I grew up having yard/garage sales. They can be a lot of fun and they can also be a lot of work! Here are some tips I’ve found to help make my sales the most successful.
- Depending on what part of the U.S. you live in, have your sales on the same days of the week that the rest of the community has theirs. For instance, in Tennessee and Mississippi they have their sales on Saturdays only. Up here in Michigan they have them Thursday through Saturday and sometimes on Sunday. As the old saying goes, when in Rome, do as the Romans!
- Put prices on your items except it’s not necessary for larger items if you’re willing to negotiate by having them make an offer first.
- Put your sale in a local newspaper and a paper that covers a larger area as well. You’ll get more coverage!
- Ask your neighbors if they want to do it as well and split the cost of the ads.
- Put signs up on main street corners within a 3-5 mile radius. Most people who come to the sales don’t even read that section of the paper but come because they see the signs!
- I know this may sound patronizing, so I apologize up front, but I’ve seen some terrible garage sale signs eliminating some important information and I wasn’t able to go because of it. Please remember to include on your sign:
- what kind of sale: “Sub-sale, Garage Sale, Moving Sale, etc.”
- street address
- AN ARROW POINTING IN THE DIRECTION OF YOUR STREET! Not all locals know all the side roads so please help them out!
- the days and times of your sale
- attaching helium balloons also draws a lot of attention’
- PUT THE SIGN WHERE IT CAN BE SEEN FROM TWO OR MORE DIRECTIONS
- buy a large garage sale sign at the local hardware store and make yours on poster paper. Make two of them and tape them back to back along the sides and top edges so it slide down over the one you bought. This way you having something to stick in the ground!
- Start your sale no later than 9 a.m. Any later than that and your customers are getting antsy! The earlier the better because you will get people to stop in who are on their way to work.
- Move your tables and items out to where people can see what you have on a drive by, unless it’s raining, then renting a tent can also be helpful.
- Be sure to have a lot of change and bills to make change prior to the sale starting.
- Sales that have “Buy 2 get 1 FREE” get a lot of buyers when you’re trying to “just get rid of the stuff”. This works great on kids clothing especially!!
- Hang up as many clothes as possible. Use rope and tie it up to things in your garage. It doesn’t really matter, just hang it up. If people have to sort through clothing on a table they are not as likely to buy as much because they don’t want to take the time to look through everything on the bottom of the pile.
- Clean up shoes for sale. You’ll get full price!! I use Windex.
- Sort clothes by size, especially children’s clothes. People will buy more if it’s set up like a store. They don’t want to take a lot of time to find things they want. If they don’t see it within a couple of minutes from when they show up they’re out of there!
- Dust/clean dirty items. No one wants to buy something that looks like it’s 20 years old!
- Don’t let your kids play/ride on toys you’re trying to sell. People will shy away from asking to see it if someone’s playing with it.
- Have outdoor activities planned for your kids to keep them busy if no one is available to watch them. Some ideas are set out the kiddie pool, new yard toys like croquet, badmitton, etc., 3-D sidewalk chalk, a lemonade stand for them to run, etc.)
- Put balloons up on your mailbox so people will be able to see you from a distance.
- Be careful not to price your items too high or you won’t make as much money. If your goal is to “get rid of the stuff” then price it low. People who shop at a yard/garage sale want to find great deals! Give it to them!
- Have you sale set up the night before so all you have to do is move it out of your garage the next morning. Customers will be there at opening time, if not earlier, so be sure you’re ready to sell once that door goes up!
- Small fishing tackle boxes work great for keeping your coins and bills sorted.
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