Are you ready to have the best garage sale in your entire neighborhood? 

If you want to make money over the weekend, a garage sale can be the best option. Summer is just two months away, and a lot of people are starting to declutter, while others are searching for items to add to their home. I think this is a win-win situation for both sides.

You have a treasured dining table that needs to be replaced, despite the fact that you attach too much sentimental value to it. Undoubtedly, someone will be eager to purchase it. Are you prepared to say goodbye to those clothes you never wore after retiring? Well, someone else might be quite eager to purchase them as well!

We’re here to provide you with some advice if you’re new to the garage sale scene yet willing to try something different this year. By the end of the day, you and your wallet will both be quite satisfied since you will be better organized and know how to accurately estimate the price. Let’s begin!

Set the date

In most cases, people like to hold garage sales during the late spring or early fall when it’s not that warm outside. However, you must be flexible according to the weather in your area. In some states, summers aren’t that hot, so if you can and it’s convenient to you, you can set the date to June, for example. If you want to have a one-day sale, it’s preferable to do it on a Saturday when everybody is free from work and they have plenty of time to roam around the neighborhood. If it lasts two to three days, you can begin on Friday afternoon and finish on Sunday afternoon.

Start cleaning your closet

This might sound nice and easy to make in the first place, but it isn’t. However, if you want to make a lot of money at a garage sale, this is arguably one of the most critical things you should do. First of all, make a list of all the things you want to get rid of. Then start with the biggest closet. Are there any clothes that don’t fit anymore? Take them out. Dig around in your attic, basement, other closets, cupboards, and garage.

You’ll surprise yourself at how many items just sit around collecting dust since you either forgot about them or decided you no longer needed them. You’ll not only be able to inventory your possessions, but you’ll also free up some room in the process. It has never felt better to clean!

Sort everything you have decluttered

After you made that list and took everything from everywhere, it’s time to sort your items into three categories: sell, trash, and what you want to keep. I did this trick when I organized a garage sale last autumn, and it helped me a lot to figure out what items were good enough to be sold.

Just concentrate on sorting and becoming organized right now; don’t bother about pricing anything. Finding a permanent home for the items you intend to preserve and getting rid of the clutter are your main objectives here. After you’ve created your piles, take everything you sorted out for sale.

Check for permits

One of the golden rules of a garage sale is to check for permits. Each state and city has its own rules, and before starting to organize, it’s good to know them. To avoid the headache of a fee, check with your town or city hall to see if you need a permit or license.

Make sure you have everything on hand

When you start a garage sale, you must think about every little detail: pricing stickers, labels, or even a sign that can be seen from far away. And if you’re looking for a sign that draws everyone’s attention to your yard, check out this plastic sign from Amazon. I also bought mine from here, and I still have it and plan to use it this year too.

However, if you want to keep everything low-cost, just grab a permanent marker and some blank pages and start pricing your stuff. For this garage sale, you will need one or two tables (in my case, I needed three because I had a lot of stuff to sell) and some chairs where people can sit for a while. Some of them want to look carefully at the products before buying them, while others are interested if the price is negotiable. Make the space comfortable for both you and the potential buyers.

Advertise your sales accordingly!

Avoid overanalyzing your garage sale advertising. (After all, it is a garage sale.) Draw large arrows directing people to your home on signs and balloons you can get from the dollar store. Ascertain that the method is so straightforward that even the clumsiest person could discover it.

Go ahead and place an ad in the neighborhood Facebook group or in the local newspaper. If you have some friends in the neighborhood, ask them to help you advertise your garage sale. But whenever you’re stressed about it, remember these words: Keep things easy and don’t worry! Everything will be alright, and if not, take it as an experience. The second one will be better.

Price your goods to encourage sales

One of the most essential lessons I took away from local garage sales was that a vendor with exorbitant prices will never find buyers. Period. Of course you must be tempted to sell your old drawer for $700, but if it doesn’t look very good, nobody will want to spend that much on a dated item. That’s why it’s okay to also negotiate. Ask them what they want to offer and see if it’s convenient for you. Be flexible!

And remember that when you start pricing your items, make the labels visible, big, and attractive to the potential buyers. If you like it, you can make them colorful but stick to the black writing. It’s always easy to see on every bright color.

Offer various payment methods

The fact that most people carry less cash than they once did shouldn’t come as a surprise, especially after 3 years of the pandemic, when we were carefully advised to avoid cash as much as possible. That’s why it is very important to offer a variety of payment options to satisfy all of your potential customers. Having your Paypal account information available for them to send money to or a direct bank transfer they can make to your account right away using their banking app are also examples of this.

Furthermore, it’s also crucial to have enough change at hand because you never know when somebody comes with a big bill!

Give them tiny gifts

We all love gifts, no matter how small or big they are. This works the same for your customers! In this sense, you may provide a modest gift for every large-ticket item sold. It’s up to you what you decide to give; for example, in my case, for every customer that had a kid with them, I offered the kid a lollipop and a tiny chocolate bar. They were delighted!

In the end make sure you stay safe!

Do not panic, please! The vast majority of shoppers who attempt to purchase products from your garage sale do it with the best of intentions. While the sale is going on, it’s a good idea to keep both your door and your windows closed because, in actuality, you’re still allowing outsiders to shop close to your home.

Additionally, don’t allow guests to enter your home to use your bathroom or drink water from the tap. You can provide them with a variety of snacks and, of course, have water on hand to prevent this kind of thing. In my case, I wanted to make my guests feel welcome, so I put some snacks in some bowls near the selling table. They’ll definitely appreciate the kind gesture!

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