Last weekend Jarr and I had a garage sale/moving sale to get ready for the big move. We went through every room in our house and got out everything that we didn't use or need and got rid of it. We spent all day Friday going to both of our parents houses and getting things they wanted to put in and then all night Friday getting everything organized and ready. We ended up staying up until almost 2 to get everything organized, labeled, and ready to go. It was a long night because we started the garage sale at 7 the next morning so we didn't get much sleep.
But, in the end we made over $750 in one day, we had the sale from 7:00am until 6:00pm. It was a really long day but definitely worth it in the long run. We did a few things that I think made a HUGE difference in our success. So I'm going to share with you a few tips that will help you have a great garage sale also.
1. Make your own signs! I know its easier to buy the store signs but you can seriously go to walmart buy some poster board and they even have wooden stakes by the garage sale signs. Get those and make your signs BIG, also make them all the same color. This will help the garage salers know that you are the same sale. This will also help you from not being one of many of the same sign. Your signs need only a few things. 1. HUGE arrows, and I mean the full length of the sign as big as possible. 2. Yard/Garage/Moving Sale written in big letters across the sign. 3. Your address, I just wrote the basic part of our address, House Number and Street Name. No city or zip code necessary.
2. Start EARLY, I know this is the worst part but at 7:00 we had our first sale. We weren't even all the way set up and we still made a sale. It is worth it to get up and start early. We made half of our money before 9:30, if you don't start until 8 or 8:30 you will lose a lot of money.
3. Label and organize everything. We had clothes separated by men's and women's, we also had them separated by size. This makes it easier for people to look through them.
4. HANG all of the clothes that you can, If you have to beg/borrow/steal clothing racks then do it. Well don't really steal them but you can definitely borrow from someone! Or get inventive and make your own!
5. Put as much as you can on tables. This will make people more likely to look at them and then to buy them. This is something I cannot express enough, GET TABLES. and don't use tables you are trying to sell as displays, people won't look at them.
6. Leave plenty of space, this is something I noticed greatly at our yard sale. If you don't have enough area to comfortably walk around other people then you won't go look at it. We made sure to spread things out and only had one big isle that we left a lot of room in. There was enough space for a car to literally park in between our table isles. This gives people plenty of room to look and they are way more comfortable.
7. Price fair. Sometimes under price. I know it is hard to watch things that you paid a lot of money for to go for only a few dollars but at that point it has no value to you. Some people are going to barter with you but some people won't do this at all. So make sure that you price fair and that you have some good deals. We did $1 DVD's and they all sold, we also did books paperback 50 cents and hardback $1. If people bought a lot of clothes or stuff we would round down some, one lady spend $67 we gave it all to her for $55. I know this seems crazy but a lot of times after we did this people would then buy more stuff from us.
8.The best tip I can give you is if you are dead set on a price you might not get it, so be open to negotiation and be willing to work with people. For us we just wanted everything gone, so after 3 we did fill a Wal-Mart bag for $8. Anything you could put in the bag was yours for $8. We did this for quite a few people and got rid of a lot of stuff.
What are your tips or tricks for a great garage sale? How much have you made before?
But, in the end we made over $750 in one day, we had the sale from 7:00am until 6:00pm. It was a really long day but definitely worth it in the long run. We did a few things that I think made a HUGE difference in our success. So I'm going to share with you a few tips that will help you have a great garage sale also.
1. Make your own signs! I know its easier to buy the store signs but you can seriously go to walmart buy some poster board and they even have wooden stakes by the garage sale signs. Get those and make your signs BIG, also make them all the same color. This will help the garage salers know that you are the same sale. This will also help you from not being one of many of the same sign. Your signs need only a few things. 1. HUGE arrows, and I mean the full length of the sign as big as possible. 2. Yard/Garage/Moving Sale written in big letters across the sign. 3. Your address, I just wrote the basic part of our address, House Number and Street Name. No city or zip code necessary.
2. Start EARLY, I know this is the worst part but at 7:00 we had our first sale. We weren't even all the way set up and we still made a sale. It is worth it to get up and start early. We made half of our money before 9:30, if you don't start until 8 or 8:30 you will lose a lot of money.
3. Label and organize everything. We had clothes separated by men's and women's, we also had them separated by size. This makes it easier for people to look through them.
4. HANG all of the clothes that you can, If you have to beg/borrow/steal clothing racks then do it. Well don't really steal them but you can definitely borrow from someone! Or get inventive and make your own!
6. Leave plenty of space, this is something I noticed greatly at our yard sale. If you don't have enough area to comfortably walk around other people then you won't go look at it. We made sure to spread things out and only had one big isle that we left a lot of room in. There was enough space for a car to literally park in between our table isles. This gives people plenty of room to look and they are way more comfortable.
7. Price fair. Sometimes under price. I know it is hard to watch things that you paid a lot of money for to go for only a few dollars but at that point it has no value to you. Some people are going to barter with you but some people won't do this at all. So make sure that you price fair and that you have some good deals. We did $1 DVD's and they all sold, we also did books paperback 50 cents and hardback $1. If people bought a lot of clothes or stuff we would round down some, one lady spend $67 we gave it all to her for $55. I know this seems crazy but a lot of times after we did this people would then buy more stuff from us.
8.The best tip I can give you is if you are dead set on a price you might not get it, so be open to negotiation and be willing to work with people. For us we just wanted everything gone, so after 3 we did fill a Wal-Mart bag for $8. Anything you could put in the bag was yours for $8. We did this for quite a few people and got rid of a lot of stuff.
What are your tips or tricks for a great garage sale? How much have you made before?
Morgan....These are really spot on tips for yard/garage sales. You are so right about the signs!! If you want me at your sale show me how to get there......with BIG arrows!! Glad you had such a successful sale. I am your newest follower and I hope you will stop by my blog also......thanks!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much! The signs are what a lot of people said got them their. They were a huge help and we are really glad we took the time to make them! Thank you for following along!
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