Tips for Having a Successful Garage Sale!

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Guest Post by Amber from Coupon Connections NW:

I can remember my first Garage Sale experience.  It opened up a whole new world for me.  I was 6. I think I was born with the gene to never pay full price for anything and I will admit I take that to the extreme sometimes.   There is nothing I love more than finding someone else’s treasures for a fraction of the cost.  So when I say that I like Garage Sales that is an understatement.  I love them.  I break for them.  My wheels turn and my kids are whining and I say…Please just one more.   And remember, it is only a good deal if you need it!

So what I going to write to you today is about how to have a successful one. What will get me and others to your Garage Sale.

#1 Plan the date. I personally think that Fridays are the best.  I know that is a little weird, but I have held a lot of garage sales and I seriously have way more customers on Fridays.  But if that doesn’t work for you and you can Only do it on the weekend then it will still be a great one.

#2 Get Your Community Involved. People love to see Multi-Family Sale.  Gas prices are high and people want to be sure there going to find something they want ;)   You will bring in way more traffic this way.

#3 Get Organized! If it looks like junk they are just going to drive by!  Make it look appealing to the eye.  If you are selling a rug display it nicely.   I like to make signs for the prices. Ex: Shirts $x Pants $x.  Using stickers is great, but can be time consuming.  Setting up tables is also great so people don’t have to bend over and dig through things.  You can have different priced tables as well, which makes things easier.

# 4 How to sell clothes- Okay moms this is a tough one.  Yes, you remember your little sweetheart wearing that cute little dress, but they are coming for a bargain.  You cannot put your feelings in the price.  Remember this is a Garage Sale :)  If it is a name brand Item have it on hangers and display the prices.  Offer a deal if they buy more.  $0.50-$1 seems like a reasonable price for me.  Anything above that I would sell on ebay or craigslist.

#5 Signs- This is the key to every garage sale.   They MUST be consistent!  If you are using color make sure each sign is the same.  If you are using balloons and it is a 2 day sale…make sure they still have air.  A lot of times people will piggy back off your signs. If you keep it consistent then they know they need to look for the next one.   And Please do not go pick up the tiny little signs from the Dollar store.  It is way to hard to read those when you are driving.  Use a thick Black Sharpie to make the arrows.  I alway like to write TODAY on mine this way you avoid “all the good stuff is gone”.  I also like to put mine out the night before.  I will leave the one that is on my street off and put it up in the morning.

#6 Food-I love to have little extras at my sale.  A lot of times I will bring out my espresso machine and make latte’s.  While I may not make a huge profit I will be able to keep people around that might normally rush out. I also like to sell snack items.  Us mom get desperate to feed the kids when we want to look through some clothes.

# 7 Advertise- Craigslist is a great site to advertise your garage sale.  You will get a ton of people and be sure to tell the time and date on that.  You can ad a new post for each day you are doing it.  If you want to advertise ahead of time you can, but I would just put the general location.  My ad would look something like this:

HUGE Multi Family Sale TODAY! xxxx 200th st SW Lynnwood  (FYI this is not my address:)

I like to put the address in the post so it is easier and people will most likely write it down.  You can then list your items in the description and weather or not you will allow early birds.

Other ways to advertise are: Sending out emails, Twitter, and Facebook.  You can just ad the link to your craigslist post to make it easier.  As well as find blogs that post local garage sale listing. Like: www.CouponConnectionsNW.com

Day Of:

You have now just completed the most time consuming part and now you are moving on to the day of the sale:

• People will always show up early. It is unavoidable.  So be prepared….there is nothing like waking up in the morning and seeing someone looking through your stuff.
• Double check the signs- You never know if one got blown over.  So make sure send your husband off to check them (I say husband because if you do it then he will sell everything for a quarter! :)
• Wear a Fanny Pack! I know they are out of style, but it is the best way to keep track of your money! And you don’t have to worry about someone stealing it!
• Layout everything nicely– People want to see your treasures :)
• Ask them what they are looking for?  I have sold my broken VHS because that is what a guy wanted!  You never know unless you ask ;)
• Once the sale is coming to the end offer deals! Fill a bag for $1 or whatever else you have in mind.
• Remove your signs! As a die hard Garage Sale hunter there is nothing more annoying then signs that are left up :)

Amber is married and a stay-at-home mom to 4 young children, living north of Seattle.   Make sure to check out Amber’s site, Coupon Connections NW. This is an informative & fun Northwest deal blog featuring  grocery store deals for NW stores, freebies, money-saving tips & much more!