Next weekend our neighborhood is having its annual garage sale and our family is selling a few things along with some friends. Here are a few easy tips on helping your garage sale be successful.
- Advertise– get the word out! Listing your garage sale on craigslist (a must) and local newspaper will help ensure you get the most important thing there. CUSTOMERS! Also make sure when you are listing your garage sale that you list items that most garage salers want. For example, kids clothes, toys, tools, and antiques.
- Make sure you have enough stuff – people often don't want to come up to your sale if they see you don't have very much stuff. If you can't gather enough stuff then ask friends and family to go in together with you. From personal experience I don't want to go up to a house that doesn't have a lot of stuff and isn't worth my time to get my whole family out of the car.
- Display your most coveted items closest to the street – often people won't stop if they don't see items they want when casually driving buy. If you display kids clothes, toys, tools, or antiques by the street then it will probably drive up your traffic.
- Make stuff as attractive as can be – dust off old tools, toys, etc and display everything on tables in an orderly fashion. Also grouping similar items together creates a system of organization and will help customers sort through stuff they want. Have clothes sizes grouped together accordingly and clearly marked so customers know where to find what they need.
- Put a clearly marked price tag on everything– you can buy some cheap price tags from a local department store and they come in bright colors so customers won't miss it. Also if you have a group of stuff that is similar in value then group them together and say “everything in this tub for $1 each” .
- Plenty of extra cash and coins – also by pricing things in quarter intervals this will help you not have to deal in pennies, nickels, and dimes.
- Have bags available – help customers with the items they've purchased by having extra grocery bags for them to be able to neatly carry their items.
- Show that things work– if you have electrical equipment that requires either batteries or being plugged in then make sure they are equipped and/or an electrical outlet is nearby.
- Have a lemonade stand – if you have a five year old that is itching to earn a little extra cash then setup a lemonade stand. This will not only help your child make a little extra dough, but also attracts people. When people see a crowd it often attracts others and will help generate traffic through your garage. (Just make sure you teach your child about proper hygiene!)
Hope these tips help you this spring/summer and ensure your garage sale is a success.
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