Meta: Selling your items for any purpose requires good organizing, and downsizing before moving is no exception. We’ll show you how to have a successful garage sale without a hassle!
How to Have a Successful Garage Sale
You’ve decided to downsize before moving out, or you just saw that you have too many unnecessary items in your household? Not a problem. One good garage sale will solve this issue and bring you some profit along the way. If you follow these steps and learn how to have a successful garage sale, you’ll surely have a pleasant experience.
What Do You Need To Do?
To have a proper sale, you need to know what you’re selling, prepare every item, decide on the value, let the potential buyers know that you’re organizing a sale, and choose the right time for it.
If you’re moving, selling the unneeded or useless stuff will make the whole process easier, since you’ll have fewer things to think about. Also, there are moving companies that base their prices on the inventory list of your belongings, so the entire move will cost less if you sell a couple of boxes full of unwanted items. Wondering how to throw a perfect garage sale? Let’s start with the first step.
Make The Item List
Do a walk-through of your house, garage, yard, and all of the places where you can find something that hasn’t been used in months or years – you’ll surely bump into something. List them all on a piece of paper and make a checklist.
Organize everything into groups so you’ll have a clear idea of the articles you intend to sell. You can organize them by rooms, purpose, or by the condition they’re in. More expensive and valuable things can go together on one page, and worn-out objects can go on the other – whatever works best for you. Also, make sure that you have several copies, just in case one of them gets lost in all the mess that is bound to happen during the sale.
Prepare the Items You Want To Sell
Do your best to make the things you’re selling look like something you’d want to buy. Wash all the clothes and the toys, dust the books, clean the plates and pots, vacuum the carpets and polish the silver. Whatever you’re selling, make sure that everything is in its best shape. If you’re selling some old furniture, you can try remodeling or varnishing the wood. When you’re all finished with that, it’s time for the next step.
The Price of Your Secondhand Goods
Firstly, you’ll need to know the real value of the stuff you’re selling. Check online or go to a store and see how much the item is worth when it’s new. Bear in mind that you have to lower the price by half or more. Mark that down on your list and put a price tag next to the item. That will be the initial price, and you should be ready for some bargaining. Don’t go lower than the value of the article, but also, don’t overestimate. After all, your primary goal is to get rid of as much stuff as you can, not to make a ton of money.
Advertise the Sale
Let your neighborhood know that you plan to sell your stuff. Make the sign visible with large letters and string colors. Point out the date, time, and of course, the location. You can also write down the price range. Advertising this event online in your community group can also be useful.
No matter how good the sign is, you’ll be the best advertiser for your sale. If you’re positive, smiling, and kind, you’ll attract more people with that friendly energy. Keeping the good spirit, cracking some jokes, and charming the customers/neighbors always works.
Choose The Right Time
The weather has to be good. No one will go for a walk through the neighborhood if it’s cold or rainy, and they certainly won’t stop by to see the things you’re selling. Aside from the fact that they will get wet, all of the stuff for sale can be ruined if it’s not covered. It would be best to organize your garage sale on a warm and sunny spring morning or in late summer and early autumn. Summer days can also be ill-suited if it’s too hot.
It’s Time For Sale!
After you’ve taken all those steps, place your items in front of your house. This could also be an event for friends and family, so you can invite them all to help out. Arrange the things in the way you like it – maybe by recreating rooms or placing the more valuable items next to the cheaper ones, so that everything gets noticed. You can bring some refreshments like lemonade or cold water, or maybe some homemade cookies to make the atmosphere more pleasant.
A Few More Tips
Hang clothes on a rack to make them more visible and easier to browse through. Be around all the time to talk to the customers, explain the emotional value of an item, or just for safety reasons. Having an open sale can invite unwanted guests, and you don’t want anything to get stolen. Keep the money you receive in one place, keep an eye on it at all times, and we can only congratulate you on a successful garage sale!
In case you’re organizing a garage sale because you want to relocate to another home, make sure that you find a reputable company that can offer not only moving services but also packing services. Getting rid of the items you don’t need anymore will make the move much easier.
