Planning a garage sale can either be the worst kind of torture or a beneficial way to clean out the things you’ve been hoarding for years. When done right, it can be a right way for you to declutter and even destress while you make money. The goal for anyone who is organizing a garage sale is to make it as hassle-free and successful as possible.
So, if you’ve been looking for ways to make some money and get rid of the clutter, here are seven pro tips you can use.
Gather & Price Your Items
Gather everything in the house that you think doesn’t bring you any monetary or emotional value. Ask every family member to pitch in, so you have enough to work with. If you can’t get a lot of merchandise from your own home, ask neighbors or other or friends to pitch in because the garage sale won’t be a hit unless you have a good number of things to sell. Once you’ve gathered your belongings, price them appropriately and according to their condition. Check out websites such as Craigslist to get an idea of how you should rate your items.
Organize Your Sale to Attract
Organizing the tables and items for your garage sale is half the battle. You won’t be able to sell anything unless they are correctly presented. Instead of dumping everything on to a table, give it some effort and think like a shopkeeper. Make sure things from the same category are placed together, and the price tags are clear so buyers won’t need to ask you how much something costs.
Put Out Advertisements
The type of advertisements you put out depends entirely on you and the exposure you want to give your yard sale. If you’re going to go big, place classified sales in the local newspaper, so more people are attracted. However, if you don’t think you need to advertise through a paper, you can use your creative skills and simply craft some big signs and put them outside your house. Websites like Pinterest has some great DIY ideas so make sure you use those to make the signs fun and vibrant.
Be Prepared for Making A Deal
The main attractions of a garage sale are the cheap things that people can find. So, if you think that no one is going to strike a bargain, then you’re wrong. You need to know that people will come up to you and ask you to make a deal and you should be ready for this. Remember that there’s benefit in this because you won’t just be giving something you loved to someone else but also getting money for it.
Don’t Do It All on Your Own
Garage sales can get chaotic very quickly. This is why it is recommended that you ask a few friends to share the responsibility, so you don’t have to look everywhere at once. Assign a particular task to people and everything will start falling into place.
Make Sure Your Cashier’s Table Is Ready
A list of necessary items that you must have at your cashier’s table is
- Cash in the form of $100 and change in 1’s and 5’s
- Calculator
- Permanent Marker
- Bubble Wrap
- Notepad
- Boxes
- Tape
- Pens
Save On Taxes by Donate Leftovers
For the stuff that you didn’t manage to sell, you can either put them out on the curb so they can be given for free or take them to a Goodwill store. For example, if you have unsold furniture or larger appliances such as Refrigerators and Air Conditioners, load them carefully into a dump truck and drive to your destination. There’s nothing to worry about if you don’t own a dump truck. You can easily rent one or ask a professional moving company to help you with the task.
The benefit of taking them to a donation center is that though you won’t get any money, you can make use of tax deductions. Just make sure you get a receipt when you donate and file them away to use for deductions on taxes.
Organizing and managing a garage sale isn’t all that challenging if you set your heart and mind to it. So follow these tops, and you’ll be on your way to success.
