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How to have a successful Garage/Yard sale

We’ve all been there…you wake up one bright, Saturday morning, brim full of confidence, determination and a little caffeine.  You glance over to your pajama wearing kids, their legs slouched over the couch watching Phinneus and Ferb and you think to yourself…I’m putting those kids to work today.  We’re cleaning the garage!  (Or the attic, or the basement, or whatever orifice of the house that contains all the junk you simply had to have that now lies broken, discarded, misused or in need of organization).  The simple seeds of a yard sale have just been planted, and as you continue the drudge throughout the day of the complaining kids and sweaty brows, you realize you have enough junk to host the biggest sale the block has ever seen.  Your garage is clean!  Well, almost, because now you have all the things you don’t want piled up in one corner that will become the showcase of your family yard sale.  Time to start planning…

What do you do first?  Well, seems simple enough, but set a date.  Plan a date where you feel most confident about the weather.  Consider a weekend day as you will garner more traffic, and most yard sales are held on the weekend anyway.  Think about where you want the sale to take place, the front yard, the driveway, the garage etc.  That could be dictated by the amount of stuff you have, but also consider if you are comfortable with people traipsing across your lawn, or perusing Books in your garage.   Also consider inviting your neighbors to join in.  The more garage sales in one area, the better the presentation, and the more traffic you will draw.

Now you have the date and the location set, time to advertise.  One great place to advertise is craigslist, where you can advertise for free.  Go to www.craigslist.org and select the city and state where you are from.  It’s easy to post, and lots of people, including myself, use this site as a starting point for great yard sales.  

Other advertising ideas:  

If your subdivision or HOA has a website, contact the website administrator and post an ad on the site.  

Visit www.kijiji.com.  This isn’t as widely used as Craigslist, but some people do use it and it’s free, so why not?

www.garagesalehunter.com whose objective is to create a “nationwide forum” for garage sales.  That’s cool, but when I went to check the garage sales in my area and surrounding, there weren’t any listed at the time.  Still, it’s free, and can’t hurt.

If you have a lot of stuff, or some high-ticket items, you may want to spend a little money in putting an ad in the local paper.  The only perceived drawback to this, aside from spending money, is that you may have the early birds circling your house before the party begins.

Check your local stores or ice cream shops for community bulletin boards.  That’s a great place to post a free ad and gain a lot of visibility.  One place I like to go to is the local Cheshire market.  They have a community bulletin board, along with pizza and fish bait.  You can take care of all your business at once!

Now that you have the advertising taken care, it’s time to organize your sale.  A couple of weeks before your sale, start going through your items.  If it’s broken and can be fixed relatively easy, (a little glue here, a little tack there), fix it.  It will improve the amount you can sell the item for.  Wipe off the dust and give your items a little sparkle.  Trust me, you don’t want to be doing that the day of the sale...it’s too stressful.  If your selling toys, make sure you have all the pieces to that toy.  If your selling clothes, make them presentable.  Fold them neatly…a little washing wouldn’t hurt either.  Nothing says, “Buy Me” like a fragrant fabric softener aroma!  It’s not necessary, but if you have the time, make the extra effort.  

Price your items.  Let’s spend a second on this.  Remember, you’re trying to get rid of the stuff.  If you price your beloved broken clock radio at $15, you’re probably not going to sell it.  But if you price that slightly used RipStick at $15 (new in the store at $99), then you probably will sell it.  You need to keep the balance of emotionally pricing items and what they are really worth.  How much do you charge?  Well, a base level is about 1/10 the retail cost of the item, but that’s just a rough start.  Here are a few ideas for pricing of items that I’ve seen from the various garage sales I’ve perused.  Paperback books can be sold for $.50 - $1.00 depending on the condition of the Book.  Lamps can go anywhere from $5-$10 (a lamp that you might purchase at Target or Wal-Mart).  For clothing items, anywhere to $1 - $2 for shorts, shirts, used khakis, etc.  Suits depending on the brand can be priced anywhere between $10 - $20.  

Make sure to label the items with bright colored labels.  Some people like to use a color code method of labeling.  Meaning, that they post a cardboard sign with a red label being $1.00, yellow being $2.00 etc.  If you do that process, make sure that you post the sign up front and center so there is no confusion as to what the price of the item costs.  I personally don’t like this system since people will tend to bargain anyway for an item and I can’t always remember what the codes were anyway.  But it is a good system if you don’t have a lot of time to individually price out each item.  Regardless of how your pricing your items, the most important thing is to make sure your customer understands what the item costs.  I read an article a person wrote on garage sales where the author didn’t price anything in their garage sale so they could price on a whim and save time.  I would disagree with that because at times, your garage sale will be inundated with bargain seekers and it will become overwhelming to price things on a whim or remember what you sold a particular item for.

So you have the date set, you’ve cleaned out the closets, and you’ve priced everything.  It’s the day of the garage sale, so now how are you going to get people there.  SIGNS!  SIGNS!  SIGNS!  You need to have good signage so people know where to go.  (Now, some crazy city ordinances make you purchase a short-term permit to put your signs up.  You’ll need to check and make sure that you are in compliance. )  The nicer the sign, the more people think you have something really good to sell, so spend some time on your signs.  A little place I like to visit is http://www.happydaybanners.com.  They have a complete garage sale package, complete with double-sided corex signs with stakes and a banner that you can place in front of your garage sale.  It’s a nice, professional look for a very small investment, and it really makes a difference in the amount of traffic you receive.  Plus, if you just advertise a day (Saturday or Sunday) versus a date, you can keep the signs for a future sale or sell them at the garage sale when you’re done.  Place the signs strategically to draw traffic from the surrounding areas.  I like to start with a large intersection close to my home and go from there.  Take that route and place signs at every turn.   Make sure that all your signs look alike.  It makes it easier for the person looking for your sale to find.   And don’t forget to pick up the signs when your garage or yard sale is complete, especially if you invested in purchasing them.

Have a Happy and Profitable Garage/Yard Sale!

About the Author

Cynthia Johnson is the proud mother of two girls, Aurelia and Secora. She and her business partner, Michelle Hexum, run two large format print facilities, one in Portland, OR and the other in Columbus, OH. She is interested in continuing to learn new and eco-friendly print methods, while developing her love of writing and blogging. Visit her website at www.happydaybanners.com or www.thinksigns.net.

Bill Eager - Paperback (RPM 2008)

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