Get prepared for your next Garage Sale with these Easy Garage Sale Tips and Tricks!
Now I want your next garage sale to be a total success, so I’ve put together this huge list of Garage Sale Tips and Tricks from your fellow frugal friends to help you out. You’ll learn how to lay it out, price your items, attract customers, and rake in the dough!
Don’t start your garage sale without first reading these creative Easy Garage Sale Tips for Success. With a little help, you can have your best garage sale ever!!
Here’s what you’ll do…
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Garage Sale Tips and Tricks
Gigi said: “One thing that I conveniently have on hand anytime I do a garage sale, is a card reader like “Square Up” OR “PayPal.” Both offer a free card reader and it’s easy and safe to use with most smart phones. You don’t have to miss a sale due to a buyer not having cash.”
Garage Sale Signs
Elizabeth said: “Have nice, large, sturdy, readable signs with directional arrows. I know if I can’t see what the sign says from my car, with a nice bold arrow, I just don’t try to find it. I’ll go to someone’s sale who made finding it easy.
Also, advertise on Garage Sale Finder. It’s free and awesome! Ask a friend if they would like to buddy with you. With two adults, you can keep a better eye on your belongings, plus you always have someone out there for potty breaks and company! Also, keep your money on you…not on a box on the porch.”
Kim said: “I took neon poster board and cut it in half and then in thirds. I used electrical tape and spelled out yard sale with an arrow also in the tape. I had so many people I couldn’t keep up. And almost all commented on my signs. Easy to see and easy to follow. Can be used over and over. Most of the signs were just arrows.”
Free Home Depot Gift Card for garage sale signs and supplies
Tara said: “Attach a balloon to your signs! I did this and when one of the signs blew over in the wind, people said they found me because they followed the rest of the balloons! Take the extra few minutes to clean items! I had many people comment on how new/nice/clean my items seemed! Good luck! :)”
Daisy said: “I placed an ad in the paper with a list of the items I was selling and my phone number. I sold $400 before the yard sale and $600 at the yard sale!”
Rachel said: “Price items ahead of time, as you pull them out for the sale. That way it is much quicker to get things out for the sale day. In my opinion, it is very important to price things. Most of the time when I am shopping, I will not ask how much they want for something, especially if they are helping someone else.”
Renate said: “Put prices on everything. If you don’t want to label everything individually, put a sign up on the table stating the prices. Make sure the sign is close to the item it’s describing. Also, price things at reasonable prices. Don’t price items expecting people to ask you to go down. Many people won’t do this, and you’ll miss out on a sale. Do sell drinks, coffee, pop, and water. I always get thirsty (and hungry) when I’m out garage saling. This could add a lot to your profits!”
Jessi said: “If you do have price labels on your items, at checkout, use ice cream pail covers to place all price stickers on to help tabulate their order. I like to bunch the stickers into $1 groups to help with final tallying at checkout.”
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Lin:“The most successful sale I ever had was placing an ad for a $1 Sale, then selling everything for a dollar–even the old bicycles. Clothes were $1 a bag. I didn’t even have to price & tag anything. Someone said I was nuts, but I netted about $400!”
Danielle said: “At a certain time during your sale, make everything half price. Also, doing a bag sale for the last hour or so has been a big hit… and clears stuff!”
Mary said: “I don’t spend time tagging the price on everything, but instead I tell people to collect all the items they want. I then give them a good price on the whole lot. It gets them to buy more, and you don’t have to work as hard at it. Also, you can organize items by area, and then one price for each box, to save time labeling.”
Jessica said: “Zip zippers, button buttons… appearance of the items helps sell them!”
Jett said: “Make certain your items are clean!”
Katy said: “My experience with “garage sales”… I make sure items are clean and I stage them. So I group them like you would see in an upscale store or boutique. I get more money for my items and most people don’t haggle with the price when they see everything so clean and pretty. Also, I advertise as a moving/estate sale, which also brings in better clients that pay better prices. After hosting 9 of these sales last year at my house and I have brought in over 30k. I mixed in some high priced items like furniture and a grand piano. And I placed the items in my garage and also allowed people to come into my kitchen off of the garage, having both staged nicely. I also played nice music for atmosphere.”
Jen said: “Hang as many clothing items as possible! Not many people (myself included) will take the time to dig through clothes. Plus, it looks nicer!”
Dee said: “Place like items together, like: baby stuff, kitchen items, decor, etc. You will see a lot more items sell when people can see them all in one spot.”
Jennifer said: “Kids clothes resell very well. If there are multiple pieces to an outfit set (hat, bloomers, belt, etc), I safety pin them together. Adult clothes sell better if you mention the sizes in your ad.”
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Diane said: “I don’t price my clothing. I put up a couple big neon posters with the prices listed on them. Ex: Jeans – $1.00 / Tops – 50¢ / Shoes – $1.00, etc. Makes it so much easier!”
Amy said: “I separate children’s clothes by size {in Rubbermaid containers} and sell them by the bag. Usually we do $5 for a grocery sized bag. I have made the most money at yard sales this way and you get rid of SO MANY clothes.”
Amanda said: “Organized, clean and place items at waist level. This always make things better for me selling and buying. I price to sell, but over price a little, so they can bargain and feel like they got a deal.”
Katie said: “My piece of advice: You can never have enough change. Ever. Get about three times what you think is too much.”
Holly said: “Don’t forget to have lots of change on hand. Many people hit the ATM machine and are only carrying $20 bills. Take larger bills inside as you get them to avoid showing everyone how much money you have on you. Be very specific in your advertising on craigslist. Use neon pink signs that say “Yard Sale” with BIG black arrows. Make all signs alike so easy to spot and follow.”
Sheila said: “Never put down the money bag, box or whatever. It needs to be on someone’s waist or in someone’s hand. Have one person be the money taker. Take larger bills to a designated place in the house.”
Ashli said: “I see a lot of people mentioning that you should take larger bills inside, but you should also make sure to keep your doors locked during the sale, so no one can sneak in to your house while your back is turned!”
Alena said: “I use an apron… I have some that are black with 5 pockets along the front. I put small change, $1 bills, $5 bills, and a few coins in one pocket, a pen in one pocket, price stickers in a pocket {some will fall off from the handling by customers}, etc. By wearing an apron it also lets customers know who is ‘working’ the sale.”
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Jennifer said: “I have a cooler of soda, and water along with Little Debbie Type treats from Sam’s Club or Costco and sell them for .75 to $1.00… this has always made me extra money. I do live in AZ though, and cold water and soda will go fast. A lot of people will buy their kids the treat to keep them from complaining until they are done with their garage sale shopping for the day.” 🙂
Cindy said: “Have an extension cord plugged in where shoppers can test electrical items. I won’t buy anything until I can guarantee that it works.”
Lisa said: “Don’t hound people. There’s nothing worse than going to a lawn sale, picking something up, and having the person saying ‘I paid a lot of money for that… or that’s name brand.’ I also don’t like having all eyes on me when I’m browsing. LOL That’s my 2 cents.”
Jodi said: “Fridays are the best day. If you only have time for one day, do it on Friday. If you have time for two days, do Friday and Saturday. Don’t bother with Sunday. Fridays are the big $$ makers. 😉 Put it in the newspaper and on craigslist. Make sure you can easily read the signage from a car driving. Happy sales!”
Deanne said: “I plan my garage sales around pay days. I know when most businesses in town pay their employees and I plan accordingly. It makes a huge difference.”
Heather said: “If you have large items that don’t get offers for what you want… post them on craigslist (if you have one near you). I had a table that I posted at my sale for $25, and it didn’t get a bite. I ended up listing it on craigslist for $40 OBO, and I got $40 the next day!”
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So do YOU have any tips or tricks for planning or running a garage sale??
Leave a comment & share your Easy Garage Sale Tips and Tricks!
dee godin says
when those “EARLY BIRD” buyers show up at 6:00 am charge them DOUBLE…really…here you are busy trying to set things up for the sale & they keep getting in your way…announce early that early birds will pay double….another hint, when your first few buyers wantyou to cut the price on an item that you know will sell for more, just say “it is early in the day yet, i know i can sell it for that price….maybe half price later in the evening or the next day…
Donna says
Check your dollar stores for price stickers much less than Amazon or Wal-Mart.
Mommy to 2 in the Lou says
We always have batteries in our toys..I will not buy a toy that I’m not sure works! We either get dollar store batteries and save batteries that may have a little life in them. You’d be surprise how you can put one dollar store battery (0.25) with an old battery to power a toy! CLEAN everything! And we don’t sell stained clothes! Unless you wanted to throw them in a bag as rags or playclothes and price them accordingly! We borrow tables from everyone because I don’t want stuff on the ground. Older people can’t bend down or people that have kids in their arms! Make it convenient to shop. I also put bright plastic tablecloths on the tables to attract attention. We play music and also light a candle that smells good…someone told us our garage smelled like cookies 🙂 We pull things out into the driveway and yard so passer- bys can be lured in too!
Carrie says
I live in a tiny town of 300- people. There are a couple of bigger towns 10-15 miles each way. Is it possible to attract more customers from them? If so how? Also do you know the best items to bring to flea markets from your sale?
Michelle @ Life on the Horizon says
I have never (in 40 years) had a garage sale. I tried selling some stuff through some other avenues, but have avoided them at all cost. Thank you for this timely post. I’m printing it out as I am in much need of having a sale. Thank you for taking some of the edge off…LOL.
~ Michelle
Michelle says
Schedule your sale when there’s nothing going on in the town where you’re holding your sale. We made the mistake once of scheduling our sale when the town’s fair was going on thinking the extra traffic would bring more people to the sale. Instead, they were spending their extra cash at the fair that weekend.
Heidi says
That’s a great point, Michelle… thanks for sharing the tip!