Saturday, June 9, 2012

What will you give me for it?

If you are like me and you go to a lot of garage sales, eventually you end up with a lot of stuff in your basement, garage and attic that you no longer use because you've replaced it with cool stuff you got at a garage sale.

Rented child loading wagon
Soooooo . . . . . . .

Time to have a garage sale and clean out my basement and garage so I can make room for more stuff.

Here's my short list of how to best go about preparing for your next garage sale.

1.  If you don't have one or more of your own, rent or borrow a small child who can do labor for you. Mine is 11 years old. She's my niece. She can't carry a lot, but she is really good at painting signs, cleaning, pricing, making displays, and counting money. Less work for me. Plus, she gets to sell stuff and make some money.

Rented child merchandising her own products
2.  Put out a good Craigslist ad. Garage sale junkies like me depend on Craigslist to find the best sales. A good Craigslist ad should list a lot of the items you are selling so people (like me) can decide if it is worth it to make the trip to your house. Ideally, you should be posting your Craigslist ad sometime in the week before your sale.

3. Pre-pricing. To price or not to price your items. My niece and I, we like to put price tags on things. What's a garage sale if you can't go to the drug store, buy some little stickers and adhere them to anything that's not tied down? Even so, when things are priced, people will still ask what you want for it. The lesson here: people want to haggle at garage sales. So even if you are pre-pricing, take that into consideration and give yourself some room to negotiate. People are always happier if they feel like they're gettin' a deal. I know I am.

4.  Pickers like to pick. Since I am totally drawn in by visual gorgeousness, I have to at least put some pretty displays out near the street because I believe it draws people in. But remember that "pickers" are often people drawn to chaos and the idea that they might dig through some things to find a treasure. So while you might do a little merchandising, leave a few things in boxes for the pickers to pick through.

5. Don't forget to have some change on hand. You want to be able to take people's cash immediately and give them change back if necessary.

6. Relax. Having a garage sale--much like going to them--is an opportunity to connect with fellow pickers. Maybe stock a cooler with bottled water to offer people if it's a hot day. Plan to hang out, sit and chat with your neighbors, who will undoubtedly stop by and maybe even buy something.

bootie one of my neighbors bought
7. Prepare yourself for failure. Nobody sells everything at a garage sale, not even you with your circa 1989 wok and your 1980s fishnet scarf with the knots on the ends (oops, that was me, not you). I plan a 1-DAY SALE ONLY, and then just put the leftover stuff in the back of the Jeep and head to Goodwill. But even before I get that far. I'll pile up the stuff that's going to Goodwill right near the curb, stick a FREE sign on it and see what happens. I live in the city, so there's free-style curbside pickin' goin' on all the time.



It's a hot one today, so we didn't get a lot of traffic, but so far I've taken in over $100, so that doesn't suck!

Happy pickin' y'all!

It's my birthday and I'm partying at:

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26 comments:

  1. Hey, a hundred bucks would get me 3 new interior doors! I'd take it, lol!

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    1. Absolutely, Sue! You know I'm gonna put that money to good use. It's my birthday today, so there's no telling what kind of trouble I might get into with $100 in my pocket. Thanks for stopping by!

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  2. Great tips for having a yard sale. Part of the fun of doing a yard sale is chatting with the neighbors, like you mentioned.
    I'm happy to be a new follower and hope you'll stop by, Mary Alice

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    1. Thanks for visiting and for joining me, Mary Alice. I just got back from your blog and I am happily your newest follower. You have some lovely vintage vignettes and I was totally smitten the minute I started scrolling through your posts. Thanks for the comment love!

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  3. Great garage sale tips. I used to have one every six months with my friends when my boys were young. They loved helping out and going through their closets to find stuff to sell. My only rule was that once it left the house, it wasn't coming back in. Everything that didn't sell would just get donated. Following along your blog too via GFC. Thanks for visiting:-)

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    1. Thanks, Betsy, for following and for the comment love. It feels good to purge some stuff from my house.

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  4. Replies
    1. Thanks, Gail. Love your blog! Thanks for the birthday wishes too! You're very sweet.

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  5. Thank you for your tips, very helpful actually, thank you.

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    1. Thanks, Erika, for stopping by. Glad you found the post helpful.

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    2. Thanks, Erika, for stopping by. Glad you found the post helpful.

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  6. Did you sell the Wok? Me want-y.

    Reading from hotel room in DC,

    Sally

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    1. Sorry. The wok went to Goodwill yesterday afternoon. But I still have a pair of cross-country skiis you might like. ;-)

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  7. Great advice. I like a one day sale too! Jane

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  8. All good advice. Hope you find wonderful treasures to buy with your hard earned money... Connie

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  9. Came over from Frugal Treasures to see the garage sale tips. I haven't had one in years. I live on a one block street and the traffic was too much for the neighbors. That is a tip I would add - warn the neighbors! I love that you are able to do the Free Stuff pile on the curb. Our city no longer lets anyone do that. The city will come by and spray paint the stuff with day-glo orange paint and charge $35 to haul it away! So much for being an All-American city for recycling!

    Distressed Donna Down Home

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    1. Excellent tip, warning the neighbors. Guess I'm lucky to live in a city that's still lettin' people be curbside pickers. Plus, when it's all said and done, you can call the city to come do bulk pick-up for FREE to haul it away. But I still carted all the crap to Goodwill.

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  10. Now this is great advice. Thanks! I was going to follow, but I see that I already am a follower!

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  11. Great tips! Thanx for sharing at THT!

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    1. Always happy to be a part of the fun at your place, Pamela! Thanks for stopping by!

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  12. Very good tips Peggy! I hope all was successful and you now have lots of space for "new" treasures! Thank you for sharing at TTF and have a great day!

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  13. Hi Peggy ! Thanks for visiting my blog :) You're almost not a newbie anymore ! Congrats on your blog success :) I love your garage sale tips. I would add one more - There is a new device that allows you to take debit card payments through your smartphone (http://intuit-gopayment.com/free/home-138QY-27828B.html) ... This is great because I'm the kind of person that doesn't always plan a stop to a garage sale, so I don't always have cash on me. Or I might not carry enough cash, but en up having a very productive day... With no contracts or monthly fees (just a small %age per swipe), it's great so you can cater to more than just cash carriers. :)

    I'm a new follower, too :D Thanks !!

    Jackie
    imathriftaholic.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you, Jackie, for getting me closer to my 100th follower. I am definitely going to look into getting one of those devices for my droid. I want to research what the per transaction fees are first. I enjoyed visiting your blog too!

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