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The Art Of The Garage Sale
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Moving is a great way to make a fresh start. You now have an opportunity to clean out the garage and the closet that’s piled so full the doors don’t close. And let’s face it, the more you get rid of now, the less you’ll have to pack, and the more room you’ll have in your new place. And you might just make a little cash for travel expenses. Now please, try, try, try to let go of your favorite sneakers that you’ve had for ten years and are barely wearable.
A Successful Garage Sale
- Organization. Being organized is the key to a quick, painless garage sale. As you’re making piles of things you’re getting rid of, try to sort them into category, rather than throwing everything into one big heap. The day before the sale, go into your garage, continue sorting and make things presentable so that people will want to buy them. Be certain that your items are neat and clean – no one will want to buy a t-shirt with a big coffee stain on the front.
- Materials. You’ll want several cardboard boxes in which to put items of like categories. You’ll also want permanent markers, masking tape or stickers for pricing, signs, balloons for getting people to your location, and possibly tarps if you’re lying things on the ground.
- Pricing. You don’t want to price every single item. Buy grouping items together you can price them collectively. For example, put all your women’s sweaters in one cardboard box and label the outside of that box with a permanent marker, “Women’s Sweaters: $2.00”. You can also make large signs that list each group of items with their prices, and post them all around your garage. Another way to price items is to choose color coded stickers or dots, and price things accordingly. Everything with a pink dot is $1.00, everything with a yellow dot is $2.00, etc. Make sure to price things reasonably and offer 50% off the last 2 hours of your sale. By then, you’ll just want to get rid of as much as possible at whatever cost.
- Cash. Make sure you get lots of quarters, ones and fives before you start your garage sale. If you don’t, you’ll be really stuck when everyone wants to pay with 20s. Also, once you start making money, take the bulk of it inside and put it in a safe place.
- Manpower. Don’t try to have a garage sale alone! You’ll need breaks and help when you have lots of customers.
- Advertise. Pick a day that most people are off work, usually Saturday and Sunday, and a day when the weather is agreeable. Then put out the word; Craigslist is a great way to list your garage sale, but the local classifieds will work too. On the day of your sale, advertise by posting signs at all the nearest intersections, guiding people to your house. Make sure the signs are all large enough and legible enough to be read from a car.
- Offer Services. People like to buy from courteous salesmen. So offer coffee or bottled water. Have the kids run a lemonade stand with cookies. It is also a good idea to have a mirror so people can try on clothes, and an electrical outlet so people can try the electrical device they are about to buy. You’ll also want to have some plastic bags for those who purchase many items and some newspaper in which to wrap fragile items.
Another Way to Purge
If you decide not to have a garage sale, or have bits and pieces left afterwards, you can donate items to a local homeless shelter or thrift store. These donations are tax deductible – just ask for a receipt.
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