Thinking Of Holding A Garage Sale?
Garage sales can be a lot of fun, a great family activity and an awesome way to make some extra money and kick start your savings. If you don’t need or use an item any more, sell it!Here are some tips on how to run a garage sale that can help you make money and declutter your house:
Picking a day and time to hold a garage sale:
The day you choose for your garage sale has the ability to make or break the success of your garage sale.
Thinking about Saturday? Saturday is the both the traditional and best day to hold a garage sale – as many people enjoy spending their Sunday relaxing or spending time with the family.
What about long weekends? Long weekends and public holidays can also be a good time, while many people go away – there are also many people who are at home relaxing with nothing to do meaning more people could attend your garage sale.
The best time of the day to kick off your garage sale is early (around 7-8am) and run until around 1 or 2pm. Around 11-12pm is when you will see the most foot traffic to your garage sale so staying open over that period could help you gain more customers. Take note: although your garage sale might not start until 7-8am, people will probably show up before the posted time.
Advertising and promoting a garage sale:
Signs are they key! You will need to place highly visible signs that are easy to read and are descriptive around your neighborhood – the goal is to surround a 2km radius of your property with signs directing them back to your address.
Some other great ideas to advertise your sale are place an ad in your local newspaper, post your garage sale on Gumtree (it’s free!) or placing a promotional sign at your local shopping centres or community centres – majority of these outlets have notice boards you can place information on. You would be surprised how many people stop and look!
Remember, any advertising you do for your garage sale don’t forget to list some of the items you will be selling and don’t forget to take down any signs after the garage sale is finished!
What to sell:
The goal when holding a garage sale is to make money and declutter your house. The trick is to find household items that you no longer need, or would prefer to sell that people are going to want.
Here is a great list of things to sell that could bring you some extra money:
Children’s items: Items like high chairs, play pens, toys and other baby items will always sell quickly. Having a new baby is expensive and many people search for cheap deals at garage sales as a way to save money.
Antique items: Antique and retro items are always popular at garage sales. People love to buy a piece of history or something that could be a talking point in their home.
Furniture and household appliances: Desks, chairs, table, benches, lounges and household appliances are always popular for garages sales. Some old pieces of furniture can often be rejuvenated to look amazing! Uni students and share house residents are always looking to save money on these items and garage sales are the best bet for them.
Advertise the furniture and white goods in all of your garage sale marketing tactics. Remember, it’s up to them to pick up the item as you don’t want to be offering a delivery service (if you choose to, charge an extra cost for home delivery)
Price to sell:
The main thing is to be realistic with your pricing. If you think something is worth $5, price it at $3. You want to sell items not debate their value with customers. When you have crowds of people around, tell them loud that everything must go and to make an offer fast!
Use colour coded stickers that are clearly priced. Set some consistent pricing via the colour coding e.g blue $5, orange $2 etc.
Display your items easily, use trestle tables and group similar items in the same area, also try to bundle items up – instead of selling 1 book for 50 cents, sell 10 for $5. Always make sure your items clean and tidy, showcase them like you would in a shop.
Organize yourself beforehand:
For quick reference guide on the day list all of the items you are selling and note their prices beforehand. This will save you time during the sale and help if any stickers fall off items!
Make sure you’ve got change – Get a bumbag (or a small bag to use) and fill it with about $20 worth of every coin and make sure you’ve got smaller notes (for change). To make things easier, separate the coins in coin bags that you can get from the bank.
Have some receipt templates – Some people will ask for a receipt with their purchase. Use a template to write the item name, price and date.
Want to make a little extra money at the garage sale?
Consider holding a sausage sizzle in your front yard! Only do this if you are confident that you will get a lot of foot traffic in your area.
Bargaining:
Bargaining is a bit part of the tradition and excitement of garage sales! You should be willing to bargain, as almost everyone that goes to a garage sale will try to bargain with you. Remember, your goal is to sell everything!