10 Best Ways to Host a Garage Sale (As a Seller or Buyer)
It’s time to clean up our homes and find great deals. Whether you’re jumping into garage sales or planning to get your own, these ten tips will help you get the most out of your garage sale season.
10. Make sure your garage sale is legal.
First things first. If you’re planning a garage sale, it’s best to find out what laws govern them in your city . Conditions are so forbidden in my city that I was stopped by a policeman when I was trying to hang a garage sale sign on a pole – you know, signs that actually encourage people to go to your place of sale. Either way, you don’t want to waste time getting ready for a garage sale just to get fined or run into other problems in your city.
9. Run a garage sale to attract more buyers.
You will probably get most of your traffic from people walking or driving by. If you want to convince more of them to stop and look around, then how you showcase your merchandise will go a long way. Large or famous items like furniture and bicycles will attract more people. You can also run themed garage sales (such as “geek garage sales” or “book sales”) to sell more items.
8. Know what is for sale and what is not.
Garage sales take a lot of work. You can only save time and effort by tidying up, setting a price, and laying out only those items that are more likely to sell at a garage sale, and donate the rest. If you want to make a higher profit on your belongings, expensive items are probably best sold on eBay, Amazon, or Craigslist rather than in your yard . However, soda and snacks? Great items to make some money on your garage sale .
7. Set your prices correctly
Buyers at garage sales want to get goods at a bargain price, while you probably want to both evaluate things at a reasonable price and sell them. When developing your pricing strategy, think about product prices in the range of 10% to 25% of their original cost – garage sale buyers are unlikely to go for more. Or, if you’re just trying to declutter, you could sell more stuff and make more money (surprisingly) if you don’t price the parts . For a quick sale, bundle products together and consider doing a drop sale on the last day to boost your income .
6. Choose the best day and time for your yard sale.
The classic time for a garage sale is early Saturday, but you can also try scheduling the sale on the 1st or 15th of the month (payday!) And avoiding holiday weekends (unless you live in a tourist town). … I’ve found that people who go to garage sales frequently will shop on weekdays as well, so if you can start on Friday you can attract those interested buyers (and possibly avoid competing with nearby garage sales).
5. Plan your garage sale from start to finish.
For more tips, see our Killer Sale Guide , which shows you how to advertise your sale, display your wares in your yard or garage, and plan your trade.
4. Find a yard sale or advertise your own
We’ve highlighted several places in the past where you can find garage sales near you, and on some of these sites, you can also post information about the garage sales you have. Garage Sales Tracker is a site that allows you to post or view sales , while Gsalr and Yard Sale Treasure Map create maps listing garage sales based on Craigslist and other data. Gsalr is a website while Yard Sale Treasure Map offers iOS and Android apps.
3. Stock up on the best items in garage sales.
In addition to buying furniture, clothing, and toys, people often buy rare finds from the garage, such as collectibles and vintage items. Other than that, you can use your yard sales to stock up on essential activities such as dish sets, tissue napkins, and even disposable containers. (The link to the original article in the original post no longer works, so here is a new link that recommends a few more items, such as metal chairs, which are easy to repaint and sell for less on garage sales.)
2. Negotiate with sellers at a garage sale.
If something catches your eye at a garage sale but the salesperson says, “Make me an offer,” use the 10% rule to determine the price. do a little quick research if you can find out the current price of an item, then make your offer for 10% of that price. If it is in excellent condition, you can be content with 20%, and if it is not in excellent condition, reduce it to 5%. These are rules of thumb that you can also use to estimate the fair price of an item on a sale.
1. Plan to receive donations after a garage sale (or after visiting a garage)
Just like organizing your fundraising wisely before you start cleaning up the clutter of your home , schedule it soon after the garage sale ends. Thus, you will not have all those things that are not for sale sitting in your garage. You can also use this strategy if you are a frequent shopper on garage sales. After bringing all the new loot, find donation items in your home to keep things from piling up, or perhaps host your own garage sale.
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