Garage sales: 5 Tips to Have Success

Garage sales: 5 Tips to Have Success

Well…the big garage sale is this weekend…and I have a TON of stuff to do. I might actually NOT post an update until Sunday or Monday because if I am as tired after this one as I was last weekend, I will not feel up to it.

I am getting the guilties from not doing much housework. Is that even possible? I cannot believe that came out of my fingers, but in the honor of transparency, I am telling the truth here. I just didn’t feel like it last weekend after spending the day haggling over stuff that had more emotional power over me than I want to admit.

Hoping my son makes it up here to help me. He is a forceful individual and he will yank stuff out of my clenching hands and thrust it into a buyer’s hands in a minute. Although toward the end of the sale day last Saturday, I was giving stuff away. You just cannot bear the thought of lugging it back to the staging area.

I know after this one I will be donating a lot of stuff. Hello, Goodwill!

Here are a few images from last weekend.

garage

garage sale

first garage sale

5 Things to Do to Host a Garage Sale

(I wish I had done this myself~!)

  • Get labels, signs, markers, etc. and make sure everything is marked and put your sign out the day before. We had an issue with the man who owned the house on the corner. He didn’t like the sign in his yard even though it was way out of his property line. So be sure to not make neighborhood enemies!
  • Get about $20.00 in change (more if you can!) and have it handy for those people who only have big bills. Making change can ruin your day if you don’t have the right stuff.
  • Sort your sale items. If you have items pulled out of a storage facility, sweep, or vacuum them for webs, bugs, and trash. Glassware should be washed if possible. May want to sort by price too. Buyers like it when things are easy
  • Price your items. I know that vase that your son made in high school art class has sentimental value but no one is going to pay $20 at a garage sale for your budding artist’s first attempt. Have realistic expectations. Ask $6.00 for it and be ready to take $3.00.
  • Logically arrange items in your driveway or where ever you are hosting it. Put books all in one area, hang clothes on hangers or stack on a table. Put all the Christmas items together. Make it easy.
  • I hope this helps if you are going to host one of these sales this spring/summer. I am getting excited about it – the sale last week paid for my groceries and gas this week. I hope to do that again and more.

    Leave me a comment if you have more things to add to the list. I may not have thought of something and others might want to know. Heck, I want to know!

    About master

    Kim Smith is the author of the Shannon Wallace Mysteries, and the Mt. Moriah Series- plus, YA fantasy, and Bizarro fiction. All available on Amazon.

    Subscribe to the Zanies See the sidebar to sign up!
    +