY gonna stop their car to read a sign! What were they thinking? Hahaha
To avoid thefts, rope off the area where your items will be and position the ropes (two strands is better) so it isn’t too easy to duck under them. Position your payment table right next to the entrance/exit so shoppers have to walk past you to get out. If you can have a friend come over to lend moral support and and extra set of eyes (you will need bathroom breaks etc…) that helps avoid thefts. We had a set of two way radios stolen because access was too easy, no cordoned off area, too much commotion from the swarm of people who dropped in. If the thief had been forced to walk past us on the way out, he/she probably would not have tried this. The larger your sale, the more items you have, the more important this is. If you have a fenced, secure backyard, you may wish to consider using it, with lots of signs out front advertising what you have in back. Positioning payment table right at the gate, and lock any other gates that leads out of the yard. Also, I’ve seen some people sell snacks, baked goods and coffee (people get hungry and their kids will beg them) and it always seems to sell well. Plus they stick around longer while they eat.
Yes to all of that….I’ve never had a theft, but a friend just had a lady fill her tote back with the most expensive clothing (only $10 at the sale, but originally sold for over $200) she tried to chase her to no avail. And the sale was for CHARITY….cleft pallat surgeries in needy countries. Heartless. From now on if someone comes to my sale with a bag any bigger than a piece of paper, I’ll ask them to leave it in the car.
Kathy good advice about theft. I think if someone is bringing their own bag maybe ask that they leave it with you until they are ready to pay. It is a good way to recycle a bag. I think in our area the kids are the worst for theft, seems they come with parent, pick something up and while they walk around with the parent next thing I know it is in their pocket. Sometimes I catch them and sometimes I do not depending on how busy it is. Sad we have to watch out for this kind of behavior anywhere let alone a yard sale.
Sheila, one of my sisters sells pop in ours and that is always a hit (especially if you have it in a small refrigerator or on ice, nothing worse then warm pop!) and last summer that particular sis had pop in the yard sale and my other sister and mom both had candy bars in it. That wasn’t as big a hit as the pop. I’m thinking that potato chips would be a bigger hit then the candy bars though. And I have this one “candy bar vending machine bank” which is exactly that a bank that is also a “bite size candy bar vending machine” and I was using that in my aunt’s rummage sale as I had stuff in her rummage sale and I had a bag or two of the individually wrapped bite size bars that I had put in that and that seemed to be a pretty big hit with kids. There was a guy that had like 4 kids I think (all his kids, he wasn’t babysitting or anything) that stopped at the sale and one of the kids asked how much I wanted for the bank even though I clearly had a sign that said “Bank NOT for sale, ONLY the candy” and the dad had to tell the kid that the bank wasn’t for sale but the kids bought a lot of the candy. Which was pretty cool. I’d seen those banks in the store a long while back and said to myself that some day I was going to have one of them and then the store stopped selling em and I found mine at a rummage sale of all places lol and snagged it up. Now I don’t even use it (NOT getting rid of it either). And I am planning a sale for this a little later (June maybe). I was also thinking of having one in August before the kids here in Michigan goes back to school. I know people sometimes gets kids school cloths at rummage sales IF they can’t really afford the expensive ones at the stores. Especially if the cloths at the yard/rummage/garage sale is in really good condition, near brand new or actually brand new. I’ve seen rummage sales where they had purses that were the really expensive ones from like Avon (not sure if Avon sells em) and from other things like Avon and the people at the sales were selling em for the same price that Avon and the other things wanted for them, I’m not into purses but if I were, I sure as heck wouldn’t be spending the price that those people wanted for em. I don’t even spend $20 on a purse from the store!!!!! The purse I am using right now, I spent $11 + the tax on AT WALMART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And as for the cloths I’ve seen people TRYING to sell cloths with stains and/or holes in them for $1 or more. If I have any cloths with holes or stains that I don’t want, they’d go in the rummage/yard sale in the FREE pile. That way if they want the cloths for some kind of craft project (I’ve taken an old summer dress and used part as a piece of cloth to keep my shirt from getting baby powder all over the front of it back in 2014 when I was the “Screaming Casket Girl” at the haunted house I volunteer at, just folded some of the fabric over and sewed it down and put a string through and made it to where I could tie it around to keep the shirt clean. So that was a recycle project with old cloths, or they could take the holey or stained clothing to use as some kind of old rag. As for theft, yes I’ve seen it happen at my aunt’s sale one time. A woman who was high on something brought her son and daughter with her and the daughter stole some pants, my parry knife and possibly a game for a game system (don’t remember whether the game was stolen or not as it was a few yrs ago). But it is sooooooo sad that people go to the sales like that and steal, I mean the stuff is always a lot cheaper then at stores (even at most thrift stores) and just steal. I mean its like “Hello its not like your shopping at a store that wants $50 dollars or so on something that is brand new, most of the stuff isn’t even brand new, and the stuff that IS, isn’t nearly as much as it is in the store!”
A free pile! What a great idea, I wouldn’t have thought of it! I’m going to take your tips AND the tips from the Garage Sale Wars TV show and make lots of money! I need a new laptop (I’m at the library typing this right now, sigh). Anywho, thanks for the tips!
Be extremely vigilant with “free piles”.
Some unscrupulous people will claim they got their items from this pile.
Another good tip is to advertise in your local newspaper… The ads tend to be very cheap and work as well.
These are awesome tips, I love it! Especially the price tagging EVERY SINGLE ITEM – such an important detail that I never thought of! You rock. Seriously. As for the advertising, there’s a site that I usually get all my yard sales from that I think would be helpful for those looking to advertise sales, and those hunting for treasures. Here’s the link: http://www.yardsalesearch.com/garage-sales-texas.html/?rf=b
please when you advertise with signs put the dates along with the days. I’ve seen many old signs with just “Fiiday” or “Saturday” on them and have no idea if’s for the previous week or coming week.
Nice tips, Do you sell the black piece of furniture on the picture ?…
You mentioned big ticket items are better to put on craigslist because garage salers are not looking to spend that much
I actually do a hybrid. I put big ticket items in ads on craigslist ahead of time in their category. The week of the garage sale, I repost the item, and indicate the item will be available for sale at the garage sale, and provide the link for the sale. At that time, I also individually advertise items as low as $20 if I think someone might be shopping for that items in it’s category…..this would be new, nearly new, or in demand items that I want a decent price on. It is essential that you have pictures on those items.
Someone doing a text search for an item in all of craigslist will find it on your garage sale ad. But a non-garage saler looking for just the right prom dress, or NIB athletic shoes, will likely browse the picture gallery of the category.
A couple of advantages….you are not having endless appointmens for folks to look at a dresser, since anyone interested comes during garage sale hours. AND you don’t have strangers in your home. AND it ;brings more traffic to your garage sale. They may have come to buy the Athletic shoes, but then they see all the rest of it and browse. It’s a lot of work, but in the last sale, we had a lot of folks come to see the advertised furniture ($250 and up but worth 4x that!) or the beautiful evening dress (selling for $75 but orig. 300!) and whether or not they purchased the sought-after item, most still left with a lot of other stuff.! And yes, the evening dress sold for the asking price to someone who was waiting when we opened up. The furniture got discounted a little, but not too much…all bought by folks seeing the individual ads, not the garage sale ad)
Another trick if you do this….I also create some sort of code that I included in all posted items and the garage sale ad. I let t folks know about it so they could search by it and see everything that was posted for the sale…and also look for any updates/additions along the way.
These are great tips and would love to add an app that I created. My family loves to do garage sales and I always thought the checkout process could be better. Love any feedback and/or if you like it perhaps you could share with your followers!
Thanks!!
Paul
Here is a video, or search Garage Sale Checkout anywhere apps are sold.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2-1DEAzslo
Hi Allison,
We love the pics and will use this advice on our next yard sale in Aug! Have a great day on purpose…
As everyone else has mentioned you have great tips. When having a garage sale that includes multiple people’s stuff (spouse, children’s, parent, etc.) that you want to keep the money separated, how do you suggest doing this? In the past I have put everyone’s initial/price on a removable label and stuck it in a notebook so we could divide up the money at the end. Just wondering if there is any easier way to do it.
Thanks for your input!
I got a note pad and made several columns – one for each person. As items were sold I wrote down the dollar amount that I collected for each item in the appropriate person’s column. At the end of the day I added it all up. That way, if the buyer talked me down from the sticker price I didn’t over pay one seller.
As a frequent garage sale goer (and haver), my two cents is that this process can get REALLY annoying. If you’ve got multiple families, I understand needing to split everything up, but when I’m standing there waiting for people to write down what they owe the husband, the wife, the three kids, and grandma, it’s a bit tiresome. We held a sale once with family where they insisted on that exact same thing, and let me tell you, it wasn’t one bit of fun.
Good point! It worked for me because I was only keeping track of a couple people, but if you are keeping track of many people it can get really cumbersome!
Fantastic tips, and perfect for this time of year!
I love the idea of a FREE pile to get some attention as people drive by:)
Thanks so much for sharing!
I followed your advice for my garage sale this weekend – and it turned out awesome! I started advertising a couple days before, and sold about $200 before the sale even started. Then I organized like crazy, and SO many people kept going on about how nicely everything was laid out & it was fun to shop at! I ended up selling $850 just at my sale (INSANE!!) plus the $200 I got from the pre-sales! I am PUMPED!
This is awesome! So glad you had a successful garage sale!!!
Great tips! I can’t wait to try them all out this Saturday! I love the Free Pile and Kid Bin ideas, too. Thx!
All great tips and I do them all, but we never have anybody come since we live where people consider “the country”. Like you said, people are looking for cheap, and they are not willing to drive a bit out of their way to look for cheap things. Every sale we have had, we spend more for the ad in the local paper than what we take in.
Lee Ann, I hear ya. We just moved out of our cookie-cutter neighborhood in the ‘burbs to the “country”. I highly doubt anyone will come out here for a garage sale. Next time I have one I’m going to do it at a friends house.
These are all wonderful tips, including Alison’s blog and the ideas others have suggested. I haven’t had a garage sale in about 15 years so it’s amazing to see how technology has made yard sale-ing even bettter.
I have a couple of thoughts. First, signage is indeed key, both in terms of simplicity and similarity. Make your signs BIG with large print that people can see as they zoom by. If possible, make all the signs the same color. I hate yellow personally, but bright yellow sign boards with red lettering are tough to miss.
Allison didn’t specifically mention it, but if you look at her pictures you’ll see that items are priced in increments of 25 cents (50, 75, $1.00, etc.). Not having to count pennies, nickels and dimes really makes things simpler. Also, be sure you have an adequate enough bank to make change. I held a yard sale with my mom once and a man got out of a Mercedes, chose a large piece of pegboard we’d priced at $1.00, flashed a $50 bill and asked, “Can you make change for this?” We both suspected he figured we’d say we couldn’t and just let him take the pegboard. Well, he was surprised when we were able to make change for a $50 bill with no trouble at all (after verifying that it wasn’t counterfeit, of course!).
I’ve lived in various parts of the Washington, DC metro area but I always made the most money when I tag teamed with my mom and held the sales at her home in Bethesda, MD. People are more willing to cruise the yard sales in fancy areas because they think there’ll be better stuff available. So if you cna partner up with a friend or relative who lives in a ritzier area than you, you may do better.
My last tip may seem counter-intuitive but it works: advertise free snacks. Get yourself some off brand lemonade mix and make up a big pitcherful, and get some cheap cookies at the grocery store. Having coffee available is also a nice touch if it will be chilly in the morning. This works much like the free pile: once they eaten your free snacks they feel like they ought to buy something. Some will even stop by to see what free snacks you have! Just be sure to keep the price of the snacks low or you’ll waste your profit.
Have fun and make lots of money, everyone!
Awsome!!!
I think it’s definitely a good idea to list bigger/more expensive stuff on Craigslist, but that doesn’t mean you can’t also put it out at your sale. With our last one, I posted in 4-5 different categories on Craiglist, and if people were interested in the item, they came by to check it out. We sold a lot of high-dollar items that way, and were still getting inquiries weeks later. However, we still sold some high-dollar stuff to people who just dropped in. What’s it cost you to just put it out there and see what happens? Plus, if you can have someone come by to check something out while you’re lounging around anyway, and while the item can be easily seen without disrupting your life, why not do so? That way you don’t have to set up an appointment to let someone who could be a total creep into your house to see it.
Great point as well! I listed stuff beforehand on craigslist and tried to sell it before the garage sale but also had stuff out at the garage sale. The point here is that the more exposure you give an item the better.
Sorry, but the author of this piece should not tell others “why” they should have a garage sale. Garage sales are not necessarily for “getting rid of junk”. Many people hold garage sales to earn some money. The author also advised to price items for a quarter. How ridiculous. It is not worth getting up at 6 am on a Saturday morning to give items away for twenty-five cents. If you spend hours cleaning, organizing and pricing your items, just to sell them for 25 cents each, you need to have your head examined. Or maybe your time just isn’t worth anything at all. At a rate of 25 cents for items, you would make almost nothing and be doing tons of work all day Saturday. I personally feel there is no reason that someone can’t pay at least 75 cents for something, and that is always my bottom price. Garage sales are hard work and I need to earn something for my time!
Also, giving away lots of “free stuff” creates problems in your community with pandhandling and begging. Many people show up at garage sales now and literally demand things for free, often in hopes of reselling them for a profit. You can certainly give it to them, but consider how this might cause problems for your neighbors who don’t want the riff raff coming around, causing problems and begging from them as well.
The advice here is horrible.
Well, I did make more than $900 in less than 4 hours that day, so maybe my tips weren’t so horrible after all?
I’m all for constructive criticism, but “ShonaM” couldn’t be more wrong.. She’s the one that needs her freaking head examined, and she sounds like a total snob too.. Thanks for all of the awesome tips, Allison~! My last garage sale was such a failure and I know my next one will be a huge success thanks to you!
Very helpful tips! I’m definitely recommending your post to my sister. She’s organizing her first yard sale before her first move and the things are a bit complicated. I’m sure that your advises and tips will be of a great help for her. Thank you sharing!
I don’t really have the money to post an ad in my local paper and its not out EVERYDAY like it used to be, so I can’t post an ad in that and as far as posting on Craigslist I’ve tried that once or twice and that really wasn’t any help either. And if I’m not mistaken my aunt used to post ads in the local paper and that didn’t really help bring people in anyway.
If you are selling items in a garage sale, I would suggest using a Square reader. This would allow customers to pay using a credit card! It is very easy to use and helps with keeping track of your inventory.
Great set of tips here, and great job documenting it.
I’ve just posted my own top 10 magnificent yard sale tips here:
https://westcoasttofareast.com/2016/10/26/10-magnificent-yard-sale-tips/
This is the right site for anyone who wants to find out about this topic.
You realize a whole lot its almost tough to argue with you (not that I really would want to…HaHa).
You definitely put a new spin on a topic that has been discussed
for a long time. Great stuff, just wonderful!
Great tips! Thanks for sharing! Another idea: if you have multiple families it can be a huge pain to track what each person sold. There’s an app called TallySheet that allows you to ring up sales and track them right on your phone or tablet. Cuts out a lot of the hassle!
These are terrific tips. Thank you!
Have you ever tried TallySheet (www.tallysheetapp.com)? It is an app to help keep track of sales using your phone. I used it in our last sale and it was a huge help.
thank you for this kind of stuff and i m 4 year experienced welder and want to open my own new welding place
We love the pics and will use this advice on our next yard .
thank you very much for your advice.
No problem. Good luck!
love this article