Introduction Have you ever stopped, looked around at all the stuff you've accumulated over the years and thought how bad you want to thin it out? Well, chances are you have a gold mine that you don't even know about. Recycling old or unused objects is more popular than ever. There are thousands of people all over the country making hundreds to thousands of dollars, just from getting rid of what some people refer to as "junque".
Some of us save everything we come across and it usually just gets stored somewhere for years in an attic, storage unit, basement or garage. We almost always forget that we even have it. Someone once told me that if you haven't used it within three years, then you will most likely never use it at all. So why not sell it to someone who will use it and put the profits in your pocket.
From this point on, estate sales, moving sales, yard sales, porch sales, basement sales, apartment sales, garage sales and auctions will be referred to as "garage sales," unless otherwise required. Maybe you want to learn when and how to have a successful garage sale. Maybe you are ready to make more money than you can imagine from seemingly worthless objects. Maybe you've had a garage sale before and said, "never again". If so, read on and we will give you some of our best tips on the art of having a successful garage sale.
The first hint of spring brings the excitement of the first sales of the season. These sales are, in my opinion, the best ones to go to and the best ones to have. Here in Michigan, people are in dire need of a good garage sale by the end of winter. It's the first week in March and I've already seen ten garage sales advertised in the local paper.
I went to one of them this weekend and it was almost sold out by the end of the first day. That's how it goes if you're one of the first people to have a garage sale in a seasonal state. Garage sales are taking place every week during the warmer months. But when the temperature gets too hot even the hard core garage salers will back off a little.
The information in this booklet is derived from over twenty years of going to these sales and having garage sales for myself and my family. I hope you get some useful tips and information about having a successful garage sale and also how to look for bargains and free stuff while you are going to garage sales.
In the beginning of our garage sale season, we make a list of items we want to look for. Usually, by the end of the season, we have accumulated everything on our list for a fraction of its original cost. It's amazing what people will get rid of and how cheap you can acquire it.
First Steps in the Garage Sale Process Rules and Regulations Although most people don't think of these things, you probably should. I am putting them in for your protection and legal reasons. I do not want to be responsible for anything that might go wrong or cause harm to you or your customers. I will try to give you all the information, I know of, that can protect you and your customers from liability.
You might think that the first thing to do is to round up the stuff you want to sell. It's not. The first thing you really should do, especially if you live inside the city limits, is to check with your local city or township hall and see what kind of rules, or maybe even fees, might apply to having a garage sale. You would be surprised at the regulations I have heard of. You will not be excused because of ignorance to these laws. There might be parking issues, time limits, permit fees and even "No Sunday Sales!" Please take the time to check on your local rules and regulations.
In today's age of Court TV, you should be aware of people who might try to take advantage of you, by saying that they got hurt on your property, and maybe sue you. What if someone gets hurt on your property? You should check to see if your insurance covers things of this nature. It's hard to believe that someone might try to do this, but I have heard some nasty stories that can take all the wind right out of your sale! No pun intended. 'Nuff said. Never operate your sale alone. Always have a helper to assist with multiple customers and as a backup cashier.
Never leave your sale unattended, not even for a minute. Now that you have found out if you can have a sale in your area, you need a checklist or some kind of routine to follow. Garage sales are a lot of work. We start to set our sale up about three weeks prior to the date we've selected. By doing this you should have plenty of time to prepare and clean all of your items. There is a lot to do and if you can get some help with the preparation, I strongly suggest it.
My wife and I usually do all the work ourselves, but it's a lot of late nights and stressful encounters. Some of your relatives might want to put some stuff in your sale. If so, ask them to help you with the setup and placement of the goods. If they have stuff to sell, make sure that they know to clean and price their items prior to bringing them to the sale and to code them with their initials. This way everyone knows whose stuff is whose.
Once you have a ton of stuff to sell, make sure that everything is clean, presentable and, if possible, in good working order. The most important thing in having a great garage sale is presentation. You must have everything cleaned and priced before the sale. Wash and dry the clothes. Wash all the glassware, silverware and cookware that you might have. If you have a handyman in the house, have him fix that old light that needs a switch or the toaster that blew a fuse, then add these items to the sale. You might think all this preparation is useless, but it is necessary if you want to have a successful garage sale. People who come to a sale that has unwashed clothes or dirty, greasy tools and unpleasant surroundings will simply turn around and leave. Some won't even get out of their cars. They might slow down to look, but they will just keep right on driving if it's too bad.
You want your sale to be a nice looking, clean, tidy, everything in its place and priced.
A pleasant environment for people to shop in is your main goal. This will help you get the money you should from all the hard work that you will put into this garage
sale.
Another thing to remember is not to have a lot ofantiques in your garage sale unless you advertise it thatway. People who come to a "garage sale" advertising lots of miscellaneous and finding lots of antiques will most likely not come to your sale again. On the other hand, antiques sell very good, if you advertise them in your add. What will sell?
Anything you can think of will sell, even if it's used: furniture, appliances, cameras, bicycles, antiques, clothes, tools, household goods, baked goods, crafts and supplies, books, computers, toys, plants (perennial, annual and houseplants), bedding, linens, jewelry, automotive, glassware, silverware, Tupperware, baskets, entertainment (8-tracks, albums, cassettes, CDs, DVDs, videos, video games), board games, sports equipment, exercise equipment, used lumber, leftovers from building projects, gardening tools, gardening supplies and so much more. If it's in good working condition and presentable it will probably sell. Although I know some people who will sell stuff that doesn't work, I don't encourage this unless you make sure to tell the buyers of the condition of the item for sale.
Where to Acquire Saleable Items?If you don't have a lot of stuff to sell, contact your relatives to see if they have some items they are willing to contribute. Your friends or maybe even your neighbors may have some stuff to get rid of. Don't forget to ask for help from these people if they decide to bring some stuff to put in your sale. I have, in the past, offered to sell stuff for my mother and some other people in my family. They offered to pay me 10% of what they made if I would take it in, set it up and price it. Use your own judgement on this. You will, no doubt, have plenty to do already with your own stuff.
You can also acquire more stuff to sell at your sale from other garage sales. When you go to another sale, always look for inexpensive items that you can resell at your sale. While attending these sales, make sure to check out the layout of the sale. Pick up on the good points and the bad points of the whole thing. Look for things that you might want to incorporate into your sale, or things not to do. You can learn a lot from going to as many sales in your area as possible. It's all good, you get to shop and learn at the same time.
In our area, we have sales that are sometimes two or more days long. Sometimes, on the last day of the sale, everything's discounted to half-off and sometimes it's free!
One of my favorite things at auctions and estate sales, in our area, is to grab a box that's not quite full of stuff and walk around filling it with what I'm interested in. Then I take this full box to the cashier and make a deal with them. I have made some incredible purchases by doing this. You might want to ask first before you do this. They don't always agree to it. If they do, don't feel guilty about it, especially at estate sales. The people that hold the estate sales, in our area, are usually not related to the people the estate belongs to. They are there to move merchandise and if it's the last day of the sale then they are ready to deal.
Most people are willing to take less for the items they have for sale. Don't be afraid to offer them less or ask what's the least they will take for that item. Anyone who has had a garage sale knows that there are people who will try to barter with them on some things. They might intensionally mark it up a little bit more to cover themselves. If they say no, that's ok. You may still want to buy it, if not then move on! Don't get mad and walk away if they don't budge on the price, there might be something else on the other side of the table that is a good bargain.
You need to focus on the last day of the sales. This is where the bargains lay. The selection might not be as good but the price will usually be right. I can't tell you how many sales I have gone to on the last day and just cleaned up on the bargains. Fill a bag full of clothes for a dollar or fill a box for a couple of dollars or back your car up and help yourself! It has happened to me more than once, and it can happen to you.
Another great way to get a lot of stuff to sell at your garage sale is to watch for "going-out-of-business" sales. I have gotten a lot of great deals from these types of sales. Recently, a large nursery and craft center went out of business in our town. During the first days of the sale, the deals weren't that great. Sure, there was a lot of bargains, but not good enough to make a good profit on. When the sale got down to the last week, I kept an eye on it, stopping in every other day to see if they had lowered the price. Sure enough, every other day they lowered the price another 5%. The day before the last day, everything in the store was 90% off. What an incredible bargain! I bought dried flowers, craft supplies, garden supplies and chemicals for 10% of their original prices.
On the very last day, I arrived about 15 minutes before they were going to open. I went up to the door and it was open. I went in and asked if it was ok to start shopping. They said, "Sure, grab a cart. Everything that's left is 95% off." I couldn't believe it, that's almost free! I filled my cart once thinking that I had over $50 worth of stuff, even at 95% off. I was wrong.
The cashier told me, "That will be $12.40, please." I had just purchased almost $250 worth of stuff for a fraction of its worth. I hurried this cart to the car and came back in to fill the cart again. This time it was $12.50 for another $250 worth of stuff. It was so exciting! left and took my bargains home. Later in the day, around 4:00 in the afternoon, I went back to see what
to they had left. It was "fill-a-bag-for-a-dollar" time and it was a big bag. There was quite a bit left and I filled two bags really full of stuff. "Two bucks, please." These are the kinds of things you need to watch for and grab onto when the chance is offered to you.
From this one, "going-out-of-business sale, I accumulated a ton of stuff for my garage sale in the spring plus I now have enough yard and garden chemicals to last me for the next few years, at a fraction of their original cost.
I attended an estate sale once and was looking around the basement of the house on the last day of the sale. An older gentlemen, who was running the sale asked me if I would be interested in helping him carry up a sofa, that he had sold to a couple earlier in the day. I helped him carry up the sofa and a couple other items. When we finished, we went into the garage and he offered me a soda. As I was drinking it, I saw some items on a table in the garage that I was interested in.
When I asked him what he would take for a couple of things on the table, he told me I could have everything on the table for one really low price. It was great! I filled the car to the brim and the kids could barely move in the backseat. Of course, there were some things I was not interested in, but that's why we have the free box and trash pickup, right?
The last tip that I have for you is to make yourself known as someone who will take away unwanted leftovers from sales. If you have a computer, make up some business cards that have your name and phonenumber on them (sample included in booklet) and pass themout to the people running the sales you attend. Most people will not be interested in giving up their treasures, but there is a percentage that just want to get rid of it. They don't ever want to see it again. Make sure to specify what you are willing to take. You might get more than you bargained for.
I put right on my card that I reserve the right to decline some items because of size or other issues. Don't be too picky or you will get a reputation and then no one will give you anything. But, if you don't ask, you will miss out. You could also put this type of request in a classified ad in your local newspaper. You might get so much stuff that you have to have a sale every weekend. It could happen.
There are a lot of bargains to be had out there. You just need to be ready to do some marathon garage saling. We usually leave at 8:00 in the morning
and don't get home until 4:00 or 5:00 in the afternoon, but we get some great
deals. Some of it we keep. Some of it we resell.
The Free Box Once in a while, you will come across a sale that has a box of stuff that is free, otherwise known as "The Free Box". Some people prefer that you take just one thing from the box and others will tell you to take the whole darn thing. But before you take the whole box of stuff make sure to ask if it's ok.
Usually, the way it works is, you put some stuff in the box that you don't think will sell, or maybe you don't even know what it is. I have also seen stuff like Tupperware lids without bowls or bowls without lids, incomplete items or mismatched socks, etc.
Toward the end of some garage sales you will find a lot more stuff finding its way into the free box. Stuff that just won't sell will almost always be taken from the free box. I have found a lot of resalable items in the free box, so make sure to check it out even if you bought nothing else from the sale. You might find something of use or something to resell in your own sale.
Sample Checklist for a Successful Garage Sale! Check on local rules and regulations.
Call insurance company.
Check out the competition. Get more ideas and possibly more stuff to sell.
Acquire saleable items from family and friends to add to your sale.
Get things needed for sale like: price tags, hangers, tables, tablecloths, paper and plastic bags, etc.
Get help with the cleanup, pricing and display of the items for sale.
Prepare the signs and newspaper advertisements for the big day.
Watch the weather the night before the sale. (In case of a storm that will close your sale, be courteous and place a sign on your dwelling announcing the cancellation or the rain date.)
Get going early on the morning of the sale. (You will probably have some stuff to finishing setting out or maybe even some pricing.)
Your checklist might be a bit more detailed than this, but you need some kind of guideline to keep you on the right track. The more you get into your sale the more stuff you'll find that needs to be done. If you don't write it down, you will probably forget it. Until the day of the sale, of course, and then it's too late.
Cleaning and Preparation You should always clean everything you are about to sell. I have been to some sales where the stuff is filthy and you don't even want to touch it. You can't make any money without exerting some effort. Even if you cleaned it last year it may still need some touch up this year. Make sure to check for missing pieces or incomplete parts. Be honest and make a note on the item if you notice something is missing or broken. Your customers will appreciate your honesty.
You might think, "who would want these three table legs from that old table?" Well, someone might have a table like the one you had and they just might need three new legs for it. That's how it goes at garage sales. I bought a garage door at one sale and the garage door opener at a different one. You never know what you will find at a garage sale.
The old saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure" is a great motto for garage sales. You just can't ever tell what someone might be in the market for. Of course, you never want to sell trashy stuff, but someone might be in the market for something that is broken. If it still has other usable parts on it, they might be able to salvage some of those parts to use on their broken piece of equipment.
For instance, I had a washing machine that was only a couple of years old. The transmission had gone out and it would have cost more to replace this one part than to buy a new one. The drive motor, timer and several other
usable components were still in good working order. If someone, who had a washer like mine, had bought it from my sale for a few dollars to use for parts, it could have saved them hundreds of dollars down the road when their washer needed a timer or motor. It also saves you from having to pay to have it removed. Some trash removal companies charge $10 - $15 or more to haul this type of trash away.
Don't forget manuals, instruction sheets, warranties, software for a computer, and anything else belonging to an item you are selling. It won't do you any good, and it might make the difference between a sale or no sale.
Pricing You need to decide on which method of pricing you are going to use. Some
people like to use colored circle shaped stickers that have different prices
matched to them. For example:
1/2 Red Circle Tagged items = 10¢
Red Circle Tagged items = 25¢
Blue Circle Tagged items = 50¢
1/2 Blue Circle Tagged items = 75¢
Green Circle Tagged items = $1.00
Green & Blue Circle Tagged items = $1.50
If you use this type of pricing method, you have to have posters set up around the garage indicating what value each tag represents. I'm not crazy about the color coded method, and I've heard other people complain about it too, but it is definitely quick and easy for the person who is setting up the garage sale. If you're after speed in pricing your items for sale, this is the method for you. Make sure that you have plenty of posters with the colors and the price equivalents on them, hanging all over the garage for anyone to see. If you don't have something forpeople to associate the prices with, they will get and leave without buying a thing from your sale. You want to make your garage sale a no-brainer. You don't
. want people to have to think about anything other than buying the items you have for sale. I like to use a removable, white, 1-inch square sticker. On thislabel I put the price, owner code and a size, if needed.Be careful where you attach a sticker. Sometimes they leave a residue that can affect the finish of the item, or if you use a permanent, adhesive label it might remove the finish from the item. Make sure to place the sticker in the safest, visible place on the item to be sold. If you don't feel safe using stickers, you can use clear, removable tape attached to a piece of paper. There's nothing more upsetting to the buyer than getting their purchase home, fighting with the price tag and maybe wrecking it trying to remove the price tag. Make sure to use removable stickers or tape.
You should use a piece of paper pinned to clothing for pricing. Sticky labels usually fall off clothes. If there is no price on something, the chance of it selling is slim. Most people don't like to ask how much something is. They get upset if something is not marked. They need a visual guide to help them decide (an example of some tags to use for clothing can be found in this booklet).
Your clothing should always be neatly displayed and marked with the size on the price tag or on a separate tag. Hang clothing, if possible, to make it easier for your customers to look through. You can also fold and stack clothes in size-related piles. Clothes sell better if your customers don't have to go through everything to find the size they're looking for. If you hang your clothing up, make sure that it is on a secure device. You don't want anything to fall on someone. Clothes are heavy so you'll need a strong display to hold them. Piles of clothing can get messed up real fast. Try to keep them in neat little piles. It is a chore because you have to keep fixing the piles all day long, but they will sell better by using this method.
For other items in your sale use whatever method of pricing you feel comfortable with. There are tags with strings on them that are handy for certain types of items. I always recommend going to as many sales as you can and seeing how others are pricing their items and see what appeals to you and then try this method in your sale.
Setup and Display Setting up tables and other displays can be nerve racking. You should always try to come up with a plan before you start this part of the program. If you are going to have a sale in your garage, you need to make a decision if you are going to have walkways between the tables or not. If you have room to put tables all around the outside walls of the garage, you might also have room to put tables in the middle of the garage and have walkways around them. Just make sure there is plenty of room for people to get through without bumping into one another. Don't crowd your crowd! Make sure to have enough room for people to comfortably pass in your aisles. If you have to sacrifice a table or two to make it easier for people to shop then do it. You don't want your customers complaining about not enough room, bumping into one another or maybe knocking something off of a table because there is not enough room for two people to pass. If the weather cooperates you can set
up a couple of tables outside with some stuff on it.
You will probably need as many tables as you can get your hands on. Check with family members that might be willing to lend you some of their card tables or folding tables. If you belong to a church, grange hall or a lodge, you might be able to borrow some tables from them for a day or two. You might also be able to rent some tables from your local rental shop, although this might be an expensive way to go. You don't want to invest any more money into your sale than you have to. Put your money into advertising the sale itself. You can make tables from many different things. I have made tables from old milk crates stacked two high with a piece ofplywood laid on top of them and then covered with atablecloth or sheets to make it look a bit more pleasingto the eyes. I pick up these old milk crates at garage sales throughout the summer because they have many uses. We put our children's yard toys in them, and our stuff like horseshoes, badminton, yard darts and so on. They will stack on top of one another so you can easily store them in your garage or basement until you need them for your garage sale. You can use old interior doors that are flat and has had the doorknob removed. Place it on top of milk crates, strong boxes that are all the same height, saw horses or you could put two chairs on each end of the door to hold it up. Make sure not to overload any of these makeshift tables.
I purchased a garage door one summer. It came in four 2' x 16' sections. I set up some saw horses and stuck the panels on top of them. I then covered them with white sheets and they made great tables. I am sure there are many more ways to make tables from everyday items. Make sure to display as much of your stuff on tables as you can. If something is on the floor, where nobody can see it, when your sale begins, it might still be there when your sale is over.
Don't forget, if something doesn't sell very good on one table, try moving it to a different table and see if it sells on that one. It might not be in the right spot for people to notice it. It might be mixed in with something that nobody is interested in so they overlook it. If you move it next to something that catches people's eyes, you might have a better chance of selling it.
You will get your best ideas from going to as many garage sales as you can and looking at all the different ways people display, price and setup their goods. Take notes on any good ideas you see that might come in handy at your sale. When you go to other garage sales, listen to the comments from the other people at the sale who are shopping. You might like the way someone has something set up or the way they have it priced, but maybe it's not going over too well with the people who are shopping at the sale. Listen and watch what is going on at these sales and it will help you know what to do and what not to do at your sale. I have gone to a lot of sales I know have been a failure and it makes me feel bad for the people having the sale. The information in this booklet is not the answer to everyone's garage sale questions. But it might give you a little more incentive to have a sale of your very own.
Picking a Date and Time This is another really touchy question that everyone asks. Depending on who you ask, you will get several different answers. Early in the spring seems to be the best time of year to have a sale. In my area, Friday and Saturday work best if you are planning on a two-day sale. If you decide on only one day, make it a Saturday. This is strictly my opinion. I have heard other people say that Thursday or Friday is the best time to have your sale, because there's steady customers all day long but not overly crowded. Because it's not so crowded, people might tend to look around a bit more. When there are a lot of sales on the weekend people might zoom through your sale without really looking at everything you have to offer, just so they can get to the next sale. Another opinion about Thursday/Friday sales verses weekend sales is that most people have their weekend booked up and might not have time to go saling.
I feel that if you have your sale only on a weekday you are missing out on a lot of potential customers that are still at work. There are a lot of people who work 7:00am to 3:30pm or 8:00am to 5:00pm, Monday through Friday, who simply love to go garage saling. I am one of those people, and when it comes to the weekend, I am ready to hit a few garage sales. I will even look through the weekly newspaper on Thursday night to see if there are any sales that might be open on my way home from work on Friday. And if there are, you can bet I'll be there. I am not the only one with this addiction.
If you have a one-day sale on Saturday make sure there aren't a lot of other things going on that weekend. That is why I like to have my sale early in the spring before too many weekend events start happening. They can really put a crimp in your sale. Another great thing about the spring sales is the weather. If you get lucky and pick a weekend that is sunny and in the 70's, be ready for a monster turn out. We have been lucky the last few sales that we have had in the early spring, and the weather was just amazing, and the people came out in droves. It was great!
People who have been cooped up all winter are ready to get out of their homes and into your garage sale. If you do have a sale in the early spring and it happens to be a little cold outside try to have a kerosene heater or some type of space heater for people to keep warm. If you have a heated garage, make sure to mention this in your advertisement.
The problem with midsummer sales is that it can get really sticky and uncomfortable with the high humidity and high temperatures. People will not be out as much on these really nasty days. You will still have people come to your sales but not as much as the cooler, more comfortable days.
The hard-core garage salers that I keep mentioning are quite hard to stop when it comes to saling. They will be out in the cold, heat and rain. It just doesn't matter to them. All they care about is garage saling. You can count on them to be at your sale. If you do have a sale in the midsummer, try to keep your customers as cool as you can.
Set up some fans to blow around the garage and, if you have them available to you, try to use covered canopies to shield your customers from the sun. I have been to a few sales that have had ice cold beverages for sale for a reasonable price. Not too bad of an idea. Fall sales are ok, but usually by the end of summer people are garage saled out. They have had their fill of garage sales every weekend throughout the summer and they just don't have the same need to go to these sales as much as in the beginning of the summer. More important than the time of year you have your sale is that you advertise it well and make it pleasant for people to shop at. You might not get as big of a crowd on a hot or rainy day, but you will still sell stuff. If it doesn't sell as good as you thought, try again at a different time of the year. As a rule of thumb, one-day sales are fine if you only want to get rid of a certain amount of stuff and make a certain amount of money. If you have a two-day sale, you are bound to get rid of more stuff and surely you will make more money.
If you want to get rid of even more stuff try having an afternoon sale from 1:00pm to 4:00pm on Sunday and cut the price of everything for sale in half. You will be surprised how many people will come to these sales and how much stuff you can clear out of your garage. You will still make money and you won't have to store as much stuff.
The only way to find out what works best for you is by trying something a little bit different every time you have a garage sale. Everybody has their own idea of the best time of year and the best day, but the location of your home, the amount of advertising you do and the outcome of the weather are what really controls how successful your sale will be. You just need to try to do everything you can to make it as good as it can be.
Advertising Your Sale The thing that will help you have the most successful garage sale is the advertising that you do. This includes newspaper advertising and the signs that you make and hang up around town. There are a lot of people that believe that you don't need to advertise in your local newspaper. I don't agree with them. If you live on a very busy street that has a lot of traffic all the time, maybe you wouldn't need to advertise, but I suggest that you advertise no matter where you live.
There are a lot of people, myself included that check the newspaper faithfully every week to see the different things that people have to offer at their garage sales. I make a list of sales that I want to go to, based on what items I see in the ads that I am interested in. If you don't place an ad in your local newspaper you are at the mercy of the people who are just passing by to stop and look at the things you have for sale. Most people will not stop at a garage sale unless they are out garage saling. They are usually on their way somewhere or late for an appointment or maybe they think that you don't have anything that they might want.
Garage saling is a very popular thing to do in the summer. In our fairly small town, there might be 40 to 80 sales a week, all summer long and well into the fall. Most of them are advertised in the local newspapers. This is another good thing to ask the people who are having sales that you attend. Check to see what newspaper they advertise in. They might recommend the weekly over the daily or vice versa. Some towns have a daily newspaper and a weekly shopper-type newspaper. Take a look in these papers and see which one has the most sales listed in it. Put your sale in the one with the most sales listed. Chances are that the real hard-core garage salers are looking through this one to get their list of sales to attend.
People really do read the newspapers, especially if they are looking for a certain item they don't want to purchase at brand new prices. They might also be like me and have a list of stuff that they are looking for that they made in the beginning of the season. Use your judgment on whether you need to place an ad in your local newspaper only. You may want to place it in the next-town-over's newspaper too if that town is only a few miles away. But as a rule, your own local newspaper should suffice.
The ad doesn't need to be a large ad that might cost you a fortune to run. It only needs to be specific. It has to have items from your sale that you want to attract people with. Some popular items would be: baby cloths, riding lawnmower, crafts or whatever you might have that you think will get people's attention. You don't really need to include stuff like your phone number, unless you think it will benefit you in some way. You want to keep your ad small and to the point. It is expensive to advertise and ifthe newspaper charges by the word, you want onlythe words that you have to use. Ask yournewspaper if they have a section for garage sales. If they do, you don't need to put "garage sale" in your ad because it will be in the garage sale section of the paper already (see samples in the booklet). Garage sale advertising in your local is money well spent. If you are going to have more than one family's worth of goods in yoursale, make sure to mention this in your ad. I don'tuse terms like "annual garage sale" because peoplemight think that because you've only had a year toaccumulate stuff, you won't have a goodselection. Most of the people that look for garage sales will remember your sale if you make it unforgettable.
If you have a clean, low-priced, easy-to-get-around-in sale, people will remember it and they will come to your sale again the next time. There are other types of medium that you can use for advertising your sale, like bulletin boards in laundromats and grocery stores. You can also make posters to hang up on some bulletin boards.
Make sure to check and see if it's ok to do this. Some stores offer their own little cards that you can use to fill out the information about your garage sale. The cards are usually a 3" x 5" card that will fit into a slot on their bulletin board. If they use this kind of bulletin board, you can't hang an 8 1/2" x 11" poster on it. If you do, you might just make the store owners mad and they will probably remove your ad from the bulletin board. Abide by their rules! Remove your ad after your sale.
Internet Advertising There are places on the internet that you can advertise your garage sale for free. To find these place all you need to do is use your search engine that comes with your internet service. When you do your searching use the terms: "free garage sale advertising" or "free garage sale classifieds". When doing a search on the internet, if you type into your search engine the words "garage sale advertising" you will probably get 100,000 pages of stuff that doesn't have anything to do with garage sale advertising. The reason for this is that search engines do what you ask them to and, unknown to most people, when you type in several words at once into your search engine, it goes out and finds web pages with any of the words you typed.
If you want to find a specific web site about garage sale classifieds, try putting the words inside of quotations (i.e. "garage sale classifieds"). The quotations tell most search engines to go out and find the web sites with all of these specific words in them. Not just one or two of them but all of the words in the order they are inside of the quotes. This method of searching is called the Boolean Method of searching. With this type of search you can really zero in on what your looking for instead of getting a bunch of crap that you don't really want. There is a lot more to the Boolean method. You can get more information fromdifferent web sites.
You can also use the Boolean searchmethod to find out more on the Boolean method of searching. Just type into your search engine inside of quotes "Boolean search methods" and you're sure to learn a lot more about searching for stuff on theinternet than you probably ever thought you wanted to know. But if you have ever done a search and gotten back bad results this method is worth
. checking into. This type of advertising is new and not too many people will think about checking into it. There a lot of free sites that will allow you to advertise your upcoming sale so always take advantage of free advertising.
Signs To Hang Around Town You will want to check with your local city or township hall to find out the laws about posting signs along street corners and telephone poles. Although you see this all the time throughout the country, it might be against the law. How embarrassing to have a policeman come bringing you a ticket because you posted a sign on a street corner that you were not supposed to. I have heard a couple of stories about this happening. If it's against the law and someone complains about it, you can and will be shutdown and possibly get fined. This would surely take all the fun and success out of having a garage sale.
Ok, so you've found out that it's alright to post signs around town, as long as you take them down after your sale is through. I think that there should be a law that says if you don't take down your signs after you have your sale, you will be fined. I can't tell you how many times I have seen signs still hanging up around town weeks after someone's sale is finished.
Sometimes I feel like taking the sign down and taking it to the people who had the sale, along with a copy of my new favorite booklet, "HOW TO HAVE A SUCCESSFUL GARAGE SALE", and saying this is not proper garage sale etiquette. Take your signs down after your sale!
Take your signs down if the weather cancels you out. Put something at your home explaining why you are closed. You might think this is foolish, but people spend their hard earned money, not only on stuff you have for sale, but the gas it takes to come to your sale. Please be courteous to your customers, take down your signs if you are going to be closed and let them know if you are going to be open again on a different date (see sample at end of booklet).
The signs that you make should be as large as you can make them but not too big that they cover someone else's signs up or cause traffic problems. I usually buy some fluorescent orange and green poster board in a 20" x 24" piece and quarter it, giving me four - 10" x 12" pieces to hang up on telephone poles. Sometimes I use a spray adhesive and adhere these 10" x 12" sheets to some cardboard for extra strength. If you have ever tried to staple your sign to a telephone pole you know that hundreds of people before you have nailed thousands of nails into the pole making it almost impossible for you to hang anything on it. You might be better off using magnets to anchor your signs. Just kidding!
You can also staple your 10" x 12" sign to a piece of plywood and then attach the plywood to a 1" x 2" x 3' stick that can be pounded into the ground. That way you won't have to worry about the telephone pole at all.
The most important thing to put on these signs are "arrows" pointing which direction to turn at the intersection the sign is being posted on. Most people will see your sign at the last minute and just turn, usually on the side of the road that the sign is posted. If you have an arrow pointing which way to turn at every intersection to your house you will get a lot more traffic. The size of the lettering on most signs is almost impossible to read from a moving vehicle, make it as large as you can but make the arrow the biggest and darkest of all. Make sure to include your address, the time and the days you are open on these signs. Post them in a visible place. You need to make them two sided so people can see them from both directions (see samples at end of booklet). I usually go out the night before the sale starts after it gets dark to hang up our signs. Just make sure to check out the locations that you want to hang your signs at and make notes of what kind of sign that you need to use at the different places. You might need four signs that you can staple to telephone poles and three signs that need to have stakes attached to them. Make note of how many right turn arrows and how many left turn arrows you will need on your signs.
Always use a large sign on your property with a lot of flair to draw attention to your sale. You can use a "tent sign". This sign consists of two boards leaning against each other in a upside down "V" position and secured at the top, usually with hinges, to allow the pieces to be opened and securely positioned. Attach something to the sign like balloons on strings or 3' to 4' long lengths of ribbon that will blow in the wind. People passing by will be curious as to what is going on and possibly stop. This also helps the people who are trying to find your sale either from the information in your ad or from your signs along the path to your home.
I have seen some clever signs in people's yards. Everything from signs hung on top of stepladders to real, live people holding up signs and yelling out, "STOP AT OUR SALES". There are tons of ideas, and the best way to find them is to go garage saling and check out the different ideas that people come up with and use them
I once went to a neighborhood garage sale. There were over forty sales in the neighborhood. It just so happened that there was a group of guys that had started a Fifties tribute band in that neighborhood. They had their band equipment set up and were singing in the front yard of one of the
.band members homes.
They didn't have anything for sale, but I think they had a donation can or something and maybe some business cards to hand out. I thought this was a clever idea to get people into your area. Especially if you are involved in a neighborhood or community garage sale event. At these larger sales, I have seen people selling hot dogs, sloppy joes, chips and pop and making a good profit. I am not sure of the regulations for this type of thing. You might want to check into it before you do it. Personally, I wouldn't sell anything more than sealed beverages or food at my sale. I would be afraid that someone might get sick from something that they had eaten at my house and try to sue me or something.
Signs are very important and you must use them wisely and make them as
legible as possible. The night before your sale is the best time to put up these
signs. If you put them up too early you might get people wanting to stop before
your advertised day.
The Big Sale Day! Make sure to get up at least two hours earlier than you need to on your big sale day. You will most likely have stuff to carry out of the garage or maybe even some last minute things to price or get ready to display. Whatever the reason, you will want to get going early
. Hopefully you will have prepared stuff the night before like the morning coffee and snacks for youand your helpers. A slow cooked meal, sandwichesor some other easily-prepared food that you can retrieve quickly with little fuss is helpful too. You might want to have pizza delivered as an even easier way out, but this will cut into your profit. If it's hot, have a cooler full of ice cold drinks or water for you and your helpers.
Early Birds If you've had a sale before, you know who and what early birds are. There are a few different types of early birds. The most persistent kind is the resale shop owners who go to garage sales and try to buy stuff really cheap so they can resell it in their shops. They will be waiting outside on the street long before your sale opens wanting to get into your sale before you can even get everything pulled out and setup. They will zoom through your sale looking for certain items and possibly trying to give you a whole lot less for something than you really want to take. Don't let them intimidate you into selling unless you think it's a fair offer. They are trying to acquire items to resell and make a profit on.
The other type of early bird out there is someone who has seen an item in your sale advertisements that they really want to look at and maybe purchase if the price is right. If you are having a two-day sale and you think the item you have will sell for more than they offer, don't be too fast to lower your prices. You may still get what you want for it.
The last type is someone who has picked your sale as first on their list of many, many sales to attend today. Some people want to get going early and get in as many sales as possible. No matter which type of early bird you are lucky enough to have at your sale, it will still be frustrating if you are not ready. Don't let them ruin your sale day and get you all upset. If you're not ready, tell them to please come back at the advertised opening time. You can also deter some of these people by putting "no early birds" or "no early sales" in your ads.
The Money Receiving Area You will want to have an area for whoever is going to be the cashier. You want to have this between the sale and the parking so you can see who is coming and going. We usually use our patio table with an umbrella to help protect us from the sun. You need to see the people at your sale. Don't put yourself in a position where you cannot see what your customers are doing. I have heard of people who will switch price tags to get something for a lesser price. This is a drag but I know it happens. Be aware that some people might try to take advantage of you or try to make you feel like what you have for sale is not really worth the price you are asking for it because of some really convincing reason. You will want to be able to have customers all around you but still be able to keep an eye on the whole sale, if possible.
This is one of the main reasons for having more than one person running a garage sale. You need a dedicated person who takes and records the money. You really don't want more than one person recording the money, unless you have two money stations setup. If there is more than one cashier it can get real confusing with people paying at one place and walking out with stuff and the other person might wonder if they have paid and run to ask them. I don't recommend more than one cashier (see sample sign at end of booklet).
Security It's not advisable to let anyone into your house to try on clothes or use your restroom. You never know what someone might do. They might be checking out what you own or maybe even steal something from your home. Your clothes are probably priced cheap enough to take a chance they will fit and I'm sure there is a public restroom somewhere nearby for those who need to go potty. (see sample sign at end of booklet). Keep an eye on your sale and your belongings but don't be too obvious, people don't like to be watched or followed around. It might make your good customers leave and never come back. Be cautious but not a pest.
Keep your cash in a place that is kind of hidden. Don't leave it out in the open where everyone can see it. You might have to go answer some questions and leave the money all by itself for anyone to help themselves to. Temptation is an awful sin, but a real one. Try to keep it in a covered container of some kind. When you get a large amount of money, thin it out and put it in a safe place in your home. You don't want to keep all of your money out in the open.
Don't be afraid to pull something from your sale if you suspect that someone has altered the price tags. It's your sale and if someone moved a price tag in a local store, that store wouldn't say ok, I guess so. Not if they were sure the priced on it was altered. Make up a sign that says, "We reserve the right remove an item from our sale if we believe the price tag has been tampered with". This sign may help you protect yourself if it happens.
Answer Signs People don't like to ask certain questions like, "Will you take less for something", or "Is that bike hanging up there for sale?". If you are busy, someone with one of these questions will not get upset and leave because they can't get your attention if you use signs that answer some of these questions for you.
Signs like, "Not for Sale", "No Reasonable Offer Refused", "No Restroom Available", "Not Responsible for Accidents", etc. will answer a lot of questions that you won't have to (see samples in the booklet).
On the next few pages of the booklet you will find some of the signs I have mentioned and more that we have found useful at our sales. You can print these pages out of the booklet and use them over and over again. They are also included on the CDROM if you purchased the printed version of this booklet.
If you follow the instructions in this book and try to go to as many garage sales as you can to gather information, and maybe some great deals as well, you should be on your way to having a successful garage sale of your very own and people will be so excited to come to your sale year after year.
It's Finally Over! Not quite Now that the madness is finally over, you still have plenty of work to do. The first thing you should do is to go take down your signs. This is the most important thing. Don't forget about the bulletin board signs and if you posted anything on the internet make sure to remove it.
The fun part is beginning. Decide what you will keep and what you will donate to your favorite charity. If you are going to have another sale keep the things that you think will sell. If something has been in your sale for more than three times it probably is not going to sell. You should donate it or give it away to someone who might have shown an interest in it. If you decide to donate your leftovers to a charity, you should be able to get a tax deductible receipt from them. You could also donate your items to a church or mission. There are a lot of things you can do with your leftovers, and still make money on them with tax deductions.
If you have a place to store the stuff you are going to keep, box it up and tape it shut. Mark on the boxes what is inside so when you go to get it down next time you will know what is in it.
Take down your displays (tables, clothes racks, etc.) and return them if they are borrowed or store them if they are yours. Clean up the tracked in dirt and debris and get your garage back in order.
Now, go in the house and take a shower or a nice long bath. Count your money, deduct what you need to replace in your checking account for the advertising or any other expenses incurred by the sale. Divide the money, if you had a multi family sale or any consignments. Go out to dinner, shopping or pay some bills with your profits.
Your sale is finally over and now you can get back to some serious saling of your own. Start collecting for next years sale. I have recently started selling some of my garage sale finds at Online Auctions. There is lots of money to be made online and finding great deals at garage sales is the best place to pick up your inventory. Watch for another book of mine in the near future all about selling your garage sale finds online.
ALL
SALES
FINAL
NO
PUBLIC
RESTROOM
NOT
FOR
SALE
KEEP
OUT
Garage Sale
Postponed until:
date__________
Sales Record Chart
Name
Name
Name
Name
Price
Price
Price
Price
Total
Total
Total
Total
Total
Total
Total
Total
Size_________Price________
Size_________Price________ Size_________Price________Size_________Price________ Size_________Price________Size_________Price________ Size_________Price________Size_________Price________
Samples of Newspaper Ads
Multi Family Sale-123 Anystreet (off from that one road) baby cloths, guitar, lawnmower, couch, men's cloths, lots of misc. Fri.-Sat. 9-5
Huge Sale-123 Anystreet, lots of misc., boat, yard tools, men's and women's clothing, must see, Fri. 9-5 Sat. 9-?, Sun. everything 1/2 off.
123 Anystreet (off from that one road) tools, baby items, computer, toys, something for everyone. Bring this ad for an additional 10% off. Fri.-Sat. 9-5
Neighborhood Sale-Any Subdivision, over 40 sales, everything from A-Z, food and entertainment. Sat.only 8-5
Sample Business Card for Leftover Items
Me and You Enterprises Not sure what to do with your left over garage sale items or attic clutter? Give us a call! We will haul away those unwanted items that you no longer want to store or haul to the dump.
• Free Removal • No Garbage or Junk Please
• Garage Sale items • Moving Sale items
• Estate Sale items • Auction leftovers
Call to set up an appointment for removal
000-555-1234
We reserve the right to decline certain items because
of size or other issues.
•
Style of a Sign to hang up around town Garage Sale
•
1234 Good St. 1234 Good St.
Friday 9-5 Saturday 9-3
Acknowledgments
Thank you for buying this book. It is filled with tons of information that I have accumulated throughout the last 20+ years of having garage sales and going to garage sales. I hope it will help you to have a successful garage sale and learn what to look for when you go to garage sales as well. I have been very lucky with the sales I have had, and it's a wonderful feeling to make a lot of money and get rid of a ton of stuff. Not to mention how fun it can be to interact with the people that come to your sale. If you have a good, clean sale you will get a bunch of compliments and that always makes you feel wonderful, plus your customers will remember and come back to your next sale.
I have wanted to write this booklet for a long time and now more than ever it is needed by all of us who struggle to make ends meet. In these troubled times we are in, garage sales are an even more important part of our economy than most people could know. They are an important part of keeping everything moving along. There are many bargains to collect from the sales, and money to be made by the sellers.
Going to garage sales as much as I do, I see a lot of sales that I know will not make a lot of money because of the way they are set up and operated. It makes me want to give them a copy of this booklet, so they can see why they are not making any money. If you follow the rules and do what the majority of people having successful sales do, you will have a great sale too. You will want to have a garage sale every year.
I would like to thank my wonderful wife for being patient with me while I was writing this booklet. She is my garage sale partner and has been a lot of help in the editing process and I couldn't have done it with out her. I know I have been in my own little world while I have been gathering information but she has been there for me and I am thankful for her in many ways.
This booklet might seem small but a lot of time and effort went into it so it could be as informative as possible. I intend to add more information in the future. We hope to have our own website someday in the near future so we can offer even more of our handmade items and how to booklets. For now you can email us with any questions that you might have. We will try to help you with your garage sale questions. When we get our website going we will email you with the address.
Good luck with all your endeavors in your life, whatever they may be. Just remember, when you try to start something, try to find out as much information about it as you can before you just jump into it and fail. There is information about anything you can imagine available at your local library. You can also find an incredible amount of information on the internet using the search engines, about even more subjects.
Written by Fred and Lisa Campbell
Gold rings are different than gold nuggets since they're often alloyed with other types of metal. They are usually close to the surface area and usually can't be tuned out or chosen for having a notch filter even with the most effective metal detector. By far the best place to find gold rings is at the beach. Particularly in the shallows of an dropping tide at a common resort place. The explanation is because several visitors don't recognize that the colder watercan make their fingers shrink and unsuspectingly lose their extremely valuable ring jewelry.
