How to Have the Best Garage Sale Ever

And get the whole family involved

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash

Garage Sales. You either love ‘em or hate ‘em. I love them.

Since the time we had a garage in my house growing up, we had an annual garage sale. And I don’t know what it is about them (well, maybe I do and will share as this story evolves) that I love so much but part of it, well probably most of it, is the actual organization of putting a sale together. Taking what to others may seem like total chaos and making it meaningful, marketable and manageable gives me great satisfaction!

When I was a kid, we’d set out household items and clothes and price things a dime or a quarter. We’d keep the coins separated in an old tin muffin pan because I’m sure my mom saw someone else do it that way. We’d open up early and have it on the designated day(s) and it was such a rush to see someone come up and buy some things you no longer needed or had outgrown and left you with 75 cents as they walked back down your driveway to their car.

When we bought our first house as newlyweds, I started to have an annual garage sale and have now had an embarrassingly large number of them, so much so that I consider myself an expert who has learned a few things over the years. I’ll gladly share them with you now.

Here are my tips to have your best garage sale ever:

1) Collection Spot. Throughout the year make a collection spot that you can take things in your home when you no longer need them, want them or fit in them. For us, it’s a designated area in our basement. That way, when sale time comes, you’re not scrambling around gathering things, looking for things, or trying to figure out where you put all the things!

2) Pricing. For a garage sale, one must price things to sell. You are not going to get retail price or even clearance price for the items that I know you paid “good money” for. You are going to get garage sale prices and that equates to cheap. But, you also want to make it worth your time too when you price the items. So, for example, this is what I do. I find a large table and make a sign for items on the table: 50 cents each. Items such as glasses, small décor, jewelry, trinkets, etc. go on this table. I do not price every single item, one sign on the table will suffice.

I do not have anything cheaper than 50 cents either. I learned a while back that quarters add up way faster than dimes! ☺ Hanging clothes are $2 each, books are 50 cents, and bigger items go for more. Larger pictures and lamps go for $5, large rugs $10, electronics and hunting items $15 and furniture pieces $25-$35 dollars. You get the idea.

Go to the bank and have plenty of cash on hand: quarters, ones, fives and tens. Nowadays you may want to put your own QR code printed out and taped to the collection table to take payments by Venmo. If you want a profitable sale AND clear out a ton of stuff you don’t wear or use, this is the way to go! Win-win!

3) Organize and clean. The weekend before the sale my husband (he’s a saint!) cleans out the garage. I’m talking hoses it out and sweeps, cleans it out and maybe even finds some more stuff to sell.

Also clean up the items you are going to sell. We wipe off the grill, dust off the speakers, wash the clothes, and set up the sale with “like items” set out together, for example. Clothes beside the shoes, purses, belts, etc. Outside items grouped together: mower, grill, garden items, etc. Books, magazines, games and toys are stashed together to sell.

If it’s a nice day, carry things outside to set along the driveway to give curb appeal and color to your sale. Entice people to park and shop. Lay things out nicely on the tables, don’t leave things in boxes or totes, display folded clothes by sizes and divide men’s from women’s, kids from baby’s clothes, girls from boy’s clothes. I promise you’ll sell more!

4) Marketing. Make enough signs for people to be able to find your sale. Buy some sturdy poster board (the same color of any neon is good) and a new fat Sharpie. Write on your sign “Garage Sale”, your address and the times. Hint: Start by 7am. Put a sign out on a busy cross street, then make directional signs so that they can find you. Put an ad on Facebook, Craigslist or the like. Tie balloons out on your mailbox if you like, put traffic cones in your driveway and maybe hang a “no smoking” sign if you are so inclined. Have pleasant music playing, greet customers with a smile and a hello, and carry your money on your waist in a fanny pack or in a crossbody purse so you can get up and move around to talk to customers or straighten things up when people leave.

You want to create an atmosphere where people want to stay, shop and buy! One year my husband even grilled hotdogs (we sold a hotdog, a little bag of chips and a soda for $1) out in the driveway at lunch time, remember, I told you he was a saint!

5) Get the kids involved. Kids can be a big help, and it can be a lesson in entrepreneurship when you let them have a lemonade stand, bake sale or even sell their former toys. Children are usually game for helping make signs and set up/set out items. Let them earn their own money for the help they give. Allow them to collect the money and learn how to make change, practice conversational skills with people (where are my sweet homeschool families at?) and learn to be a budding marketer. Who knows, it may spark a lifelong interest of some sort!

I hope you give a garage sale a try this year! Yes, it’s work but it’s fun to get rid of things you no longer need AND have a stash of cash by the end of the day! If you have a garage sale, let me know if you have any questions, need help with pricing an item, or more ways to get the kids involved! If you accepted my decluttering challenge in yesterday’s note, then you are well on your way for stocking your sale!

I brake for garage sales, maybe I’ll see you out there!

Until next time,

Brooke