How to Organize a Community Garage Sale

Garage sales and yard sales attract more traffic - and business - when other sales are held near by. As such, organizing a community garage sale makes sense. Here are the steps you'll need to follow to make sure your community garage sale is a success:

Gauge interest. This doesn't need to be scientific. Just talk to your neighbors and casually ask if they're going to have a garage sale or yard sale. If they are, mention the increased traffic street yard sales get and ask if they'd be interested in doing a community garage sale.

Determine costs. Consider the cost of listing your community garage sale in your local paper. Also look into prices for poster boards and balloons (see the last item below). Take that total and divide it by the number of houses you think will join in. That's how much you'll be asking for each house to contribute to the cause.

Form committee. Organizing a community garage sale can be a one-person endeavor, but it's often better to spread the responsibilities around. If you're organizing it, consider getting a neighbor to handle publicity, another to make and put up the signs and another to collect the funds from participating neighbors.

Pick a date. Many community garage sales are held during holidays (Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, etc.) or near events (festivals, parades, etc.). Planning when your community garage sale is held can make an enormous difference in the amount of foot traffic - and amount of sales.

Flyers. Notify your neighborhood about the date(s) of the community garage sale by putting flyers in their screen doors or door handles. Be sure to include your name and contact information, as well.

Post ad. An ad in your local newspaper will likely cost you less than $20. It'll also bring you a slew of traffic. Don't stop there, though. Be sure to list your ad on Craigslist, too. You can also call your local paper to see what other garage sales are being held in a mile radius. If your paper will provide their phone numbers, then you can ask if you can drop off a few flyers at their homes the day of their yard sale in exchange for posting their flyers on the day of your community garage sale.

Post signs and balloons. Get up early on the morning of your community garage sale and post your signs at every intersection for several blocks in every direction. Add balloons at the nearest intersections to let people know they've hit the right streets.

Collect from participants. Walk through your neighborhood the day of your community garage sale with a clip board and ask for the money. Wait until around noon, however, when most houses will have a lot of singles. Hey - you've got to be compensated, after all.