10 Tips for Having a Successful Garage Sale

Gather the items you are looking to sell and organize the like-items into groups. The more you keep these items together, the more you sell. For example, you can have an area for children’s clothes, toys, books, etc...

Keeping an inventory of your items can give you a quick reference when someone is asking about pricing. It will also serve as a ledger to keep track of everything that was sold.

This makes it easier on your shoppers. Garage sale shoppers are not looking to spend a lot on items, so they aren’t going to pick up a bunch of your stuff without knowing how much it will cost. They also may feel awkward asking you the price of an item and would rather walk away than ask. Put the price tag somewhere on the item that is easy to see to avoid this problem.

You want to make a good impression and let people know that you have some good stuff. For example, putting the larger items in the front will catch the shopper's attention and draw them in. If they see something immediately out front that they like, then they will be curious to see what the rest of your sale has to offer.

The good news is, we’ve already done this for you! No need to go through the trouble of making signs and hanging them up around town.

Make sure you have plenty of change for your customers. A roll of quarters and plenty of ones, fives, and tens. You will also probably want a few twenties in case you have some higher priced items and someone needs change for a hundred dollar bill. You don’t want to miss out on a sale because you don’t have enough change.

When you walk into a store, one of the first things you notice is how it looks. The better the store looks, the more things you are drawn to buying. Presenting things neatly and in an organized fashion makes it easy for your shoppers to navigate through. Put items on tables instead of on the ground where people have to bend down. Also hang clothes on racks, so it’s easy for your customers to look through them without having a big messy pile of clothes spread out.This increases the chances of them buying something. Especially if they can get it for a good price.

Garage sale shoppers are looking to spend $10 rather than $100. And if you don’t sell your items, you’re probably going to donate them at some point anyways. Don’t be afraid to price things low or even negotiate. The lower your prices are, the more people will buy. At the end of the day you can even have a free pile to get rid of things you don’t want to lug around anymore.

Garage sales can be a lot of work, especially if you are doing it by yourself. Get your family and friends involved with helping greet and check people out. Not to mention, you’ll get some extra help with the set-up and clean-up.

Having a receipt book handy will help you keep track of what is being sold and how much money you are making. Also, if someone is purchasing a large item like furniture, this will give them proof of purchase if they have to come back at a later time to pick it up.