Garage Sale Tips and Tricks

Garage Sale/Yard Sale/Rummage Sale -all the same thing; it just depends on where you live.

I have been a frequent yard sale shopper and seller for years.  I especially enjoy yard sales with friends, both shopping and selling.  With yard sale season in full swing, I thought I would share a few tips and tricks that I have either used or witnessed over the years.  Feel free to comment and add your own!

THE MORE THE MERRIER

·         #1 Tip: include your friends and family in the fun.  More people=more variety of items=more lookers=more buyers=less stuff at the end of the day.  Almost guaranteed is that there will be a great funny story or running joke after spending the day with a group of people that you love!

·         If you cannot get anyone to join you, participate in a neighborhood or community yard sale.  In our experience, we had more traffic during the annual community yard sale than holding our own.  Once again, more lookers=more buyers=less stuff at the end of the day.

WHAT TO INCLUDE

• Books, toys, clothes, kitchen goods, electronics, games, CDs, movies, tools, gadgets, and knick-knacks
• Furniture, antiques, collectibles, and hobby items
• If you have a budding entrepreneur in the family, have them set up a table to sell homemade cookies, lemonade, jewelry, or crafts.
• Be sure that electronic items are in decent working condition, and if not, price them for parts.  Lots of computer technician students will spend a dollar on an old laptop just to tinker with it.
• Don’t dismiss anything; you never know what someone is looking for. DIY television shows inspire many people to turn trash into treasure.  Don’t take away someone’s opportunity to express their creativity.

ADVERTISING

• Contact your local newspaper a few weeks in advance to find out the cost and due date of the ad.  Also research any free online advertisement locations, such as craigslist.
•  Mention your address, hours, whether it is multi-family or single family, any big ticket items, and what you may have a lot of, like children’s toys and clothes.   
• Use colorful poster board and very wide lettering with arrows to your house.  If you can’t read it across the street, odds are that it cannot be read from a moving vehicle either.
• If your yard sale is a fund-raiser, say so either in the ad or with a sign.  Even if someone doesn’t buy anything, they may want to contribute to the cause.

PRICING

• Pricing rule of thumb: 1/5 of what it costs new if it is used; 1/3 of what it costs new if it has never been used or worn. 
•  Price things to get rid of them.  If you are trying to make money on an item, like antiques or collectibles, be sure to label them as such.
• Do not price anything less than 25 cents.  This makes getting change much easier.
• Bundle items.   Example:  three bowls may be 50 cents each, but if the person takes all three, the cost is a dollar.  Remember, price to move.
• Use signs instead of individual stickers as much as possible to save time.
• We do periodic purges throughout the year.  Pre-price items before you store them in the garage.

PREPARATION

•  Be ready approximately 30 minutes prior to your advertised start time.  We have had people show up with FLASHLIGHTS while we were still getting items out of the garage.  If you don’t want this to happen, include in your ad “No early sales”.
•  Prepare a cooler or washtub with iced drinks for the folks working the yard sale.  Also, plan on having breakfast and lunch available for the workers.   We have prepared something easy like breakfast casserole and fruit pizza for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch.
• Don’t forget to get change.  I recommend at least some tens and fives along with plenty of ones and a roll of quarters.
• If you have a large item to sell, be sure that you have a path cleared for a vehicle to access it for loading.
• Clear out the garage as much as possible during the sale.  This has many advantages:

§  Putting your vehicles on the street near the edge of your property will draw attention and make it appear you have customers.

§  Items that do not need to be exposed to the elements will be protected.

§  If a summer shower pops up, perishable items can be grabbed and moved to the garage quickly.

SETTING UP

• ·         Place items so that it is obvious from the street you are having a yard sale and not just cleaning out your garage.
• ·         Use tables or upside down boxes and totes to keep the items off of the ground.  If someone has to bend over or dig through stuff, they are less likely to look.   As items are sold, keep moving things to the tables. 
• ·         Display things in categories, like kitchen, electronics, books, clothing, etc. 
• ·         Hang clothes on an articulating ladder or clothes line between trees.  A rod between two six foot ladders works well also.  A board laid across the top of the articulating ladder can be used for displaying shoes or caps.
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• ·         Display purses on a clothes hanger.
• ·         Use quart or gallon storage bags to keep smaller items together. 
• ·         Paper box lids are great for displaying cassettes, CDs, and DVDs.

GOING THE EXTRA MILE

• ·         Say “Good Morning!” to everyone.  Walk around and chat.
• ·         Include all parts, cords, and manuals with electronics if possible.
• ·         Have an extension cord or access to an outdoor receptacle available.  If someone asks “Does this work?” they can try it out.
• ·         Have a stash of grocery store plastic bags for your customers.  They will be able to carry their items easier and may take more.  They can also be used to wrap any breakables.
• ·         If there is something in view you do not want to sell, mark it plainly “Not for sale”.   This will prevent any awkward conversations about items in the garage people may see.

MULTI-FAMILY YARD SALE:

• ·         Ask each family to use a different color sticker and put their initials on the sticker as well. 
• ·         Group like items together, and try to price as close to each other as possible.  If one person charges 50 cents for paperbacks and someone else charges $1, people will ask for the lower price.
• ·         Be sure to get “negotiating rights” from anyone who leaves items for the yard sale and is not present to discuss any offers.
• ·         Have one person assigned to track and record the sales, if you are going to use one money box.  What worked best for us was a steno notepad, the kind that has the spiral at the top.   Any sales were recorded on a page at the front of the notebook with their name and amount. Once there was a break, the sales were transferred to each person’s individual page in the back of the notebook. At the end of the day, total everyone’s sales and subtract equal portions for advertising costs and any other costs that the group chose to split.

LEFTOVERS:

Basically, leftovers are one of three categories:  keep, donate, or toss. 

If you are going to keep the items, store them in totes or boxes so they are not damaged before you need them next.

If you are going to donate the items, research local charities that pick up leftover items, or contact local thrift stores or churches to find out when they accept donations.  We typically donate to the local veterans’ thrift store, but when we have pet items , we take our leftovers to the animal shelter thrift store.