Tips for Having a Successful Garage Sale

It’s easy to have a successful garage/yard sale if you plan it well. I have passed by many garage sales and seen a heap of clothes in the yard, and a lot of boxes and tables stacked high with items. I never stop at these sales, and I wouldn’t expect anyone to stop at mine if it was that disorganized.

Organization is the biggest key to selling your stuff. I generally have tons of baby/toddler clothes to sell at my garage sales. The temptation to throw them all in a box is overwhelming, but it pays to take the time to go through and sort them.

I start with several shallow boxes clearly labeled with sizes (0-3 months, 3-6 months, etc.). I sort the clothes by size, and use an extra box for one size if needed. The less clothes you stuff in a box the better. If you have boy and girl clothes, separate those too.

I take the time to put nicer clothes on hangers and display them. These are huge sellers.

If you have children’s clothing to sell, and you are advertising your garage sale, include that! You will attract a lot more people to your sale.

Whatever you are selling, do not pile it all up on a table or in a box. No matter how great your stuff is, it looks like a heap of trash to anyone passing by. It’s better to have things sitting around on the ground than piled up on a table.

If you put up a sign, keep it simple but make it stand out. If it looks too busy people won’t have time to read it, and if it’s not written in large, dark letters they probably won’t even see it. Remember to find out about where you are allowed to place signs in your community.

If you have battery-operated items that you are asking a little more for, try to have at least semi-functioning batteries in them. Batteries are expensive, and you don’t want to buy so many batteries that you don’t make much of a profit, but the cheap dollar store batteries that you get for $1 and don’t last long are perfect for this. Sometimes I also take the batteries out of toys that my kids don’t play with regularly, and use them for this purpose.

If you have anything that runs on electricity be prepared for people to ask to try it out. Every yard sale I have had someone asked to plug something in to make sure it worked. If you don’t have an outlet outside or in your garage, you might consider an extension cord unless you don’t mind people coming in your house.

Keep your money with you! It is very easy to get distracted and walk away from your money when someone is asking you about an item. If you don’t care much about being stylish you might consider a fanny pack. Otherwise, take the money with you if you have to get up. Regularly take money in the house so you don’t ever have a large amount outside.

It helps to have grocery bags available when people buy lots of little stuff. It’s not a necessity, but it’s nice.

Finally, make some money and then relax! Yard sales are hard work, but with a little organization you can make them pay off in a big way.