10 Tips To Making Money At A Garage Sale

Every year, my family has a garage sale. I think my wife is addicted to having one every year. We'll stress out, work setting it up, plan, laugh, and even fight about what is being sold. When it is all over, we may come out with a few extra bucks. Great memories right? In hopes of making this year's garage sale more enjoyable and successful, I came across a few tips to share. Here we go.

After going through garage sales basically every year, I decided to do some research on ways to make our garage sale successful. I hope these tips from moneysavingmom.com help you as they helped us redefine our garage sales.

1. Collect stuff year-round

This really does help and takes the pressure off trying to 'find stuff' to sell. When you come upon something you no longer need or use, stick it in a box under the stairs. Boxes from Home Depot, Lowe's, Menard's, local grocery stores. Boxes are everywhere.

2. Have a Plan
A successful garage sale does not just happen. You have to be organized. It also doesn't happen overnight. Starting about 2-3 weeks out, go and set up tables. Put everything out, price everything, and take your time. You're suppose to be enjoying the experience. Planning and working ahead will keep you from stressing out and blowing a gasket. Trust me. I've seen my wife meltdown a time or two in my 30 year marriage. Organization is the key.

3. Modern Family Time
One of my best advise to you when it comes to garage sales is never do them on your own. Always find friends or family to team up with. Not only does this arrangement mean you have more stuff to sell and more variety in sizes and types of things offered, it also means you have more help. Divvying up the responsibilities between 3 or 4 people makes a garage sale much more fun. Add wine and it actually become fun setting up the sale. Add donuts and coffee the morning of and you'll be making friendships and memories for years.

4. Location, Location, Location!

If you want to have a garage sale that flops, pick a location which is off-the-beaten-path and hard to get to. That’s a surefire way to lose a lot of business.
Don’t live near a busy intersection? Well, look for alternative locations like a friend or relative’s home.
This is probably the key to every garage sale success. If a friend or relative lives on a busy street or corner, use their garage if you can talk them into it.

5. Timing.

Winter? No. Early Spring yes. Always start on a Thursday. Thursday thru Saturday is about all you handle because by the third day, you just want it to be over.

6. Clearly Mark Your Prices

It’s easy to want to just stick a big sign on a table saying that everything on that table is a quarter, but, in the long-run, it is much more efficient to go ahead and put price stickers on everything. Instead of having to make up prices on the spot, people will know exactly how much something is. In addition, some people are too shy to ask the price of an item, so you’ll lose a sale if an item isn’t marked. Stickers from the store, or even masking take and a marker do the trick. Also, if you have family members selling, use different marker colors to keep track of who is making money and who isn't.

7. Price Things to Sell

People expect to pay yard sale prices. Unless something is brand-new with the tags on, I No one is going to pay more than a few quarters for an item. Price things as if you were buying it and not what you think you can make off of it. Remember, everything must go!

8. Advertise well

The marketing of your sale is usually the number-one factor in how well your sale does. You can have great items, great prices and a great location, but if you don’t tell people how to get there, they won’t find it on their own. So put some time and effort into making a number of quality, clearly-readable signs which you put in conspicuous places to easily lead to your home. The brighter, bolder and bigger the sign, the better. We even use balloons to capture an eyeball or two.

9. Mark Things Down on the Last Day

Remember, everything must go!

10. Don’t forget treats .

Yes, you can sell them too. A lemonade stand or a cookie is hard to pass up. Better yet, use the little ones to teach them about business, and to make you day more enjoyable.

These are just a few tips. Just remember this one thought. You're not going to get rich with a garage sale. It is the experience. Then in the end, if you make $50 bucks like we have many times, you feel like it was fun. Plus, you'll meet some of the most interesting people ever.

Enjoy and good luck.