12 Garage Sale Tips To Make More Money

Garage sales are surprisingly popular. Every year, millions of Americans go to garage sales or yard sales and spend millions of dollars. These sales have everything is on offer: from old mugs to valuable paintings and other items you are unlikely to find anywhere else.

Running a garage sale is a fun experience and almost guaranteed to generate you some extra cash. Make no mistakes: Having things to sell does not guarantee a successful sale.

In this article, we’ve listed 12 garage sale tips to help you prepare for the sale, market the sale effectively, and most of all, make a lot of money.

Planning The Garage Sale

Detailed planning is essential for a successful garage sale. You don’t want to give buyers the impression that you’re disorganized and untidy. Here’s what you need to do in the planning stage:

Categorize The Items

Nobody wants to walk into a store just to find a pile of products thrown in the middle. People want to know where to find things. Garage sales are no different. Most people would like an orderly yard sale where they can easily find what they want.

Sort related items by categories (e.g., kids’ clothing, books, DVDs, etc.). This way, potential buyers won’t need to wander around, trying to figure things out. It also helps to understand how many categories you have.

Prepare The Items For Sale

Put price tags on each of your items, and be reasonable with the prices. Unrealistic pricing is one of the main reasons for unsuccessful garage sales. Remember the main reason you’re having a sale is because you don’t the items anymore, want to make some extra cash. So, price items to sell.

You can also make it easier by putting some items in grocery bags if you intend to sell them as a bundle (e.g., a small collection of toys).

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Pick The Ideal Day And Time For Your Garage Sale

Check local weather forecasts before setting the date in stone. Ideally, you would like to have a nice and sunny day. If it’s rainy out there, your items can get wet quickly, and you are unlikely to see many buyers.

Saturday mornings are the best and it’s better to start as early as 7:00 AM. This way you’ll ensure that the maximum number of people will attend. Saturdays are also great because most people aren’t working, and the potential buyers will be able to spend extra time browsing your items and deciding which one to buy.

Marketing Your Garage Sale Effectively

Effective marketing is essential for any business venture, including a garage sale. Here are some tips to effectively market you garage sale.

Poster Outside Your Home

One to two weeks before the sale, make a large poster with all the details about your garage sale. The details should include the date, time, location, what people can expect during the sale. Put it outside your home so your neighbors and visitors to your street know what you are planning.

If local law or ordinance permits, print some smaller posters and put them on the trees or lamp posts around your neighborhood.

Distribute Flyers

Your neighbors are the potential buyers, so it’s a clever idea to inform them about the sale. You can print some leaflets and distribute them on your street. Try to communicate a fun message on the leaflets, as readers are more likely to remember and attend the event if the message is fun and interesting.

As they say, “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Add a good “bait worthy” picture of the most exciting item you’ll have on sale. This way, more people will show up looking to purchase it. In the process, they may buy other things as well.

Tell your neighbors

Go out and knock on a few doors. Tell your neighbors about your plan to organize the garage sale. This can be a strong motivator for them to attend. If you met them personally, they are less likely to ignore your invitation.

You can also mention the items they can expect to find at the sale. You never know, your next-door neighbor could be interested in what you have for sale.

Use Social Media To Market Your Garage Sale

Use Facebook, Facebook Marketplace, TikTok, or Twitter to promote your garage sale or yard sale. You can also post a couple of pictures of your most exciting item so that people get interested and come visit your sale.

The Day Before The Sale

Make sure you dot your “i’s” and cross your “t’s.” This may involve making sure that the items are all cleaned, your prices and categories right.

Here are some additional things you need to do.

Discounts and promotions – Have A Plan B

Have a plan B in case items don’t sell as good as you were expecting. Know which ones will become sale items and the ones you’d rather not sell at all with a discount. You can also create some promotions for the buyers like buy one get one free, or buy two, get the third half off.

You already have items sorted, now you just need to make them to easy to access on the sale day.

If you have tables or other furniture to display the items on, put them in an easily accessible place. Spend a few minutes thinking about how you will arrange all the things in the morning.

You may want to put the most attractive things at the front, as this will lure the potential buyers, while less attractive items can stay at the far end.

Combo offers

It would help if you considered combo offers. For example, kid items can often get bundled together. If you have kids’ clothes and some toys for the same age group, people will likely be interested in them all. This way, you can clear your garage faster, as you will no longer need to wait all day to sell the rest of the items.

READ:

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On The Day Of Your Garage Sale

Prepare to sell

It would be best if you were ready before you start selling. Make sure all the items are easily accessible. If you have enough space, you may want to create Entrance/Exit points. In this way, people will move one direction and to avoid overcrowding. Have a money box and spare change, so you don’t run out of change during the first half an hour.

Create A Friendly Atmosphere

People don’t just go to garage sales to buy stuff. They want to meet people, have a friendly chat, and spend their time well. You can make a small investment and buy some decorations and balloons to make your garage sale look more attractive and fun place to visit.

Put on some positive and easy-going music. It will enhance the mood of your potential buyers and make them feel welcome.

Refreshments & Snacks

Make people stay longer. Offer some cookies and tea or coffee for a symbolic price or to everyone who buys at least one item.

This way people will have one more reason to stay a little bit longer. After having some chats, they may even have another go at finding another item at the sale.

As you can see, with a little bit of planning and preparations, a garage sale can be a fantastic way to make some extra money and have fun. Make it easy for your potential buyers. If they will like your garage sale, they will remember it, and the next time you organize it, they’ll come with a friend.

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READ:

• Letgo Review: How To Use The Letgo App To Sell Your Stuff
• How To Make Money Selling On Craiglist: 5 Craigslist Selling Tips
• 25 Ways To Save $1000 Or More At Your Current Income

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