Garage-saling

We recently had a garage sale. We had one last spring as well, and both pulled in $400. Garage sales are great for several reasons:

1. You get to declutter and get rid of stuff you don't need
2. You help out others, by providing what they might need at a lower price than they would find anywhere else.
3. You can make a little cash.
4. It's a great way to fund raise for charity, missions trips, etc. (People will be more willing to donate their unused stuff to your sale than to send you money.)

Here is what we did:

1. Declutter! I went through each room of our house, one by one, and put everything into 4 categories: a- Trash, b- sell, c- keep, d- this goes somewhere else (in a different room). As I put the "keep" stuff back, I organized it. Once you do this, the hard part will be over.
2. Pick a date. Check the weather. Spring is best, and right after payday is said to be better as well.
3. Advertise. We didn't do this, and plenty of people came out.
4. Price items. See this pricing guide. http://www.garagesalesource.com/articles/garage_sale_pricing/
5. Plan your layout- what will stand alone? what needs a table? how will you hang up the clothes? Get crates/boxes for toys and to group like objects.
6. Put out signs the night before. Put a big arrow and write you address on the bottom. Cover the major intersections near your house, and then all the turns until you get there.
7. Supplies you need- signs, price tags, markers, plastic bags, calculator, cash box, lots of change, crates, tables.

TIPS!

• If you put "8:00" on your sign or ad, people WILL show up at 7. If you want to make the most money you can, be out at at least 6:30am. That is when the serious shoppers will be out.
• Don't come down on prices too early. Serious shoppers will come early, and they are the most skilled at talking you down on prices. Don't bend too much. In the afternoon, mark bigger items down, and maybe even tell people "everything is half price" as shoppers start slowing down.
• Keep your cash box by you at all times, and take big bills inside about every hour.
• Keep an eye on any small, more expensive items. We had a watch stolen from us.
• Keep location in mind. If you live in the country, join up with a friend who lives in town for a joint garage sale.
• If you do have a joint garage sale, have different color price tags or put your initials on them, so the cashier knows who made how much money. You can take the price tags off and put them on a paper underneath each name. This saves time while checking people out.