I’m having a garage sale on Saturday so you know my to-do list is heavy this week! I’ve been participating in my community’s garage sale for several years now, but if you haven’t had one yourself, here are some tips I’ve learned:
- Clean out your garage and think through the “floor plan” of how you want your customers to walk through. I use a U shape with a skinny table in the middle to maximize visible table space – and my ability to keep people away from the tools/garden supplies I’m not selling. The U also blocks people from accessing the door to my house – bonus!
- Use the driveway if you can! Big showy pieces in the drive help draw people in. I like to line the sides of my drive with tubs of merchandise or extra tables if I can get them!
- Offer refreshments. But not the free kind! I bake cookies and brownies – nobody EVER haggles over the price for them (unlike any other item for sale)! I also sell bottled water because even on cool days, nothing sells faster than a cold bottle of water to people walking around a bunch of garage sales! I get $1 for 4 cookies or 2 brownies or a bottle of water – and I usually make more money with my refreshments than I do with my other items.
- “Fluff” your merchandise a lot. I’ve found that rearranging the items regularly helps them sell. I can’t explain it – I just know it works.
- Run an extension cord so people can test out electric items. They’re more likely to buy that old lamp or fan if they can see it works.
- Make it a party. I invite all my friends to participate – it makes for a better assortment of stuff to sell and it’s more fun to have your friends with you for the day!
- Use social media. Most towns seem to have a Facebook Garage Sale page these days so take advantage of it. Take pictures of major items for sale and post them the day before your sale with directions/hours. Twitter and Instagram also offer you opportunities to post pictures and sale info. You’ll be surprised at how fast you can sell the things you post with or without an actual sale in your garage.
I’ve got to get moving now and start sorting/pricing my stuff – but if you want more tips for hosting a garage sale, check out these sites:
Learn Or Do 