Posts
It's beginning to be that season again. Spring is here and it is slowly starting to warm up, which means people are starting to come out of hibernation and do some spring cleaning. With that spring cleaning comes garage sales.
Whether you do your own garage sale or perhaps a neighborhood one here are my top 5 tips for a successful garage sale.
1. Advertise! Advertise! Advertise!
It used to be that really the only way to advertise for a garage sale was in the newspaper but now there are so many ways to get the word out there and for free! Craigslist, local Facebook pages, and of course the good old fashioned signs on the street corners just to name a few.
2. Organization is Key
One of the first things a potential buyer does it does a "look see" from his car window and he slowly goes to possibly park their car. If the sale is not organized and things are just carelessly slopped on the tables or on the ground on a blanket most people won't stop. If you take the time and hang clothes up nicely on a clothes rack it will come off to the customer that you have taken care of those clothes and are organized. You can get clothes racks for as cheap as 9.99. You might have to spend a little bit of money for organization (like renting tables, buying clothes racks, etc.) but it will make up for it in the sales.
3. Eye Catching Signs
This kind of goes hand in hand with organization but if you put small signs up over items like the clothes rack that say "Unless marked items are (money amount) each. That way it saves YOU from a million of the same questions!
4. Have Enough Change
It looks really bad on you if your customer comes up to pay and he owes 4.50 and hands you a $20 bill and you look back and say "sorry I don't have change." I have seen a person put the stuff down and leave. Especially those expert garage salers because they know they can probably get something similar at another sale. I recommend to have twenty $1 bills and about 5 dollars in various coins just to completely prepared.
5. Be Prepared to Bargain
Not everyone that comes to your sale is going to willingly pay the price you have listed. Most anyone knows that you can haggle your way to a lower price but you have to pick and choose your battles. If it is a small difference in price I usually am okay with it because really what is the point in spring cleaning if you aren't going to get rid of it. I will usually cut a few dollars out too if someone is buying a bulk of my clothes or round it down to the nearest dollar just to make it more appealing to them.
