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'Tis the Season - Garage Sale
Season, That Is!
by Deborah Taylor-Hough
Spring Cleaning is a wonderful accomplishment. Everything is fresh and
clean. The house is decluttered. But what do you do with all those junky
doo-dads (I mean "treasures") rescued out of the closets and garage and
now need to find new homes?
Making a few extra pennies by holding a Garage/Yard Sale could be just
the ticket.
Last year I held a four day Garage Sale that was successful beyond my
wildest dreams. I thought I'd share some of the ideas I used during my
sale last year in case anyone else is thinking about holding a Garage
Sale or Yard Sale now that Spring Cleaning and Summer weather is well
underway.
NUMBER OF DAYS
To begin with, I planned the sale for more than the typical one or two
days. For my most recent sale, I decided on four days -- Wednesday
through Saturday. I'm glad I decided to go for the longer sale starting
earlier in the week. Many shoppers stopped by just out of the novelty of
seeing a Garage Sale being held on a day different from Friday/Saturday.
Also, holding a Sale on an "off" day when there aren't other sales going
on is beneficial because people aren't holding onto their pennies,
waiting to see if there's something better at the next sale down the
road. If you're the only game in town, they buy rather than browse.
CLASSIFIED ADS
I placed two separate ads in the local paper. The first ad covered the
sale for Wednesday and Thursday. The second ad was for Friday and
Saturday. I thought that if I had just one ad that said the sale goes
from Wednesday to Saturday, fewer people would show up on the last two
days of the sale. From reading the ad, they'd probably think all the
good stuff
had already been picked over.
Be sure to double-check your ad when it appears in the paper. One of the
days my ad ran, the newspaper misprinted some information. I called the
paper about it and they refunded my money.
Also, the longer your ad, the better. Most Garage Sale ads are fairly
short, but longer ads stand out better amidst long listings of Garage
Sales. Try to list types of items you're selling individually:
furniture, clothing, small appliances, toys, baby items, blankets,
collectibles, etc. If there's anything special about your sale, mention
it. I put in my ad that my sale contained five generations of
"treasures" because my children, my husband and I, our parents, my
grandparents, and even some things from my great-grandmother were
included in the sale.
STUFF TO SELL
I collected bags and boxes full of all sorts of stuff from family and
friends. I just told people I was going to be having a Garage Sale, and
if they had anything they were going to be getting rid of, I'd be happy
to come by and pick it up for my sale. Everyone I approached was more
than happy to contribute some of their "gently used" and not-so-gently
used items to my sale.
When choosing what to display at your sale, don't sort things out
according to what you think will sell and what you think won't. Try to
sell everything! What's junk to one person is often someone else's
treasure! Even broken appliances can be sold for parts. And don't throw
out your old magazines. Stick them all in a box and sell them for a
quarter a piece.
You'll be amazed at the things that sell. The hot items at my last sale
were tacky (to me) costume jewelry, children's clothing, assorted gift
items, and sheet music from the 20's and 30's. At my suggestion,
customers were buying the sheet music to frame for wall decorations.
Then later in the day, a collector came along and offered to buy all the
remaining sheet music for a sizeable amount.
ARRANGEMENT OF SALE
Think "store" when you're setting up your sale. Try to think of how
traffic patterns of browsing customers would walk around your garage.
You want people to feel comfortable as they browse and shop. You don't
want them just running in, glancing at a mess of junk, and running right
back out the door.
Before my sale, I emptied out the garage, swept it clean, and then set
up three long tables in rows running from front to back of the garage.
Since I had so much junk (treasures, I mean), I also had two long rows
of tables out in the driveway, plus multiple boxes filled with odds and
end (i.e.: "Everything in this Box – 25 cents"). I borrowed folding
tables from family and friends, made makeshift tables from plywood
placed over large cardboard boxes, etc. Then I covered all the tables
with light colored sheets (preferably plain colors with subtle or no
patterns). The sheet-strewn tables looked nice and also helped to show
off the items displayed. Make certain your garage is well lit for the
sale day.
Arrange your tables according to categories: all kitchen stuff on one
table, bedding on another, clothes on another, gift items grouped
together, jewelry displayed next to a mirror, etc. Decide in advance
which categories of stuff you have, and then sort your items. It's so
much easier for people to find things they want if they can look at a
table and think, "Ah, ha! Kitchen stuff!" or "Oh! How nice ... a table
of gift items!"
CLOTHING
Be sure to display your clothing nicely. If you have a free-standing
clothes rack, put it in the garage for your sale to hold nicer items.
Clothing on a table should be sorted according to general sizes (baby
things, kids clothes, adult men, adult women), and folded and stacked
neatly. I had to go back over to the clothing table several times each
day and restack, refold and resort the clothes, but it was worth the
effort (almost everything sold – even stained stuff and things with
holes in the knees). People don't enjoy digging through piles and piles
of mix-n-matched junk clothing, but when they see everything looking
nice and neat -- displayed like they'd see it in a store – they quite
happily stand there and sort through the items.
I also washed clothing and stuffed animals before putting them out for
the sale. It not only makes the items more attractive, but you can also
get a higher price for these items if they look as close to "new" as
possible.
Rather than pricing each piece of clothing individually, I just put a
big easy-to-read sign over the table (I hung mine on cardboard from the
garage rafters at lower-than-eye-level right over the clothing table). I
sold clothes for "50 cents each, or three for $1 (unless otherwise
marked)." I priced nicer clothing and things like winter coats higher.
SOFT BACKGROUND MUSIC
One of the most important tips (you're probably going to think it's
crazy -- but trust me!) is playing quiet background music while people
shop. Set a mood conducive to shopping.
Don't play music that's loud or too lively -- it'll make people a bit
hyper and more apt to shop too quickly. You want them to relax ... shop
... take their time ... enjoy the process.
Probably an easy-listening station that plays familiar songs from the
70's and 80's would be ideal. People would hum and sing as they shopped
at my sale -- maybe not even leaving until after their favorite song's
over. Ever notice the background music in many restaurants and stores?
Usually just easy listening, easy-to-hum-along-with songs.
I personally chose a Classical music station for a large portion of the
day (it's the normal station I listen to) since I had to sit there all
day for four days listening to the music, too -- I didn't want to lose
my mind listening to music I don't normally play (although I'm sure a
lot of people would lose their mind listening to Classical all day!). My
customers enjoyed the music, though, and several even commented about
what a nice tone it set to my sale.
One morning I was noticing that people weren't browsing like they had
been earlier. They were just running in, looking quickly, and then
running out again and not buying anything. It seemed strange since that
hadn't been the tone of the sale during the previous days. Suddenly it
dawned on me that I'd forgotten to turn on the radio. Within just a few
minutes of playing quiet background music again, the shoppers slowed
down, took their time, and started BUYING things again. That quiet,
soothing music completely changed everything.
ODDS AND ENDS TIPS
1) On those large colorful signs that you post around town for your
sale, be sure to list some of the items at your sale: tools, baby items,
clothing, housewares, collectibles, etc.
(and please don't forget to take your signs down after the sale is
through!).
2) Stock up on bags from the grocery store so you can offer to bag up
purchases for those customers with armloads of small items.
3) Another quick tip: make people comfortable. Since I've worked for
many years in "people" oriented jobs, this practically comes as second
nature to me, but I've been to so many garage sales where the people
holding the sale just sat there and glared at you as you shopped. I
wanted people to be comfortable and feel welcome at my sale. They
weren't an inconvenience to me ... they were actually the entire reason
I was sitting out in my garage all weekend!
4) Say "Good morning" or "Hi!" to everyone who comes to your sale. We
were experiencing a heat wave the week during our sale last year, so we
chatted a lot about the weather. This is definitely the time to make
just idle small talk ... don't get personal ... just greet them, SMILE
(!!), make a comment about the weather (or some other innocent remark),
and maybe ask them if there's anything specific they're looking for. If
someone comes and goes without buying anything, still say as nicely as
possible (with a smile, of course), "Thanks for stopping by! Have a
great day!" Not only is it a nice thing to do, but other customers will
overhear you and it'll make them more comfortable, too.
5) Consider providing coffee if it's a cold day (offer it free by
"donation only"), or ice cold lemonade if it's weather like we had last
year (your kids can man the refreshment table -- my daughter made some
extra money for a trip to Mexico she was planning with the church youth
group).
6) I personally think it's better to price things a little bit on the
high side, rather than too low (I'm certainly not talking about setting
prices comparable to the local antique stores, but you don't have to
price things for ten cents, either). If someone really wants an item
that they feel is over-priced, they'll make an offer. This gives you
room to come down a bit with your price. But lots of people won't haggle
over prices -- they'll just quite happily pay whatever you ask for
things (within reason, of course).
7) Since I planned on doing a garage sale again in the future, I didn't
come down on my prices too much since everything that didn't sell the
first time around will just find it's way into my next sale.
8) If your goal is to clear out as much stuff as possible (and make a
few pennies on the side), offer some sort of great deal on the afternoon
of the last day such as: everything a customer can stuff into a shopping
bag for $1, or half price on all items after 12 noon on Saturday, or
Freebies in the late afternoon of the final day of your sale.
I hope these tips give you some motivation to try holding a garage sale
this year. It's definitely a great way to make a few extra pennies, and
clear out clutter at the same time!
About the author
Deborah Taylor-Hough is a free-lance writer and author of several
popular books including
Frugal Living for Dummies® and
Frozen Assets:
Cook for a Day, Eat for a Month. Visit Debi online for more frugal
living ideas and information on ordering her books at:
http://hometown.aol.com/dsimple/. (This article was excerpted
adapted in part from the book,
A Simple Choice: A Practical Guide for
Saving Your Time, Money & Sanity, by Deborah Taylor-Hough)
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