Our Annual Spring Garage Sale is scheduled for April 5 and 6 (Friday/Saturday), 2024. We’ll post signs at our three entrance locations and put the flyers in the cup holders. Flyers contain the addresses of those who participate and list some primary sale items.
It should be a doozy of a garage sale, so start preparing now. Save the date; additional detailed information will be provided closer to the event date.
In the meantime, here are some tips for a successful garage sale!
1. Have a goal: A goal is something that you want to attain, complete, or achieve. How much stuff do you need or want to sell? How much money do you want to make?
2. Price as you gather items: Don’t plan on pricing the night before the sale. You’ll be too stressed and tired to make good choices. Instead, price items as you gather them. Pricing takes forever. And you want to price ahead of your sale; otherwise, you’ll lose money if people come and you don’t know what you want for an item.
MORE ON ITEM PRICING BELOW
3. People want a bargain: People who come to a garage sale want to bargain hunt. They expect everything to be at a deep discount. It may be brand new and still have the original tag, but people expect a bargain since you’re selling it from your garage or lawn.
4. Set up the day before: Give yourself a day ahead of the garage sale to set up. If items will be kept outside overnight, cover them with large tarps or old sheets to keep them protected. Set up your sale like it’s a fun shopping experience. Put your borrowed tables to work so everything is easy to see, and no one has to bend over to look at something. Use books or sturdy shallow boxes as table risers to add varying heights and more focal points.
6. Get ready to accept digital payments: Want another hint for having a successful garage sale? Make it easier for shoppers to buy your items by accepting digital payments. Download a free app like Venmo, Cash App, or PayPal to your smartphone. You can also check out services like Square or Stax to accept card payments. It’s true that cash is always king, but taking other forms of payment can help with sales. Garage sale tip: Ensure you have a working hot spot if your Wi-Fi signal is sketchy.
7. Advertising & Social Media: Post it on as many apps, garage sale finders, and social media sites for your area as you can. Include pictures of your best items if pics are allowed; include descriptions if not. Descriptions like” “Antique farming equipment,” “children’s furniture,” “gardening tools,” etc., give a real sense of what to expect.
8. Look Around For Ways To Make A Deal: If it’s the end of the day and you really want to move your items, let customers fill up a bag with items at a $5 or $10 flat rate. Remember those grab bags at the store when you were little? That same concept still works for adults at a yard sale!
9. Be Ready: Be set up and ready for business very early. 6 AM is a good time. You’ll get the most serious shoppers in the early morning hours.
10. Tables: Borrow tables from friends to display items. You really can’t have too many tables.
11. Team Work: Make sure you have at least one person working the garage sale with you so you can take restroom breaks and watch for theft. People will steal. This goes for small or higher priced items as well.
12. Have Change: Have cash for change, but also accept mobile payments. Cash app, Venmo, etc.
13. Sell in Bulk: I personally like to mark an entire set of something for sale rather than sell one by one. For example, a box of 100 or so CDs for $50 rather than marking each one for a dollar each. You might make less money (assuming they would all sell), but you would rather just have it gone.
14. Clean and Organize: CLEAN your garage pre-sale. Organize your stuff. People complimented me all the time because I had like with like.
16. Labeling: Label anything that is NOT FOR SALE.
17. Clean, Clean, Clean: Dust and clean any items that look grungy. The bottom line is to make your stuff look nice!
18. Electronics: Have an electric cord handy for anyone who wants to test electronics.
19. Pricing: Be honest with yourself about value. Do you want money, or do you want it gone?
20. People Will Buy: Selling cold pop/water/snacks is nice, especially on a hot summer day.
How to Price Garage Sale Items
When it comes to garage sale pricing, you’ve got to put yourself in the shoes of the buyer. What would you pay for that item at a similar garage sale? What would be too much? What would be so cheap you felt like you stole it? Here are some garage sale pricing tips for all that good stuff you just cleaned out of your house.
Baby Clothes: Suggested price: $1 to $3 for items that are gently used or in good condition, and less than $1 for well-worn items
Adult Clothes: Suggested price: $3 to $5 (more if the item still has tags on it)
Shoes: Suggested price: $3 to $7
Coats: Suggested price: $5 to $15
Jewelry: Suggested price: 50 cents to $2 (but if you think the jewelry is valuable, have it appraised first)
Books: Suggested price: $1 to $2 for hardcover and 25 to 50 cents for paperback
Blu-Ray Discs, DVDs or CDs: Suggested price: $3 to $5
Toys and Games: Suggested price: $1 to $3
Home Décor: Suggested price: $3 to $5
Kitchenware: Suggested price: $1 to $3 for kitchen gadgets and no more than one-third of the retail price for small kitchen appliances
Power Tools: Suggested price: $10 to $50
Furniture: Suggested price: $10 to $50 for low-quality pieces (a dream for people looking for cheap furniture to fix and flip) and no more than one-third of the retail price for high-quality items.
1. Bigger items call for bigger price tags: Don’t make the buyer search for a tiny sticker on that armoire you’re selling. Make it big, noticeable, and attractive to the buyer
2. Bundle items: It’s easy to pass up DVDs or books at $5 a pop. But if you offer them at four for $10, you’re sure to catch someone’s attention.
3. Don’t Hike: Don’t hike up your prices and expect to haggle.
4. Remember: You’re trying to make extra money here. Price your items so they’ll sell. Period. Don’t set the starting price high and expect your customers to haggle you down. Many potential buyers will walk away from big prices and never even bother to haggle—and you just lost a potential sale.
5. Make prices visible: Make sure your prices are in plain view. To save time, you can also group similarly priced items together with a sign that breaks down the cost.
6. Pricing Stickers: Use colored stickers and hang up a chart that specifies the cost by color. For instance, green stickers are $1, blue stickers are $5, and red stickers are $10.
7. Bigger items call for bigger price tags: Don’t make the buyer search for a tiny sticker on that armoire you’re selling. Make it big, noticeable, and attractive to the buyer.
Above all, have fun!
