Those boxes sitting in the basement corner are begging for freedom, and spring and summer are prime times to hold a garage sale, so why not make this your year! No doubt, putting on a garage sale is a lot of work, but the rewards can be well worth it; we made over $1,000 the year we sold all our “baby gear” and cleared out the storage room at the same time. For maximum return on your efforts, consider some of these tips before you raise those automatic double-doors and let the strangers in to peruse your castoffs:
Planning Is Everything
The first secret to pulling off a successful garage sale is to prepare for the sale in advance, but don’t wait until two days beforehand. Give yourself at least two weeks to get ready, if not a month. If you can piggyback your sale onto a subdivision-wide sale week, it will increase your traffic, which can be worth competing with neighbors for business. Consider pairing with a friend, relative or neighbor so you’ll have more to offer.
Don’t put out junk; toss out any stained clothing or broken items. This is especially true if you plan to hold future sales. My sister-in-law claims I “made a name for myself in the garage-sale world” by putting out quality items in good condition.
Popular items include baby clothing, baby equipment and toys, maternity wear and household knick-knacks (even those ugly ceramic figurines Granny gave you for Christmas). The best-selling clothing items are those that are in-season, so dig out your spring and summer castoffs first. Adult clothing doesn’t move as quickly, if at all. Our advice is not to waste your time; just donate your fat (or skinny) jeans to Goodwill and focus on kids’ stuff. Entice kids to part with toys they no longer play with by offering to let them keep the money the item yields. Older kids will often enthusiastically search their drawers for extraneous items to make even more cash to increase their profits.
Be realistic about pricing. If your prices are reasonable, you are more likely to move your merchandise. One year a woman told me she was buying at my sale because of my prices; she said comparable clothing items were marked $8 at the neighbor’s sale.
Some general pricing guidelines are:
Baby Clothing Separates – $.25-$.75
Big-Name Kid’s Clothes (Mini Boden, Hanna Anderssen)-$1-$5
Cribs (in good condition) – $20-$25
High Chair – $5 – $15 (for deluxe brands)
Bouncy Seats – ask for $8, accept $5
Household Bric-a-brac – $.25 – $5
Maternity Clothing – $.25 – $5
Make use of those pre-printed sale stickers, which you can easily find at dollar stores, office stores and discount chains like Meijer, WalMart and Target. Put a sticker on everything; this is a good project to do in the evening while watching tv. While you’re working, sort like items (by gender, size, type). In the future, you c
an keep some of the stickers in the kids’ closets and mark items as you clean out too-small items each season in preparation for your next sale.
Drum up some business. If you frequent second-hand stores, you might casually mention your sale to other shoppers while you’re in the store; often the same people who shop resale shops are also garage-sale-goers. Advertise the traditional way, too. The price of a classified ad in the newspaper (around $12) will pay for itself; serious shoppers check these listings religiously.
Friday is the day to do it, because it seems to be popular with garage sale queens. Consider running the sale for only a few hours; 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. is a popular time.
Make signs directing shoppers to categories of stuff; you’ll get fewer questions. Also, post an “Early Birds Pay Double” sign for those persistent people who show up at 6 a.m. for an 8 a.m. sale. That way, they still get to shop, while you’ll get a little bonus for putting up with them browsing while you’re setting up.
Get at least $25 in change and small bills to get yourself started making change. Plan to only accept cash, and post a sign stating your policy.
Anticipate opportunities to meet the needs of your “customers.” In hot weather you can put out a cooler of ice-cold pop and water for sale. If possible, hang clothing on racks. Be creative with what you have on hand, a rolling laundry cart with hang bar can become a clothing rack. Also, borrow as many large tables as you can get your hands on. Neatly fold your clothing items; it’s okay to fan them. Make sure your display isn’t a jumbled mess or heaping stacks to sort. Some shoppers won’t dig.
Set up a “check out table,” where you will tally items and bag purchases (save your grocery bags for a few weeks in advance so you’ll have plenty on hand).
The Big Day
Avoid using a cash-box; my Granny lost over $400 when someone lifted the cash box at one of her sales. Instead, wear an apron with pockets and keep the money on your body at all times. If you’re teaming up with a friend, have one person be in charge of the cash and divide up profits later.
Be on the lookout for tag-switchers, and other party poopers who try to pull a fast one. Don’t let yourself get distracted when figuring totals or making change.
Put large items outside the garage to entice drive-by traffic to stop.
Rotate items and refold frequently. If your items look neat, people are more comfortable buying from you. In addition, a table that looks “full” is more inviting than one that looks picked over.
Never leave your stuff unattended, not even for a minute. Arrange for a friend or family member to take over for you during bathroom breaks. If you are inside the garage, keep a close eye on your garage goods that are not for sale (a few people tried to buy my husband’s bike and my son’s Power Wheels Jeep) 
and cover valuable equipment (mower, snowblower, tools) with an old sheet.
Take a cue from the retail pros; help direct your shoppers in the right direction. If you are friendly and offer help finding something, or suggest an item a person might not have considered, you are more likely to make a sale.
Be willing to bargain, within reason. Don’t take offense if someone offers you less than you marked an item. If it’s early in the day, you might politely decline saying something like, “That price is firm this morning, but if you want to come back at 2:00, I might consider your offer then.”
Offer “bonus buys”; if someone takes several items off your hands, throw in an extra or two.
Slash prices or offer 2-for-1 extras near the end of the sale to get rid of your extra stuff. You don’t really want to haul it back into storage after all that work, do you?
With a little planning and preparation, you can turn your “jumble” and sweat equity into a decent profit, and fulfill any unrealized retail business dreams while you’re at it.
Check out this article from the website Organized Home for further tips and checklists.
Submitted by Amy McFadden, freelance writer, and attorney.
