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B and I have been talking about having a garage sale for MONTHS. At least once a week this summer we’ve looked at each other and said “let’s have a garage sale this weekend” and then found “better”, less time consuming things to do. And finally last week we said enough is enough and decided to just do it. This was the last weekend we could really do it since next weekend is Labor Day and then school starts here in MI and things will get crazy after that, so it was now or never. I’m going to break down my “review” and how we prepared in parts so it’s easier to read. Here goes:
The Dates / Time: We decided to have the sale on a Friday and Saturday. No real reason other than three days seemed like too much and Fridays are popular around here for garage sales.
The Prep:
I started preparing for the garage sale last weekend and had L help me tag things. I gotta tell you, he’s a good helper. We sat on the floor in the storage room in the basement and I’d hand him things and he’d happily tag them and move them to the main area in the basement. I had a good idea of what I was going to sell in advance and just glanced around and opened bins and went from there. My mom took both of the boys for a few hour son Thursday, so I was able to haul everything from the basement into the garage. This would have been next to impossible to do with WB around so thank you mom!
Pricing: For the most part I stuck with a $1 / $5 / $10 system. I wanted to make it as easy as possible for everyone (but mainly me). On things like clothes, shoes (someone tell me why I had 10 pairs of unworn flip flops in a bag), bags, etc. I put them all on a table and did $2 each. Were some things worth $0.50? Sure. But were people who picked up B’s old Seven & True Religion jeans for $2 getting a steal? Sure were!
Advertising: I advertised on Craigslist, in my local FB swap group (although they all seem to think you should hold the items for them for days which wasn’t happening) and put up signs in the neighborhood and on big intersections near us. I bought signs from the local hardware store, which were $, but I plan to reuse them at future sales.
More Prep:
~I had NO idea what to expect change wise, so I went to the bank the day before the sale and got $40 in ones, $40 in fives and $20 in quarters. It worked out perfect. I think I gave my last $5 out just as we were closing yesterday. I had plenty of ones left though. I was shocked by the number of people who pay at garage sales with $20’s, $50’s and we even got a $100 bill.
~I knew people would want bags and we don’t keep the ones we get at the grocery store, so I grabbed a bunch of cloth bags I got free from various places and had them sitting by the “checkout”. I HATE throwing those away so of course I have a ton, but happily I was able to clear a bunch out. SO MANY. Some lady was like a really get a Lululemon bag? You sure do lady because there’s no reason I need a dozen.
~I hadn’t figured out how I was going to hold the money so luckily my brother brought a cash box when he dropped some stuff off for us to sell. I wouldn’t buy one just for a garage sale, but I would for sure borrowing one.
The Sale Itself: Friday was our busiest day by far. We had a steady stream of people coming on Friday and made 2x more on Friday than we did on Saturday. I don’t know if people were over garage saling by then or what, but Friday was much busier. I am glad B was there because I wouldn’t have wanted to do it alone. No one was super crazy or rude or offered us anything insanely low. There certainly were some hagglers, but for the most part everyone was friendly and nice! L stayed with us (and sold lemonade on Friday) while my mom took WB to her house most of the day. They both went with her to her house yesterday. While L is garage sale material, WB is NOT. The minimal amount of time he was here, he was throwing golf balls down the driveway, playing with the toys he never even so much as looked at in the house and trying to go visit the dog down the street. So my tip is, get someone to watch the little kids during the sale!
Hot Sellers:
Hot sellers were for sure candles (people went crazy over all the Bath & Body Works and Glade candles I had for sale) and my dollar bucket of “stuff”. I filled it with all sorts of stuff – lots of 90% off Target items like bags of legos, small trains, little people figures, Crayola packs and assorted other items I have collected over the years (Dora sippy cups, plates, bowls, etc.) you get the idea.
Not Hot Sellers:
Books seemed to be the items that people looked at least. A few people bought some, but it seemed for the most part people walked right by. Other than that, people gave most items a fair glance if nothing else!
The Leftovers:
The majority of items that didn’t sell are being donated. Could we save them for a garage sale next year? I’m sure we could, but I am also trying to clean this house out, so I am happy to donate them. Bigger items (like say outdoor speakers and a garage heater) I will try and list on Craigslist.
Next Year:
~Next year B and I are planning one earlier in the summer (mid to late June) and are thinking Thursday night (maybe 5-9pm) and all day Friday. Friday was so much busier than Saturday and I think Thursday night would be nice too with people getting off work and for those people who like to scout out garage sales early.
~I am SO planning on having another $1 bin and maybe a $3 one and another $5 one next year. They were so popular and those dollars added up!
~I am going to try and have my old kids clothes ready for the next sale in hopes of getting rid of them. It was too last minute to even try and tackle this year.
~I will probably also try and see if any of my neighbors would want to have a garage sale at the same time so we could call it a sub sale. I think at least a few would be interested.
Final Thoughts:
It SO wasn’t as bad as I expected and I (obviously) would do it again. I didn’t make enough money for a new macbook (not that I expected too), but I did make enough, for say, an iPad (not that I am buying one). It was an experience for sure, but not a bad one by any means. I also didn’t think it was a ton a ton of work. We really started thinking about it / preparing for it last Sunday, so we pulled it all together in 5 days. Not bad!
Have you ever had a garage sale? Would you do it again tips? Tricks? Best sellers? And if you shop garage sales, what’s the best deal you ever scored?
Books didn’t sell that great?! Thats the one thing I always look at garage sales.
Wow! Looks like you had some great stuff! Really wish I could have gone. Looks like you had some great toys in that pic. I have a six month old boy. I used to have garage sales with my sister at my parents’ house. It always seemed like a lot of work for the money, but we usually had a pretty good time. The thing that I really HATED, though, was the people that would show up before the sale actually started. You’d say “we’re not open yet, come back in half an hour” and they’d just start opening up boxes and looking through our stuff! What the heck?!
Did you do your “Free” bin?
I was in the same boat as you, planning all summer and finally had my yard sale a few weeks ago. I have an 18-year old going to college, so I took her unwanted clothes to Plato’s Closet first and made about $5 per item — $120, for what they were willing to take. The rest of the clothes went on a borrowed clothing rack. People spent a lot of time looking through it since it was urber organized. What was left after was donated, like you I wanted to clean house and storage areas that were overflowing.
I used yellow caution tape across the sidewalk to keep people out – a trick I learned from a friend in the business. It worked!
What sold best was electronics, artwork, jewelry, and kids crafts and beads. I’d been trying to sell an old set of dishwear and serving pieces for years – finally I just broke it up and made about as much as I had wanted in the first place. My son sold items from his uncle and water bottles and avocados. He wanted too much for his bike and gave it away at the end of the second day so he could purchase and adult-sized bike. Lesson learned – don’t be too greedy, but he gave his away to little kids at the end of the block so it worked out nicely. The second day I didn’t sell as much – but I looked at it as an opportunity to not have to pack those items up to take to Goodwill. 🙂
PS – I had a bag of tshirts for 25 cents to deal with hagglers who want all the shoes for 50 cents each and someone happily took the whole bag. And I put all my magazines out on the sidewalk for Free. I hate to throw them away and it worked!
I also tell neighbors when I’m having and advertising a sale so they can piggyback – it attracts more people to see a crowded street with lots of sales.
You’ve got all my tips (LOL). but I will add that we bought some cheap bottled water which sold real well during the hot days of our garage sales. My friend also made some chocolate chip cookies and rice krispie treats and those sold really well too.
How did you price your books? I read that people tend to price them really high and paperbacks should be like ten cents and hardbacks fifty cents. Last year when I was trying to get rid of the thousands (and I really do mean thousands) of paperbacks of my moms, we were selling them for $1 a bag! (someone bought most of them in one fell swoop).
Sounds like ti was a great success! No one really does garage sales around here, they just go to car boot sales instead!
xoxo
Stacey
Five Minute Style?
@Stacey:
I need to know more about these car boot sales!
glad it was a success! wish i lived near you… hubby wouldve loved those jeans!!
It seems that your garage sale was a great success. These tips are very useful for me as I am also having a garage sale in next week.