Garage Sale Tips

Organizing a garage sale before a move has many advantages:

• Extra cash for moving expenses
• Less stuff (i.e. decluttering) shows a home off better
• Less stuff to move saves mover expense
• Chance to say 'goodbye' to your neighbors

The Tips:

1. Check with the local city government for guidelines and accepted practices. Don't get fined for posting Garage Sale signs on telephone poles or risk having them removed when ordinances allow posting them on sticks. Organizing a garage sale is not a new idea — follow the rules for a better result.
2. Pick a date and time and do some research. There are yard sale pros that will be at your house an hour before your announced time. Set the time early enough to get a full day but not so early that you'll be shooing off campers at 6AM. The date should take into account 3 day weekends, parade days and other local events. Don't compete against a parade across town but maybe take advantage of an arts and craft fair that draws people from neighboring cities.
3. Invite the neighbors. Tell the neighbors you'll be hosting at your house and invite them to cart their stuff over. If you can convince a neighbor with a corner lot or more visibile location, consider taking your sale on the road. Also, having more people involved means an involved and motivated sales force to get the word out. If they don't want to sell, get them involved by asking them for their favorite garage sale tips; they're more likely to get invested in your success if they've told you how to do it!
4. Take advantage of free notices in the paper and on community bulletin boards. Don't wait on the paper because although they'll list you for free (or cheap) they may need a few weeks' notice and require a specific format for submitting items. Craig's List is a great tool too, but learn the ropes first: in your area you may need to refresh your posting daily to stay on the top of the list.
5. Use all of the social media tools at your disposal. Twitter and Facebook utilized the day before and the day of the sale can get some last minute shoppers headed your way. It may seem like 'overkill' now but ask people how they heard about the sale and you won't regret it. If you find yourself standing alone behind a table with no customers in site you can make 'special offers' using Twitter like 'free item to anyone mentioning they heard about this online'.
6. Have an adequate sales staff and discuss all garage sale pricing with your team ahead of time. Garage sales can get crowded, especially at the end and beginning of the day when the pros come out. Enroll family and friends for the day and give them bargaining framework like: "You can discount any item if the customer asks for a discount for multiple items but no more than 20% without my permission". Or "Any item over $100 should be directed to me".
7. Borrow a van and be prepared to make deliveries if you know you'll have a lot of big and bulky items. Lots of people may shell out big bucks for your grandmother's antique bureau but they may not arrive in a pickup. Don't lose the sale over a delivery. Garage sale Tips of another type (if you catch our drift) can make the physical moving financially worthwhile for a student or teen!
8. Pre-sell big ticket items like a piano, couch, TV, etc. using Craig's List or other outlet if you can. If it doesn't sell online or by posting photos on the grocery store community bulletin you may still have people show up to see it 'live'.
9. Use pre-printed signs and notices with big letters and simple messages; junky signs mean junky junk people don't want anyway. Keep it simple: "Garage Sale Today — 1 block down" or "GARAGE SALE — Turn Left" is a lot better than 'Super items at low prices at 333 Smith Avenue or call 555-1212" etc. How much can they read at 35 MPH and suppose they don't know the addresses and streets in the area? Keep lawn postings simple and save the details for postings at church, synagogue and other community boards.
10. Price to sell for the cash people have on them and be ready with change. Checks are risky in the garage sale game and you have to remember — you're selling from your lawn, not the Magnificent or Mag Mile. You may love that papier mache peasant woman your grandmother brought you back from Puerto Vallarta but it's not an antique because an old person gave it to you. Sell it! Sell volume and don't get stuck on being right or winning the negotiation. If you have inventory at the end of the day — you're stuck with it!

Bonus item with Garage Sale Tips — Price Guide Garage Sale

WARNING: This guide is intended as a 'jump start' list of suggestions only. Use your best judgment and good luck to you.

• Any item less than 12 inches tall and weighing less than 5 pounds is $3 unless it has a craftsman's stamp on it.
• All sporting Equipment, especially ones that have been sweated on or in, i.e. skates, pads, etc. are $5-10
• Furniture is priced by visiting the local resale shop or Salvation Army for comparison and then selling for at least 20% lower than that.
• Working adult bikes with limited rust are $20-50 depending on condition and make
• Kid's bikes are $5-10.
• Collectibles are sold online at E-Bay and Craig's list; don't sell them in a yard sale if you want value.
• Junk is junk. Don't sell it or group items together in a grab bag for a couple of bucks.
• Label everything and group by category of item, not by price, i.e. bats, mitts, skates, bikes all grouped.
• Set a sales goal for the day and consider what you have to sell to hit that goal. Let that guide your bargaining and no matter how tired you feel at the end of the day you'll have a benchmark to measure your success against.
• Keep it real, ok? This is not your retirement fund here, just a chance to clear away some clutter and make a little pocket money from 'stuff'.

Sites we like:

The Yard Sale Queen
http://www.yardsalequeen.com/

How To Operate A Successful Garage Sale
http://www.ifg-inc.com/Consumer_Reports/GarageSale.shtml

Free Printable Garage Sale Signs
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/684921/free_printable_garage_sale_signs.html?cat=35

DMD wants you to sell your home fast. Organizing a garage sale can be a fun and profitable way to get the ball rolling and get 'real' about your real estate deal. Letting go of items clears away room for new items bought specifically for the new house — but wait till you move into the new home before you buy anything new!

Garage sale tips from DMD — Another part of the DMD Difference.