Garage Sale Tips: Make Some Extra Money While Reducing Clutter in Your Home

With recent increases in gasoline prices, food prices and just about everything else, many people are noticing the effects on their budgets. Paychecks are being stretched and budgets cut. It is a perfect time to make some money and increase the effective square footage of your home. A garage sale can achieve both goals!

Garage sales, often called yard sales, rummage sales, or tag sales in some areas of the country, are a popular way to pass on your previously loved items to new owners. In the process, you make some extra money and clean out unneeded clutter from your home. The idea of a garage sale might sound overwhelming but a well-organized, successful sale does not have to be stressful.

GETTING STARTED: Finding items for your sale is the most important thing. The best way to sort is to do so throughout the year. As clothing, toys, or household items are no longer needed, put them into a large storage bin marked GARAGE SALE. If possible, keep pricing stickers and pen by the bin and price the items as you store them! You will definitely appreciate this extra effort when it comes to garage sale time.

Even if you haven't sorted items through the year, you can easily do so in a few days. Get some boxes or bins to store the items you find and have your pricing stickers and pen ready. Go from room to room sorting; discard items that are no longer needed and not sellable, price and place garage sale items in your box or bin.

Be sure to price your items. Many buyers find it annoying to continually ask how much items are so make pricing easy to find and understand. Some people like to make a chart with set pricing for each type of item. This type of pricing is easy to do but does not easily allow for charging more for expensive items. Individual item pricing can take longer to do but allows you to accurately price each item. Pricing stickers work well on items with a hard surface but not as well on clothing items. For those items, you might try the hanging tags sold at most office supply stores. They are small white tags with a hanging string. Use a small safety pin and attach the price tag onto the manufacturers inside tag. The tag will stay on and will be easy for potential buyers to locate.

You might find the pricing process to be a challenge. There are three pricing strategies which will help with this. One way of pricing is to visit other yard sales in the area to see what seems to be selling and for what prices. This will provide a guideline for what buyers in your area are willing to pay. Another strategy is to think of what you would be willing to pay for the used item and price accordingly. Remember that the item is used and not worth what you paid for it new. If you are going to price this way, you will have to try to forget what you paid for the item and price based on what you think it is worth used. The last pricing method is figuring a percentage of the original purchase price. Figure about 10% - 25% of the original price for most items; the lower end for books, clothes, and videos and the higher end for electronics, kitchen items and toys. Be flexible with your pricing, as you will certainly be asked to reduce your price. Consider each offer but do not feel pressured to take less than you would like. If it is early in the sale, you might tell the potential buyer that you will sell the item for less later in the afternoon if it is still available.

Some people will only stop at a large sale so if you do not have much to sell, you might want to ask some friends to join in. Multi-family sales are fun for buyers and sellers because buyers get a great variety of items and sellers have others to help with the sale.

SETTING UP FOR THE SALE: When you set up for the sale, try to organize your items. Keep like items together and try to have your sale areas flow instead of just throwing piles of items here and there. Round up as many tables as possible. If you have been using plastic bins to store items, you can use those as tables to raise items off the ground. (Be warned that you will be asked over and over if those bins are for sale so you might want to put a 'bin not for sale' sign on them). If possible, find a place to hang clothing. You can usually make an effective clothes bar by hanging a broom handle or pipe with rope from a garage ceiling (make sure it is well secured as people will be tugging on it as they look through clothes).

Create vivid signs with large letters. This is so important! If people can not find your sale then you have wasted your time. Buyers will be very frustrated by trying to follow small, difficult to read signs. Check with your city to find out any specification for signage. Some cities require a licensing sticker to be placed on each, others require the signs be placed only in certain areas and be of a certain size. You can purchase sign kits at most home improvement stores. Or use large foam-centered poster board attached to wooden paint stirrers to push into the ground.

Start advertising your sale several days in advance. Word of mouth is a great way to get some early interest. Tell friends about the types of items you will be selling and ask them to pass the information along. Let the other parents at your child's sport activity or day care know about your sale. If you don't mind paying for some advertising, place an ad in your local newspaper on the day before the sale and day of the sale. See if your newspaper offers online ads since these will catch people who do not get the print newspaper. There are several websites which allow you to list your garage sale; some are free and some charge a small fee. Search the internet for options. One popular option is Craigslist which allows free garage sale listings.

Before the sale starts don't forget to get your change ready. Be sure to get plenty of change in a variety of denominations. Too often your first shoppers will pay with a large bill and can easily drain your change. Though you want to have plenty of change on-hand, don't keep it all with you in the garage. Keep a majority of your money inside and be sure to have another person there to bring you more change if needed. Decide in advance if you are comfortable taking checks. If you are not willing to do that, you might offer to hold an item for a short time while the potential buyer goes to an ATM to get cash. Besides getting change ready, collect together plenty of plastic bags (just save them up as your shop throughout the weeks leading up to your sale). Your buyers will appreciate having a bag if they buy several items.

THE DAY OF THE SALE: Set up about an hour before your starting time. Be prepared for people to stop and shop as you set up. If possible, set up your tables and some items the night before and store them in the garage. It will be easier to pull them out in the morning.

Make the shopping environment inviting. Play some soft music. Greet shoppers with a friendly hello and smile but don't follow them around or try to carry on a conversation unless they start it.

If you will have electronic items, have an extension cord plugged in and ready to test out items. Keep some batteries and screwdrivers ready to test toys or other battery operated items.

Set up a snack area with cold sodas, bottled water, and snacks (doughnuts seem to do well in the morning) for a reasonable price. You will make a small profit and keep shoppers happy.

Children can be a big distraction to parents as they shop. They also tend to tear apart the toy areas. To prevent this, set up a comfortable area with blanket to sit on and some inexpensive toys or books for children to play with. Some sales even have a small TV / VCR with children's movies playing. Or if you have an older child who would like to be involved, have him or her read stories to the kids. Parents will be more likely to shop longer if their children are happy and distracted.

Have an easy-to-find cashier area. Buyers can be annoyed by a seller who is moving around and not ready to take their money. If you aren't quick at adding, just have a calculator handy to help out. Keeping your pricing easy (50 cent increments) will help with totaling purchases. Some sellers like to have a half price sale after a certain hour. If you are going to do that, let your buyers know. You might even print out a small flyer with the information and your address so they can find their way back later in the day. Be sure to take in anything you do not want to sell for half price by that time.

Remember safety is important so do not allow strangers in your house to use the restroom or try on clothing. Also, it is best if you can have an adult in the house to watch your small children so they are not wandering around the garage and yard as you have your sale.

A garage sale can be a wonderful way to make some money and reorganize your home. After your first successful yard sale, you will be eager to start setting things aside for another one next year!