Considering that I will be hosting my own garage sale today and the fact that getting rid of things that you no longer need to bring in a little cash is totally thrifty, what better post today than one on how to host your own garage sale?If you have never had a garage sale before it is fairly simple when you follow a few rules of the game. The best way for a mother of young children to host a sale is to get together with other moms or people that you know and host a multi-family sale. Not only will your sale look more appealing by having more merchandise but you will have extra hands in taking cash, watching to make sure nothing is stolen (yes, there are thiefs even at garage sales!), and people there to help watch your children. It is hard to watch a sale alone and try to deal with a child or two at the same time. Many hands make for light work...or something like that!
The most important thing is to advertise. I always look to the newspaper to plan my garage sale shopping and that is the best way to draw attention to your sale for others like me who do the same thing. Bright signs posted at the end of your road advertising your sale is also a must. They will direct people to your sale that may have not seen your advertisement in the paper or are bad at directions. Take them down when your sale is over as many towns will fine you if left up for too long.
Make sure your prices are fair and make sure everything is clearly marked. When I go to a sale with high prices or no prices at all I don't even bother to continue looking. I love sales where kids clothing is marked $1 and under, though I will pay a little more for a name brand outfit or brand new clothing item.
Make sure your items are displayed nicely. Digging through bins and boxes will detract customers so try to place the majority of your items on shelves, tables, or hang them up. Something simple as a board or old door placed on two saw horses and covered with a tablecloth is enough to make it look attractive. This is also creating curb appeal; more people stop at sales that look good from the road. I know I have driven past my fair share of sales the look dumpy from the road...those just aren't worth my stopping at, even though they may have had really nice items but not the space to display them. Dirty and broken things should not be for sale, but may be placed in a free box which plenty of people like to dig in.
Have plenty of change and plastic bags. It is bad when you run out of either!
Choose a day/days that are typical of garage sales in your town. Many sales run from Thursday to Saturday here so that is when we typically have ours. The busiest day is Thursday, a steady stream is on Friday, and some wheelers and dealers come about Saturday when we are willing to lower prices in order not to have to haul the stuff back home. You may decide to have just a one day sale or a one and a half day sale. It's up to you!
It's really as easy as that. I will be posting pictures of our sale once it is over and give you the grand totals!
Have you had a successful garage sale? What tips do you have?
I have had garage sales for quite a number of years. I live in the country so I usually have them at a relatives house. I have noticed that when I have it at my mil house, I try to keep tables so that they flow in a horseshoe direction. You walk in the garage on one side and then follow the tables around to the other side with a table in the middle.It seems to work well in her garage. I also noticed that the more variety of things you have the better you will do. Keep music playing. It will keep the shoppers in an upbeat mood and will want to stick around and look more. Have lots of change on hand. I try to price things in 25¢ increments so that I don't have to mess with dimes and nickels. And don't forget to have plenty of bags and boxes on hand, for the people that buy so much. And don't forget to have fun. I have even met some new people just by making conversation with customers. When people see you laughing and having a good time, they just might stick around and look a little more.
ReplyDeleteBeth
Stopping by from MckMama's site. I had to add...I've been an avid garage sale shopper as well as host, I have found that two-day'ers are not ones I shop at most or try to host! I've found that the second day the things are usually picked over! When we tried the 2day garage sale, we got a few shoppers on the 2nd day, however, the 1st day it was ppl everywhere! Other tips I found:
ReplyDeletePick up old signage from "elections" ONCE they are over and hadn't been picked up yet! I just cover it w/paper and make new signs.
I always add balloons, those usually always bring them in.
We usually designate ONE cashier and the others watch the items and help customers! *We had a whole exercise bike stolen, they got out, browsed for a few mins, and grabbed the bike, threw it in the back of the truck and was GONE!! We keep higher priced items closer and not the edge of the yard!
We usually have cold drinks for sale!
If you have a piece of furniture, try to provide a pic if the item is too large to bring outside...DO NOT LET SOMEONE INSIDE TO VIEW THE ITEM.
Cover items in the garage sale NOT for sale! GS'er are avid shoppers and have an eye like a hawk, they can see a nice item a block away! LOL
These are a few of our tips
PS I was impressed w/your "tally"! You done very well!!!