It is officially GARAGE SALE SEASON! I love a good garage sale, especially when I find something I’ve been searching a long time for, and when it’s purchased at a bargain price. I’ve attended many sales and have had a few of my own. So here are my tips and tricks of the trade:
Hosting a Garage Sale
- Plan in Advance: Pick a day about a month out. Check to see if there’s any planned events in the area that could detract from people attending your sale. Fridays will bring in lots of professional sellers (they buy from you cheap and then sell on Ebay or at their own stall.) Saturdays are best for bringing in more people.
- Multi-Family Sales are Best: Drawing in a large group of people is much easier when there are lots of homes in the same community having a garage sale. So gauge interest with neighbors or the community if it can be a larger scale sale.
- Advertise: Print, online, and staked in the lawn – you’ve got to get word out that you’re having a sale! Postmygaragesale.com is free and easy to use. You can post your sale description, location, date, and photos, and then select additional garage sale sites to post to in one go. You can then delete your post after your sale is completed.
- Prepare Sale Items: Go through your belongings, and determine what you want to sell. Determine prices in advance, and tag everything. This is the easiest way to let your buyers know the price you want, and where they can begin to haggle (if at all.) Dollar Tree has great resources, including garage sale lawn signs and directionals, tags and stickers, markers, and even counterfeit money pens (you can never be too careful these days, as it is common for people to use forged money, unfortunately.) Run to the bank and gather lots of dollar bills and quarters, depending on the price point of your items. Put items out in your garage, and stage them for your sale a few days in advance, as you won’t have time to bring items out the morning of your sale.
- Create a Rain Plan: Sales happen, rain or shine. So plan to use an indoor space, like your garage, if possible. It’s always best to bring out as much as possible on your lawn or driveway, as many buyers like to drive by first and glance at the items without leaving their car. (It’s so disappointing when someone slow rolls by your house and drives away without ever leaving the car.)
- Set an Alarm: Set an alarm early to get yourself, and your sale space, ready. Make a pot of coffee for the morning! Be ready for early bird arrivals from professionals, as they want to see all of your items first, and get the best deal.
- Have Fun!: Play some music! Enjoy the sale and the folks visiting.
READ: South Central PA Summer Bucket List: 50+ Things to Do!
Visiting a Garage Sale
- Plan Your Day and Route: Visit garage sale websites or Facebook to determine where and when the sales are. Try to plan a few on the same day in the same area, so you can have a route determined in advance.
- Bring Cash: No one has credit card machines, so you’ll need to bring some cash. Smaller bills are best, as the seller may not have a ton of change. And they may not want to break larger bills for fear of counterfeit money.
- Go with a Friend/Family: Make a trip out of it, and get another opinion on things you see. They may find something you missed.
- Go with an Open Mind: You never know what you’ll find, and sometimes, you can find things not out for sale by asking the seller if they have any inside their home that they didn’t think to put in the sale. (Antique jewelry or military items are big requests!) Be considerate in any offers you present to the seller.
- Have Fun!: The joy is in the hunt and the not knowing what you’ll find. So have a blast!
Hosting a garage sale can be exhausting, as it takes time to prepare and sell your items. Sale day/weekend can be long, but most of the time totally worth it! You get to make some money on things that were most likely headed for a donation center or the trash. Anything you don’t sell, you can save for another sale next time, post on Facebook Marketplace, donate, or give away. I enjoy having garage sales and meeting neighbors, as well as attending local garage sales. You never know what you’ll find! Happy hunting!
