HOW TO SET UP FOR

A PROFITABLE GARAGE SALE…

Garage sales!!!  Everyone likes them and everyone has them.  Some people are more successful than others when they have their sales.  Why is that?  There is a reason although you may not realize it.  But by the time you’re through reading this report, I think you will.

There is a right way and a wrong way to have a garage sale.  I have a neighbor who has about four garage sales a year and everyone is a success.  I asked her one time how she gathers up so much stuff and what she told me was something I’ll get into a little later. 

She had the secret of garage sales down to a science and when this lady had a garage sale people showed up from miles around to be at her sale.  Both sides of the road were lines up with cars and there were people all over.  She was taking money in the door like crazy.  I asked her what she made at her sales and although she wouldn’t tell me, she did say that it always paid for the family’s vacation every year.  She has a family of four and they always go on vacation for three weeks.

Her first rule of having a garage sale was to pick a date when very little was going on.  No fairs, no concerts, and no zoo fest at the local park.  She told me that to many things going on means there would be no money for people to buy at a garage sale.

Rule number two was to be organized.  When I saw the vehicles sitting outside for the night, I knew Sandy was having her garage sale.  She would get ready for that thing a week in advance.

Everything in the sale was clearly marked.  There was no question about what she wanted for any item that was out.  She never overpriced any item and whether it was antique or not didn’t mean anything to her.  She’s rather get $2.00 for an antique dish at her sale than to hold on to it forever and never sell it. 

Her husband worked on electronics and it was something he was very good at.  When the garage sale came he put all his reworked electronics out and he would price them at anywhere from $50.00 for a VCR up to $100.00 for a stereo.

Everything on the tables or on the racks or on the shelves was clearly visible.  You didn’t have to worry about not seeing everything because it was all in plain site.  Nothing was piles on top of anything with the exception of clothes.  But you would never find anymore than three of any item piled on top of each other.  Sandy told me that three was the limit.  She found from a lot of experience that people would go down three but they wouldn’t go down anymore.  I asked her why?  She told me that it must be that they fell like they’re going to disrupt the pile if the clothes are piled to high.

Another one of her rules was that if there was a pile of three, it had to be the same size, which she also had some comments on.

She said that she always made sure that there were size tags on everything.  She said if there wasn’t a size on a piece of clothing she simply threw it in the free box.  When I asked her about the free box, she said you always have to have a free box and keep adding to it.  Usually people won’t take from the free box unless they’ve already bought, but she says that once in awhile, they will take anyway whether they buy or not.

Her pants and dresses and most shirts are hung on a rack with size dividers on it.  Baby clothing is always put on a shelf or a table.  Children’s books, which according to Sandy , are some of the biggest sellers in a garage sale. Are always separated so that a person doesn’t have to knock everything over when trying to see what is there.

One suggestion that Sandy had was to put all the books in categories in a bookcase or bookcases depending on how many books you have.  Make sure that there is plenty of room in the shelves.  Don’t put the books in a case that people can’t easily see what’s the book is.  To many times she said she’s been at garage sales and when she went over to a bookcase and pulled one book out, several more fell out of their positions on the shelf.

Another suggestion that she had was to take a ¾” x ¾” piece of lumber and put it along the front edge of the bookcase and insert a ¼” piece of plywood to provide a shelf that will tip in so things have a better change of staying in the shelves.  These are just some ideas.  You can hold the piece of lumber to the shelf with double-faced tape.

Always have everything displayed cleanly.  Make sure that everything is out in front of God and everybody.  Don’t have things piled in front of everything else.  If people have to move things to get at something they want, according to Sandy , they won’t do it.  And if they won’t do it you aren’t going to sell as much as you could.  People don't like to dig through junk.  They don’t have time to do that.  They’re in too much of a hurry to get to the next garage sale.

Don’t hang things that require a ladder to get down. Put them outside if nothing else.  Things that are hanging on the walls, if they’re for sale, shouldn’t be hanging out of reach.  That can only mean trouble.

Shoes boots and slippers, if they’re for sale, should be like brand new.  If there is ware and tare on the shoes, toss them.  Nobody will buy them anyway so why waste the space.  If you pile them on the floor, as a lot of people do in their garage sales, put them towards the back of the sale.  Display them where people can see them while they are walking to the back of the garage.  That’s the only way that people can see them.

Jewelry such as rings, earrings and necklaces should be displayed in a box with a cotton type of material.  Cotton like you buy for bandages is good. Place the jewelry in that box so it stays separated.  The box of jewelry should be displayed close to your checkout where you can keep an eye on it.  Believe it or not, it might not be a retail store, and you are probably giving the stuff away, but unfortunately, you’re still going to have theft.  Sad but true.

That’s about all there is to having a garage sale.  Make sure everything is clean.  Clothes should be washed before displaying.  Pots, pans, dishes or whatever should be washed before displaying.  Everything should be clean.  Everything should be clearly marked and your garage sale should not be cluttered.

Here’s a tidbit of information that Sandy gave me when I asked her where she gets all of her junk.  I asked if she got this much accumulation of junk just from living?  She said no, I actually buy most of it.  I said buy most of it?  Where?  She started to fill me in.

I thought that Sandy just spent a lot of money during the year and she had just decided to get rid of the stuff she bought.  Boy, was I wrong.  She went to garage sales herself and when she saw stuff she thought she could make a buck on, she bought it.  Toys were a biggie.  She said she bought toys by the boxful.  Like five dollars for a big box of toys. 

Jewelry was the same thing.  Books could always be bought for little or nothing at a garage sale that had a poor way of displaying them.  Sandy said that the people thought that books didn’t sell at garages sales and so they would give all the books to her for little or nothing just to get rid of them.

Then she went on to say she and the kids would head for St. Vincent De Paul every Saturday morning and buy all kinds of stuff from them.  She said Good Will didn’t wheel and deal like St. Vinneys.

Sandy said if she had to depend on what she had in the house to have a sale and make money at it, it wouldn’t happen.  But by keeping her eyes and ears open, she could have her garages sales four times a year.

Well that’s about it for the garage sale.  Hope this helps you in some way the next time you’re going to have a garage sale.

Good Luck With Your Sale

Denny