Tips for Having a Successful Yard or Garage Sale

Yes folks it is that time of the year again, it is time for our annual Spring Cleaning. It is time to clean out the attack, basement, and/or garage. It is time to go through the house and get rid of all those unwanted things or those things that we no longer use or will ever use. But instead of throwing them things away why not turn all your unwanted items into cash??

We have heard that saying, “One’s man trash is another man’s treasure”. So turn your trash into cash by having a Yard/Garage Sale. Just think of the extra cash and space you’ll gain, and if a Yard/Garage Sale is done correctly it can be fun. How you ask? Well I will tell you. Just follow the following steps and you will be sure to make the maximum amount of money for your trash and have fun at the same time.

~Yard/Garage Sale Tips~

• Choose a good money making day such as a Saturday and make it around the 1st of the month or the 15th of the month. These are typical paydays. I always make mine on the Saturday that either falls on the 3rd of the month of the Saturday following the 3rd of the month, because there is currently 50 million people in the US that are on Social Security Benefits, and then there are a lot of people that get paid on the 1st of the month. This is the best way to generate a better Yard/Garage Sale.

• Next when you set up your sale make sure to arrange things for easy browsing such as, group same prices items on a table or box (for books, etc.) with a single visible sign, and use office-supply stickers for larger items.

• If things don’t sell quickly then make sure to lower there price with new stickers or signs. DO NOT mark out previous price and then add new lower price, remove sign or sticker and replace with new sign or sticker. If you are unable to remove sticker without have to scrap it or wash it off then just replace old sticker with new sticker by placing new sticker over old sticker.

• When pricing make sure to use a black marker and make sure to print clearly, or print your signs and sticker prices from your computer and printer.

• Maximize your efforts by having a “Block Party”, this is joining up with your neighbors to have several sales on one street or combine all into one location. If you combine many people into one location sale then use different colored stickers and assign one color for each neighbor, then when items sale make sure to stick the colored sticker tags on a tally sheet.

• Make sure to have a cash box or bag that is stocked with the following to have enough change to start your sale with: One roll of quarters, $25.00 in $1 bills, and a few $5 and $10 bills too.

• DO NOT dump clothing into a box or pile them on a table. Hang ALL clothing items from a clothes line or rope. Display jewelry and hang necklaces or lay them out individually so they do not tangle. Make sure to place a mirror nearby for buyers can check themselves out. You can place a NOT FOR SALE sign or sticker on the mirror.

• Often local newspapers and radio stations announce information for free as does craigslist.org. Make sure to include in your listing or announcement the date of sale, the time of sale, the address of sale, and the directions of sale from a major/popular intersection or highway, and list any items of interest that will make people come to your sale. Put up Posters made of sturdy foam board at KEY intersections near your street, and/or hang flyer's with tear off info in public spaces like your church, grocery store, laundry mat, etc. If you want to you can include your phone number, some people may call to see if they can come the day/night before the sale to look at your stuff, I always let them that way I sell items for a good price. Please before posting any signs consult your area rules and ordinances.

• Make sure when people come to your sell that you greet them with a hello, or good morning. People like to be acknowledge, and make sure that when they seem real interested in something you have for sale that you walk over to them and talk about that item, be a salesman and sale that item baby.

• Also just because you looked up any of your items to see what they are selling for in eBay or other sites or what they are worth DOES NOT MEAN THAT YOU CAN GET THAT PRICE AT YOUR SALE!! You are going to have dealers at your sale that are looking for a great price so that they can resale and make a profit from it too. So anything that has a price listed for it online then you need to sale that item at least 25% less then the item price online. Otherwise you WILL NOT sell it, and then you are stuck with it. Now if the item you are selling is a HOT selling item online then you might consider NOT selling it in your Yard/Garage Sale and sell it online.

• If you follow these steps to a tee then you should profit from your sale and have fun too. I love to go Yard/Garage Sailing and I love having my own Yard/Garage Sales. If you want to know why you should take advice from me is because my family has been going to and having their own Yard/Garage sales now for 4 generations and we have become what you could call PROS.

*REMEMBER: This is a Yard/Garage Sale and just because you are selling a pair of designer jeans that you have never worn and they still have the price tag on them and you gave $150.00 for them, you CAN NOT sale them for more then $5.00. You have to be VERY reasonable with your prices. Most things in Yard/Garage Sales sell for $.25 cents to $5.00. For antiques and such you need to always sale them for at least 25% less then the going price online or in stores.

Good Luck and Happy Sailing!!!!