Get Supplies
Make sure you have everything you need at least a day before the garage sale starts. You’ll need chairs to sit on, a table or other flat surface to take payments and provide change, and plenty of areas to display your goods. Don’t waste money on renting or buying tables. You can find or make enough surfaces to suit your needs.
Don’t Forget the Change
Odds are, you’ll have to make $19.95 in change for your first customer. Make sure you have fives, ones, and at least twenty dollars in quarters.
Sort Your Items
Sort before your price. It’s the easiest way to keep your garage sale organized and make it easy on potential buyers. Dedicate a room in your house to garage sale planning and divide all of your items by category, such as clothes, books, home goods, and kids’ toys.
Tip: If you have a lot of clothes, divide them by men’s, women’s, and children’s. Most people are looking for something specific and will appreciate the organization.
Price Your Items
It’s best if you price your items individually rather than just group them into boxes with one price sign. As the garage sale progresses, people will get the boxes mixed up and you’ll have a hard time keeping it organized. To price items, use a roll of masking tape and a Sharpie, which is a lot cheaper than going out and buying fancy price tags. Tip: Don’t increase your prices on the assumption that everyone likes to haggle. While many people do enjoy a good verbal match, some will just walk away if they think items are priced too high.
Organize and Arrange Your Sale
Arrange your tables and put all the clothes on hangers the night before the garage sale. No matter what you tell yourself, you won’t have enough time to do it in the morning. Arrange everything the night before and store it in the garage for safekeeping. Map out where everything will be placed to make the morning setup as easy as possible and to keep it in a logical and organized fashion for customers.
Tip: If you can’t put everything in the garage the night before, group similar items into laundry baskets and boxes. You will save time in the morning if you only have to pull items out of boxes that don’t require further separation.
Work the Crowd
People would come in, grab what they wanted, pay, and leave. Unfortunately, people see garage sales as a sort of interactive shopping experience. They’re going to ask questions, they’re going to haggle, and they’re going to pick up everything, especially if it’s breakable. You’ll do better if you don’t act pushy. Just stay seated, shout out a friendly hello when people walk up, and let the customers come to you.
Keep in mind that you don’t have to haggle right away. Don’t let your couch go for five dollars with the first customer. Odds are that someone else will come along willing to pay your asking price. Start haggling like crazy using effective negotiation strategies in the afternoons after the morning rush.
Tip: Position your chair so that you can easily spot people walking up and make sure you greet everyone. Saying a quick hello makes shoppers more comfortable about standing in your driveway.
Deal with Leftovers.
You’re going to have leftover stuff. You can just put it all on the curb with a free sign, but that won’t get you any more money. Instead, consider taking the leftovers to a Goodwill store and save on your taxes. Make an itemized list of everything you have with its original value. Once you drop it at a donation center, ask for a receipt. File this away to use for a tax deduction for charitable donations on your income taxes.
Tip: If you have large items left over, like a couch or a TV set, consider selling them on Craigslist. Craigslist surfers love to buy big-ticket items and you’ll make more money than you would donating them and using the tax deduction.
Final WordGarage sales are a lot of work, especially if you’re not used to holding them. You’ll probably spend several hours organizing and pricing items, writing ads, and getting your supplies. But after it’s over, you’ll hopefully have a wad of cash instead of piles of stuff you don’t want, which makes it all worthwhile.
