Tips for Staging a Successful Garage Sale
The preparations for your sale can take some time so your first step should be to pick a date. Check to see if your area has a citywide yard sale weekend or if your neighborhood or subdivision does the same. Shoppers love when an area is having lots of sales because it makes the shopping easy for them and saves them gas when there are lots of sales in a particular area. Holding your sale during one of these times would almost guarantee a good turnout for your sale. To draw further attention to your sale, try to involve your family and friends. A multi family sale is quite enticing for shoppers. Another benefit is added help setting up and tearing down your sale.
Finding tables for your sale is important because having adequate display space is key. Tables can be borrowed from your church, family, or friends. If you need to make some tables, take a large sheet of plywood and lay it over a couple of sawhorses. It makes a nice display space.
Where should you have your sale? A garage is the easiest place to have it since it would provide shelter from the sun or any sprinkles of rain that would happen to come through. If you don’t mind parking outdoors for a while you could get your tables set up inside and arrange your sale items as you price them. The front yard is the next best option for most people. Choose a flat, level place with easy access from your driveway. If there’s no share around consider using a tent gazebo or large patio umbrella to shade an area. Set up a small table for your “checkout” area here. Gather a cashbox, calculator, notebook, ink pen and plastic grocery sacks to use during the sale.
Now that you have those details attended to, its time to get your merchandise together. Gently used clothing, home d�©cor and baby items are always good sellers. Have a designated area in your house to sort and price your wares. Make sure to do a sweep of your house to ensure you have collected everything you intend to place in the sale. Ensure your sale items are clean, in good working order, and have all the parts it should. Batteries should be placed in items that take them. You will almost always make a sale if you can prove an items works. Be sure to have an area where people can test corded electronics if you are selling such items.
Clearly mark all items. Consider bagging like items together and selling for one price. (Ex. Baby socks, small toys). If multiple people are selling items in your sale. Devise a way to mark each ones items so the person collecting the money during the sale can tell whose selling the item and the money can be split accordingly.
Advertising your sale is key. Place signs the day of your sale at major intersections close to your house. Flyers can be made on your computer and placed on local bulletin boards. Post your sale on your local site of craigslist and any local websites that offer free or low cost classified ads. Newspaper ads can be effective since most people like to plan their sale visits. Be brief but informative with your ad since ads can be expensive and are usually charged by the line. Be sure to check the deadlines of your newspaper, to ensure the ad will run on time.
A few last things to remember. Be sure to get plenty of change for your sale. Decide ahead of time if you will accept personal checks from people. It is a risk to you, but some may find it convenient.
Have a selection of quick breakfast and lunch items that don’t require cooking that you can easily eat while conducting your sale. A cooler full of cold drinks will also be handy outside.
That’s it! You’re ready for an awesome yard sale. Be ready to haggle your prices, enjoy your sale and (hopefully!) make some money.
