We recently had a garage sale and got rid of a whole lot of junk. It was really successful. We have had garage sales before. They always go great. This one was a long time coming and we even outperformed our goals. Here are some quick tips on how to have a garage sale.
Be organized
Garage sales take a lot of planning and sorting in order to achieve their full potential. You would be surprised what you can rake in just selling your junk. The first trick is treating it like its desirable. That means breaking down your items into categories and sorting them accordingly.
Make sure you have enough tables for display and back up storage bins for replenishing your stock. Presenting everything well and being systematic and structured about what you are selling will appeal to customers and make things easier on you.
Always be “fluffing” the merchandise, or creating new arrangements; and consolidate displays as the product line shifts to continue to entice customers.
The opening of a garage sale can be very chaotic and people will not wait for you to “open.” So, get as much of the work done as you can the night before so you can start out strong. Also, make sure you have a lock box and plenty of ones and quarters.
have price tags/stickers on items
Always have prices on anything you are selling. You should determine what price would make you happy to sell it for. It may be junk you just want to get rid of, but you can still get away with pricing things a little higher than you think they will go for.
You can always take offers or mark down the prices as you go, but making up prices on the fly is never good. For starters, it’s inefficient. It also sends the message that the pricing is not important and you will let it go for less. Which brings me to my next tip.
Schedule two days
There are all kinds of Garage Sale shoppers. The early bird who wants all the best stuff, and the last minute shopper who wants to pay the least are my favorites. We had our garage sale on Saturday and Sunday and made our best sales on Saturday. But on Sunday we unloaded almost all of the rest of our stuff. That’s because on day 2 we priced everything to sell and then marked it down by half.
We were told that Friday and Saturday are better. And that most garage sales end at 4. Ours was from 10:00a to 6:00p. We acted like we would change our schedule next time, but truthfully, our way was such a success, I wouldn’t want to miss out on those crucial last couple of hours on both days.
We did a lot of business after 4:00. There were lulls, of course. But It’s important to be patient. One of my favorite parts of a garage sale is taking a brake during the down time. Sara’s parent were watching Gwendolyn and Lawson, so it was a really nice break for us.
When scheduling days, just make sure not to do the first nice weekend of the spring/summer. Attendance will not be as good as it should be.
Advertise
Get nice signs at a hardware, or superstore and use google maps to plot where you want them to go. Get more signs than you think you will need. Keep in mind if you have any ordinances or regulations in your neighborhood. Mylar balloons at your location is also a good way to stand out and attract passers by to stop and browse.
Facebook is also an amazing resource for letting people know there is a garage sale. Look for local garage sale groups you can post in.
Have a side hustle
If you have kids especially, it’s always good to have a lemonade stand or something similar. We had bottled water in an ice chest. We didn’t sell much but they at least paid for themselves and in the end we had free water.
Sara also had a separate stand set up for Bloom + Haul baby accessories and jewelry. That went really well. Some people even came back with friends to get more. You always bring in a little extra when you have something going on on the side.
BIZ 101: INTRO TO THE MOST EFFICIENT WAY OF REMOVING TOUGH STAINS
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