It’s time to purge, declutter, and lighten your surroundings as we welcome spring and summer - or prepare for a move. A garage sale is a great way to part with items you are no longer using, earn a bit of cash and reduce the amount of stuff you need to pack before a move. There’s a lot to cover here, so, I’m breaking the blog up in parts.
Here’s Part 1 - Garage Sale Tips to get you started:
Planning Your Sale:
- Pick a date and start early (6-7am). Aim for an early spring or late fall date to avoid the sweltering summer heat.
- Get your neighbours involved and go for a community sale or a street sale to maximize traffic to the area. This is also a great way to get to know your neighbours better.
Advertising:
- Advertise for free on Kijiji, Varage Sale, Facebook (post in local groups), etc. Feel free to describe your items in detail or simply tell people what you have and include some pictures. Also, don’t post your ad too early. If you’re holding your garage sale on Saturday, it should go up Thursday night or Friday afternoon.
- Yard Sale Signs - brightly coloured poster board and a Sharpie is all you really need. Make sure your sign says “Garage Sale” large enough for people to see as they drive by. Include your address or an arrow pointing towards your house.
Prepping for the Sale:
- Get Supplies. Make sure you have everything you need at least a day before the garage sale starts. You’ll need chairs to sit on, a table or other flat surface to take payments and provide change, and plenty of areas to display your goods. Don’t waste money on renting or buying tables. You can find or make enough surfaces to suit your needs.
- Don’t Forget the Change. Odds are, you’ll have to make $19.95 in change for your first customer. Make sure you have fives, toonies, loonies, and at least twenty dollars in quarters. Visit the bank earlier in the week.
- Sort Your Items. Sort before your price. It’s the easiest way to keep your garage sale organized and make it easy on potential buyers. Dedicate a room in your house to garage sale planning and divide all of your items by category, such as clothes, books, home goods, and kids’ toys.
- Price Your Items. It’s best if you price your items individually rather than just group them into boxes with one price sign. As the garage sale progresses, people will get the boxes mixed up and you’ll have a hard time keeping it organized. To price items, use a roll of manila tape and a Sharpie, which is a lot cheaper than going out and buying fancy price tags. Pro Tip: Don’t increase your prices on the assumption that everyone likes to haggle. While many people do enjoy a good verbal match, some will just walk away if they think items are priced too high.
- Organize and Arrange Your Sale. Arrange your tables and put all the clothes on hangers the night before the garage sale. No matter what you tell yourself, you won’t have enough time to do it in the morning. Arrange everything the night before and store it in the garage for safekeeping. Map out where everything will be placed to make the morning setup as easy as possible and to keep it in a logical and organized fashion for customers. Pro Tip: If you can’t put everything in the garage the night before, group similar items into laundry baskets and boxes. You will save time in the morning if you only have to pull items out of boxes that don’t require further separation.
Decluttering and prepping for a garage sale is plenty of work. Sometimes it can be hard to know what to part with; you may wonder if you will need it in the future. If you are planning a move, or know someone who is, and need some help deciding what to take with you, reach out to me and we can chat.
Good luck with your sale!
Lisa
Tips adapted from: https://www.moneycrashers.com/successful-garage-sale-tips/
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