It’s that time of year again. No. I am not talking about beaches, bikinis, or barbeques. I’m talking about garage sales, yard sales, estate sales, community sales, etc. Call them what you want. “Yardzilla”, “Garagarama”, the possibilities are limitless. They are happening everywhere and every weekend. It’s Garage Sale Season.
Garage Sale Warning
Let me just start off by saying… Yard Sales are A LOT OF WORK, and you won’t make as much money as you hope. Your items are only worth as much as what someone else is willing to pay for them. But there are some tricks you can implement to make yours more worthwhile if you want to put in the work to earn a few bucks.
10 Tips for hosting a great Garage Sale
#1 – Pick your sale date (and a backup date)
Choose a date and time for your sale and put it on your calendar. This locks it in place. When you have a plan, you are more likely to stick to it. Additionally, choose a backup date in case of weather. (We’ve run into this issue in the past and had to postpone ours due to weather by a week.)
#2 – Figure out what to sell
Spend a few minutes each day leading up to your sale to determine what you will sell. Go through your home, room by room. Do you have a collection that no longer brings a smile to your face? Kids clothes or toys that have been outgrown? Tools and appliances you no longer use? Furniture you’ve replaced to update your personal style or transition you to a new phase of life? Put them in a pile for your yard sale.
#3 – Group like items
Put kitchen items together, clothes together, office supplies together, garage items together. You get the idea. This helps your potential shoppers shop easily. (Think of your yard sale like a store. Every store has sections. Am I right?) This will help customers to go straight to that section and not have to sort through everything you have to offer.
#4 – Hang clothes
Hanging clothes makes it easier for both you and the customers. Hanging them gives your customers a visual of how they will look in their closet. If you fold clothes on a table they are bound to get messed up, and you will spend the entire time of your sale being frustrated and refolding items.
More Garage Sale Tips
#5 – Use tablecloths (Dollar Store ones work just fine.)
It might seem silly, but first impressions are just as important at a yard sale, as they are on a first date! Make your yard sale look like something folks want to stop at.
#6 – Keep items at eye level
If you can do so, avoid placing items on the ground. Folks aren’t looking down and often miss things, or worse yet, kick or trip over things. If you don’t have enough table space for your items, you can use upside down empty boxes or bins, or create raised space by using planks of wood on empty crates. Anything will work to get your items seen.
#7 – Price EVERYTHING!
It takes a little prep work, but it is worth it in the end. You won’t have to answer the same question ten million times, and it tends to take away the haggling that can occur at many sales. Price items in easy increments: $.25, $.50, $.75, $1, $2, $5, etc.
# 8 – Plan your payment methods
Successful yard sales are no longer CASH ONLY events. Have a PayPal or Venmo account? Consider creating a QR Code to make payments easy, especially for higher priced items.
A few more Tips
#9 – Have enough change
Don’t bother with pennies, dimes, or nickels. I recommend having $20 in quarters, $60 in ones, fives, tens and even twenties for a total of $280. Not having enough cash to break a $100 bill, can cost you a sale, so be prepared.
#10 – Establish a check out station for folks to pay for items
Be sure to have the items you will need for your sale in one central location. The following are things I highly recommend:
- Bags
- Boxes for items that came in a box, such as collectibles (if you still have them)
- Packing paper to wrap breakable items
- A calculator (your cell phone works too)
- Anything you need to process payments – a Square device, for example, if you want to accept credit cards.
- Your change box or bag
- That QR Code I mentioned earlier
LASTLY – Take it away
When all is said and done and the yard sale is over, I’m sorry to say, but there will still be items remaining. Have a plan for taking those items that you already intended to leave your home to disappear IMMEDIATELY. Load your car, your trailer, or call the local donation center to come pick it up, but whatever you do… DO NOT bring it back into your house!
Your goal was to declutter, so don’t put it in reverse. Get it gone. You’ll be glad you did. It’s freeing to watch those items disappear and it feels equally as good to have some cash in your pocket.
Here’s to hosting a successful garage sale and RESETTING your life!
Roberta
Organization isn’t about perfection; it’s about efficiency, reducing stress and clutter, saving time and money, and improving your overall quality of life.” – CHRISTINA SCALISE
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