This past weekend my husband and I “hosted” a garage sale.  We are planning on moving soon and wanted to go through everything that we have acquired over the years.

Not only are we putting our house up for sale but we are also planning a trip to Disneyland this summer.  What better motivation to get rid of the stuff we no longer use than to use the profits towards our vacation.  Having a specific dollar amount to reach as a goal for the garage sale not only made it fun for us but it made parting ways with old toys easier for my daughter.

In the end, after two days of running a garage sale we exceeded our goal amount of $1000.  The $1000 goal was set because we thought that if we could at the very least pay for our 3-day park hopper passes to Disneyland for the family we would be off to a great start in our vacation fund.  Well, we ended up taking $1,655 to the bank from our garage sale.  If you are thinking about doing a garage sale and you want it to be as profitable as possible read my tips for success below.

10 Tips For A Successful Garage Sale

1. preparation/organization

Preparation and organization is always a good thing.  Start gathering items at least a couple of weeks out.  Go through every closet, cabinet, bedroom and drawer and sort into boxes or bins by category.  Check the weather.  Have an extension cord handy so that potential buyers can see electric items working.

2. signs/advertising

Make or buy plenty of signs, people can’t find you without a trail of easy to see signs.  You can buy garage sale sign kits on Amazon or you can download and print the free signs I made for you.  I did both,  printed signs and bought a kit.  I recommend writing the day/date on the signs.  There are also other great ways to advertise your sale and the dates, I posted on a Nextdoor, an app for neighborhoods and communities as well as on some local Facebook buy, sell, trade groups.  I prefer doing this because I can delete the posts when we are all done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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3. merchandising

Some people may be ok with buying dirty items but they probably won’t want to pay much for them.  Taking a little bit of time to clean and wipe items will only help reflect the worth and sell at a higher asking price.  Also, borrow folding tables or shelving to help display items by category.  I had a table for toys, another for appliances, and another for home decor.  I used a wire shelving rack to hang and display clothing, shoes and purses.  Clothing that is hung and labeled with an easy to read size and price will sell way better than a pile of clothes for people to sort through.  If you are going to sell things in bins or boxes make sure to have a bold and easy to read sign with the price and description.  If it looks nice people will buy!  I made the below clothing labels after the fact but wish I would have them for my garage sale.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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4. Pricing

You should absolutely put a price label or tag on everything!  There are people who won’t even bother asking prices and will leave.  I found that there were a lot of shoppers that were shy or there was a language barrier and they would just bring the items to me without trying to negotiate price.  You should also put larger more eye catching price tags on furniture and more expensive electronics.  If there are items that you have a minimum amount that you will accept for them price a bit above that.  A lot of people won’t buy unless they can negotiate for a lower price.  Be flexible, if there is something that you really just want gone, take lower offers.  I had some heavy furniture pieces that I really didn’t want to move again or didn’t have room in my car to take to donate.  These I let go of at a way lower price.  Also stick to increments of 25⊄ so that you only need to carry quarters for coin change.

5. bundles

I had a lot of little toys and craft supplies such as yarn.  Putting together little bundles priced at $1.00 each will help get rid of small items and it seems like people love a good “grab bag”.  You can also create bundles for baby clothing items such as socks and bibs.  Gallon sized “ziplock” bags make this easy, label the outside of the bag with description and price.

6. fanny pack or waist pouch

Keep your money and change on you at all times, it so much safer than having a cash box.  We only kept a certain amount of money in the waist pouch at a time.  My husband would take larger bills and extra cash into the house regularly so that we could keep better track of our earnings and keep them safe… in our safe.

7. Traffic cone

I placed an orange traffic cone in front of my driveway to prevent cars from blocking it.  The cone kept the space open for people who needed to load heavy items or made it easier for people in cars to see the garage sale.

8. don’t do it alone

Have a spouse, friend or family member there to help you.  If you need to use the restroom you will not want to leave your garage sale unattended.  Things can get busy, it always seems to come in waves, having another set of eyes on things can help prevent theft.  Yes, people steal stuff, even if it is only a 50⊄ pair of shorts.  More people working the garage sale = less theft and happier shoppers.

9. sunscreen/shade

You may not think about it at first because odds are it was still dark out when you were setting up.  If you are going to be out in the sun not under a shade, put on sunscreen.  I can’t believe it but I actually forgot to apply sunscreen on the first day.  I did not sleep well that night and I needed some good sleep for day two.

10. snacks

Prepare some snacks the night before.  Muffins, oatmeal or breakfast burritos make great breakfast options.  Also easy non-messy snacks work best so that you can put it down to help someone if needed.

Conclusion

Hosting a garage sale is a great way to do some serious spring cleaning and raise money for whatever your family needs.  We were thrilled that we were able to almost double our goal.  Running a successful garage sale takes some work, but I truly feel that the more you put in the more profit you will yield.  When you are done take unwanted items to a donation center.  There are a ton of different non-profit organizations that need items for their stores.

Also folks, please be sure to clean-up afterward.  Remove any signs and thank your neighbors for their patience.

If you have any questions or comments please leave them below.  Thanks for reading!

-April aka ZonaMom

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