Organize a Garage Sale and Get Rid of the Clutter
August 9th was Garage Sale Day. Who knew garage sales had their own day? I typically would rather just donate items to charity or take them to a resale shop (it's less time consuming). But, in celebration of Garage Sale day, here are a few tips for organizing your own humdinger of a sale:
- Gather your merchandise by first decluttering your home. Perfect sale items are ones that are in good condition but you don't use them, like them, or need them anymore. If you come across things that are in poor condition, recycle them or give them the boot.
- Find out what your community rules are regarding yard/garage sales. You don't want to be cited for any violoations.
- Give your items a good dusting or cleaning. Most people cringe at the thought of buying someone else's dirt, so shine them up nicely. You'll make more money that way.
- Price your items realistically. People aren't expecting to pay top dollar at a yard sale so don't price your items too high and be open to negotiations. If you have no idea on how to price your items, visit a local garage sale and do some comparison shopping (just don't buy anything while you're there).
- Make sure you actually price your items. People are more likely to buy something if they know how much it costs.
- Pick the date and time for your sale. Consider the time of year. If it's during August, you'll want to start early and end early. No one wants to be in a sweltering garage during 90 degree weather.
- Once you know the sale date and time, write an ad to be submitted to your local newspaper(s) and online. Be specific and very descriptive about the items you have at your garage sale.
- Give yourself plenty of time to set up. You're likely to have some early birds.
- On the day of the sale, remove anything from the area that is not for sale (especially your cars).
- Post legible signs the day of the sale and remove them when the sale is over.
- When organizing your items for sale, place like items together, just like the retailers do. Your customers will appreciate being able to quickly find the treasures.
- Be sure to have plenty of change on hand. Make a trip to the bank a few days before the sale. You'd hate to have to shut down shop or miss out on a sale because you ran out of change.
- A couple of weeks before the sale, make arrangements with a local charity to pick up any unsold items immediately after the sale is over. If unable to do this, have plenty of boxes and bags on hand so that you can immediately drop them off at a donation center. Do not bring the unsold items back into your home.
Follow these tips and you'll have a great garage sale. For more information on organizing a garage sale, check out the links below:
Columbus Garage Sale- Free ad placement and tips.
GarageSaleCow.com-Free ad placement and locater.
Columbus Craig's List-Free ad placement.
Columbus Dispatch-Ad placement.
YardSaleQueen.com-Yard sale tips.
Pricing items for a garage sale or a yard sale is one of the biggest headaches when preparing for your sale. It's always difficult to know what price tag to put on your treasures. Here are a few garage sale pricing tips for pricing children's clothing.
First of all, if you have kids, you know that not all clothing is created equal! You are not going to want to sell that cute dress from Wal-Mart for the same price as the gorgeous dress you bought from Gymboree last Easter. You have to take into consideration the brand, age and condition when you are pricing and in order to get a little return on your investments!
Brand -- Popular selling brands are Gap, Gymboree, Limited Too, Children's Place, Janie & Jack, Hanna Andersson and other Boutique brands. You can put a higher price tag on these brands, especially if they are in great condition! People are usually willing to pay a little extra for these items, because they know what they sell for retail.
Age -- The age of the clothing is also a factor to consider. The majority of clothing from 10 years ago will be considered outdated and not in style, this will drop your price a little.
There are some exceptions to very popular name brands that are in excellent condition, like dresses, outfits or coats.
Condition -- This is the most important consideration in pricing anything for a garage sale...the condition! So, even if you have a very popular last season, Gap outfit in a very popular girls size 6, if it has stains or tears, it is not going to be worth much. Again, your customers will be willing to spend a little extra on something that is in excellent condition because they know it will last. I believe it is worth that extra effort to keep your kid's name brand clothing in great shape!
For low, average and high price suggestions for kid's clothes visit
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Thank you for the fabulous pricing tips! If anyone has any gently-used Gymboree outfits cluttering closets, sell them now!
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Garage sales are such a good way to force yourself to declutter. They are also "therapeutic" in that you say goodbye to possessions and at the same time can see how delighted the new owner is with a new-found treasure.
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You're right. Sometimes people are reluctant to get rid of things because they don't want to be wasteful. Having a garage sale can alleviate a lot of guilt when it comes to parting with things we no longer use.
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Great tips on garage sales. I desperately need to have a garage sale but the thought of it is overwhelming. I have way too much clutter going on in my home and it seems to be getting worse. I`ll be following these guidelines. Thanks again!!
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I'm glad you found the information helpful. Good luck with your garage sale! Let us know how it goes.
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