3 Tips for Advertising a Garage Sale in the Newspaper

Once you've seen the way your neighbors have made money from eager weekend buyers by selling those dusty relics that had been stored in their attic, it's understandable that you would want to organize your own garage sale. You can easily learn the ropes of pricing and arranging items so that they sell quickly. Now all you have to do is learn these 3 tips for advertising a garage sale in the newspaper.

Tip #1 Use Few Words

You should use as few words as possible when you post an advertisement about your garage sale in the newspaper for at least two important reasons. To begin with, newspapers typically charge you for the advertisement based on the number of words you use. You don't want to invest in a lengthy newspaper advertisement when you don't know how many customers it will bring. Additionally, a long and wordy newspaper advertisement is more likely to go unnoticed by readers who are simply skimming through the newspaper looking for a pleasant diversion for the afternoon.

Tip #2 Provide General Information Only

Because you are trying to keep the newspaper advertisement about your garage sale short, you will only want to provide general information about the location of the garage sale, when it begins, and when it ends. This works to your advantage when you think of the problems you could possibly encounter at your garage sale later on. For example, some customers will try to arrive early in order to get the best deals. If you've clearly stated what time the garage sale begins and when it ends, you have a legitimate reason to defend your garage sale from this rather unprincipled behavior. It's simply not fair to give better deals to someone who has come early when everyone else thinks the garage sale starts at a later time.

Tip #3 Attract Customers

After you've placed the location and time of your garage sale in the newspaper advertisement, you will want to include features that will attract customers. You can do this, for example, by mentioning the most appealing items you are going to be selling. What if the school year is ready to begin, for example? Wouldn't you attract customers to your garage sale by advertising used clothes and other items that can be used for school? In general, you can attract customers to your garage sale by advertising in the newspaper those items that will be most relevant to your customers' lives at the time.

In sum, there are 3 tips for advertising a garage sale in the newspaper. You can keep costs low by providing only the most basic information about your garage sale since newspapers generally charge by the word. You can also attract the most customers by indicating that what you have to sell is probably what they are willing to buy.

Source: Personal Experience