Garage Sale

1. They say you have 52 items in your house that you don't use and it could bring you as much as $3,200.00. Go through every room in your house and look at things you don't really care for anymore or don't match your decor. Even if it is in bad shape someone else can fix it up. Get rid of old collections.

2. OK let's admit it, how long has it been since you saw the garage floor or parked the car in there? It's those boxes and sacks of stuff that is giving us nightmares every time you go out there. There are things we have had boxed up for years and not used, We also have those fad and theme items that we are tired of looking at and would just like to replace with something new or of a new color. Think of all these things as your trash and someone else's treasure. You can't imagine what people will buy. Your oldest, dumbest item may be something someone else is collecting!! So what is the best way to get rid of those things and make some money for new items at the same time? Have a "GARAGE SALE"! Usually you can only have a sale every six months but you can have it when you want. Check with your city offices for local rules. Ask - most communities require a license to have a garage sale. Most are only around $5.00. You will probably have to post your license in a prominent place. Also be sure and place an ad in the garage sale section of your local newspaper. Be sure and ask your city official the rules for placement of signs giving your address. If you put out signs, don't forget to go back and take them down after the sale (unless your community states they are not allowed.)

3. My family has been going to garage sales for about 30 years. You can throw some items in the driveway and put a sign up but if you really want to sell more items and make the most from your sale, you will have to follow these well known, tried and true" garage sale rules.

4. Check in your local newspaper or rental store and you can usually rent tables and clothes racks for as little as a dollar a day per item. Check with your church to see if they rent their tables. Plan to take a pickup trailer to get items as the tables are usually 6 foot long and very heavy and the clothes racks are too large for a car and cannot be unasembled. If you don't want to rent items you can brace a heavy rod between two step ladders and place an old door or piece of plywood across two saw horses for a table. Your picnic table will hold a lot but be sure and put a "not for sale" sign on the table.

5. Be sure your items are clean and dust free. Dig out old magazines, books, cookbooks, novels, even patterns.

6. You must put clothes out - folded or hung - DO NOT LEAVE THEM THROWN IN BOXES! Clothes will sell best if they are in some sort of size order, especially children's clothes. If sizes aren't on clothes, put a size sticker on them or a sign in front of a stack stating sizes.
If they are folded and stacked, you can have them in a box. Be sure it is marked 0-3 mos, 3-6 mos, etc. Be sure boxes of clothes and books are up on a table. Older folks have a problem bending over and going through boxes on the ground. You can loose a lot of sales this way. IMPORTANT RULE 1- price all items. We noticed the last sale we had that you can now buy small packages of price sheets. Little sticky circles with $1, 50c, etc., so you can either mark your own or not. You can use masking tape if you don't want to buy the sticky circles. But always remember, lookers don't like to ask "How much?" If more than one family are selling items you will need to place an initial on the price stickers on each item, it is easy to add up everyone's sales if you know how much each person sold. Place the price stickers in a notebook and add them up after the sale.

7. When you put your ad in the newspaper you want to state "4" main items:

a. It is best to state "no checks" because you can get taken on high priced items. Hot check writers prey on garage sales also. A person who really wants an item will agree to go get cash if they don't have it with them. A small down payment of cash can hold an item until they return. Don't mark an item "sold" without a payment because they may never come back and you will probably lose three or four chances to sell the item and have it left over at the end of the day.

b. Be sure you list your address and add directions, if it is hard to find.

c. State "No early birds." Some towns have inspectors who check to see if you are selling early. You can get fined if caught. Some antique dealers, resellers and flea market owners will try to get you to sell to them before dawn. They get around faster than the average saler but stick to your guns and tell them "no early sales." They will tell you they can't come back, but believe me, if they really want your items, they will come back. You have to be firm with them.

d. State the day(s) and time your sale will be. You don't need to spend a lot of money on the article by listing items unless you have something special, like a collection, antiques, etc. The word "miscellaneous" will suffice and people will come by no matter what you are selling. Do not state "A gigantic" sale when you only have a couple of items. Unless you have a really large amount of items for sale just don't mention it.

8. You are wanting to get rid of things, not build a college fund for the kids - garage salers will buy if prices are cheap. They can buy a new item at the store so they will pass up your item if it is too high, especially if it is used. Remember you are not a store selling new items and even if you have a new item, not used, you still should not expect to get the original price for it. If you want too much for your items you may be hauling them back into the garage at the end of the day. There are people who make a living setting up and running garage sales for you. Unless you are selling an estate full of antiques this is not financially worth it. These people price your items way up in order to make their cut plus some know that they can make more money by buying all the left overs at next to nothing.
Antique dealers and store owners and collectors do well at Estate Sales but they cannot be considered a Garage Sale.

9. Be sure you have PLENTY OF CASH (about $200.00 is good) to start your garage sale. Your first customers will probably buy a dollar item and give you a $20.00 bill - especially if you are their first garage sale of the day. You will need lots of five and one dollar bills and quarters. Be sure you have grocery sacks to bag items. If you have lots of nice glass items, have newspapers available to wrap them in. You don't want to be running into the house for wrapping materials and people will buy more if they can put it in sacks. Keep in mind that if you haven't used an item for the last 5 years, chances are you can do without it and your trash may be someone else's treasure. You'll be surprised what people collect, look for, need and buy at your garage sale.

10. Be sure you have enough room for people to move around your tables. You will sell more if people can see more and aren't running into each other.

11. If you have to have your sale inside the garage due to rain or windy weather, be sure you have a bright light bulb in or pull your floor lamp from inside. A dim garage makes it hard to see and some nice items may appear dingy in the dim light and not sell.

12. If you have a cordless phone, have it out, or pull your phone near the garage door. You might make a sale you'd otherwise lose if a saler needs to check with someone else before buying. You never want someone going into your home to use the phone unless you know them.

13. Small items like jewelry, and other more expensive items should be placed near where you are sitting collecting money. Some kids and a "few" dishonest people have been known to pocket such items and leave without paying. A good view of your whole sale area is recommended and the best place to sit is in the line of departure not in the back of the garage.

14. Be sure glass items are washed and unused items dusted off. They will have a better chance of leaving with someone if they are clean. Don't try to sell all those jelly glasses or the single rose vases individually. You will have better luck selling a box full of vases or glasses.

15. If an appliance works, state so and have an extension cord available for people to try it. If it doesn't work, say so. Don't lie about it because they may want to plug it in and you don't want to be embarrassed. If the item has a small flaw, like needing a switch, tell them because some people can fix small items. If the item is only good for parts, put a note on it stating that.

16. You can polish the chrome on strollers, highchairs and play pens with a pieced of wadded up foil. Making items look nice doesn't take much and can mean the difference between getting $5 or $15 for an item.

17. A suggestion for that piece of wallpaper left on a role would be to sell it as paper for scrap booking. Make all items useful by suggesting something. Things will sell if someone else can use them. If you have children encourage them to put their old toys in the sale and make extra money. Also pieces of scrap material are a quilters delight.

18. Don't be afraid to throw some things in the trash can.

19. If you have items hanging in the garage or in the yard that are not for sale, put "not for sale" signs up or cover them with an old sheet. If you don't everyone will want to buy the tools on the wall or the wind chime collection hanging near the garage.

20. Be sure the family pet is put up and not running loose among the salers - pets bite or scratch when you
least expect it. Some people are hesitant to walk around an unfamiliar pet. People bring their children
who love to pet or tease pets and you certainly don't want to be sued if your pet bites someone.

IMPORTANT RULE 2 -If your spouse or friends, are around that day tell them not to stand around the tables visiting!!! This is one of my pet peeves. I really hate to try to look and have someone's husband standing in the way visiting with his neighbor (this seems to happen a lot). Tell the spouse to get a chair, sit down and watch the cash box or watch as people leave. Another irritant to salers is having to watch out for your kids. Don't let them ride tricycles or skate boards around where people are looking. You can put the kids at a card table of their own with their toys for sale or
let them sell sodas. At a recent sale of ours we let the teenagers sell hot dogs off the grill and had they hollar "Hot dogs. Eat and shop". If this won't work it is a good idea if you can find a friend or family member who will keep the kids occupied somewhere else during your sale. The more confusion, the easier it is for someone to leave without paying for an item.

If you are selling items you got overseas, put a note on it saying where it came from. Someone might buy it because they know it was actually purchased overseas.

Check the garage sale list for people who will buy or haul off all your leftover sale items. This will save you having to keep them or dispose of them yourself. If you have some nice items left over you might want to check into places that will take donated items. The Salvation Army and other helping organizations take items and you can look into women's shelters that usually take clothes. Be sure and get a receipt and you can use it at tax time.

You might also sell leftovers on eBay or Craig's List on the internet. Our town has a local website that lets you list classifieds for free.