How to Have a Successful Garage Sale

Here is our Pricing Van Lines guide to a garage sale. We want to help you make a few extra bucks that you can put towards your already affordable and professional move:

1. Plan for success

• Consider teaming up with your neighbors as a neighborhood sale is likely to bring in more potential buyers than just one stand-alone garage sale. See if anyone else in your neighborhood is keen to join the efforts to declutter before planning your date.
• Ask local neighborhood groups to advertise your sale
• Double-check if any permits or approvals are needed to host such an event.
• Advertise online on social media and in local groups for events.
• Try to advertise your sale in a diverse manner so you will get to more clients.

2. Set your date and time in a smart manner

• Choose a day when most people are off work and happy to be outside enjoying the sun, like Saturday or Sunday midday!
• Make sure you check the weather ahead of time so that you aren’t expecting = rain or snow.
• Double check your event time doesn’t collide with any other big events in the area
• Put up signs to advertise the sale as much as possible ahead of time. Pu them up next to the schools and kindergartens, at the post office, cafes, grocery store, and at all the other local spots that families are likely to see.
• If the location of your home isn’t clear then make arrow signs leading customers to your garage sale.

3. Stock inventory of your home

• When planning to move, this is a crucial step that shouldn’t be overlooked, so go ahead and get it done. Having an inventory will help give you a broader picture of how much excess you truly have and help you map out what you want to sell at the sale.
• Go room to room and to tally the number of big items you own.
• This will help you later on when moving and for potential insurance claims.

4. Prepare your sale area and prices

• It could be actually inside your garage, or spill out onto your driveway for better visibility, but no matter where you choose, ensure to have lots of tables and ways to organize your items clearly. No one like sorting through a pile of junk!
• Get ready to bargain and know your last prices for items you are attached to.
• Label everything simultaneously or keep things organized in areas by price levels to avoid confusion for your potential buyers and for you to know potential earnings.
• Think about choosing a time of the event when you agree to put things on sale due to the garage sale ending soon. It’s better to get rid of some clutter at the end at a cheaper price rather than keep it around because you don’t want to bargain.

5. How to make it successful

• Advertise advertise advertise! If people don’t know it exists you won’t sell much and will waste your own time.
• Ask friends and family to post online about your garage sale and tag your area.

6. Money handing

• Get a bag with many pockets or even borrow a cash register to keep things organized! This way you’ll easily be able to make change and accept cash simply.
• Prepare small change ahead of time to avoid getting stuck with a $50 and no $5’s.
• Make a sign of the best way of online payments. If you are comfortable with it, put your email or phone number up on the wall for simple Zelle transactions. This way even those who come unprepared without cash can benefit from your sale.
• If you sell a big high price tag item, take the money to a safe place as things are likely to get lost on the day of if there is a lot of traffic and it would be a shame to lose funds.

7. Make it fun

Add a lemonade stand or local children, or some free refreshments to entice more people to join in on the fun
Have speakers and a fun playlist prepared

8. What to do with things remaining at the end

• Think about having a FREE box. This way, you will have fewer items to get rid of.
• Put inside all the items you are happy to part ways with but maybe aren’t in selling condition.
• Have a plan of where to donate items after the sale it could be a local shelter for the homeless or a school.
• Call ahead to your local Goodwill or church to see if they are willing to pick up your leftover items to be donated.