Garage
Sale Tips
An excerpt from the article Garage $ale $uccess
Signs of Spring are in the
air–sunny days, warm
breezes, budding trees, blooming flowers…and “Garage
Sale” signs in yards!
Whether you are
moving into a new house or removing clutter from
your existing home, a garage sale is
a great way to recycle your belongings (and make
a few
dollars, too). There are several steps that
lead up to a successful sale. Here
are some tips to consider:
- Schedule a neighborhood/subdivision
sale event. Customers
are more likely to stop if they can visit several
sales in the same area.
- Limit
the amount of clothes at the sale, concentrating
on such specialty items as maternity,
baby and children’s
clothing.
- Make sure
all items are clean and in working condition.
- Advertise. Use
signs made of brightly-colored paper, noting
the type of sale, address
and days and hours of the sale.
- Line your
driveway with hot-selling items to attract people
who would otherwise drive by without
stopping.
- Start the day with plenty of
small bills ($1’s
and $5’s) and coins.
- Provide
bags for customers to carry their
purchases.
- Donate any remaining
sale items to charity – DO
NOT bring the items back into
your house; otherwise, the clutter will start all
over again.
The garage
sale process falls into three important categories:
Planning, Pricing, and
Presentation.
Before the sale, planning
a “Spring cleaning” project
is a great way to collect items you no longer
need. Be sure to go through your attic, basement,
kitchen cupboards
and closets. Offering a variety of items that
appeal to several groups of potential clients
(men and women, boys and girls, young and old)
will increase
overall sales.
Pricing each item (or clearly displaying signs
with prices by item category) can be a tedious,
but important
job. It makes the potential buyer more comfortable
to know the price while browsing through the
sale than to expect them to find the seller and
ask about each
item. Price fairly. Keep in mind
that you want to get rid of everything, but allow
room
for negotiation
(especially on larger-priced items such as furniture).
Displaying
your sale items by a specific category is the
key to presentation.
Have
plenty of tables
available. Put all holiday/seasonal
decorations together. Place children’s
clothing by size (be sure to separate boys
items from
girls
items) and include age-appropriate toys nearby.
Kitchen utensils and appliances as well as
other household
items can be grouped together, while blankets,
sheets and curtains should be located on
another table.
For more helpful tips and tricks
on organizing a garage sale, contact me for
a copy of my booklet
titled “Garage
$ale $uccess”. |
