Find Me

Contact Me

Tips and Facts About Holding a Garage Sale

After just two days of selling my used things at our garage sale, I have learned a ton that I want to pass on to all of you.DSC_1135

FACTS:

Get your change early.
People will come early.
Garage sales are emotional – A family told us how they just moved here from Mexico, one man explained that he only has 2-4 months to live due to a brain tumor, and the woman who used to own my friend’s house showed up in tears and told us how she used to hold a garage sale with her late husband every year.  I definitely was no prepared for any of that.
People seem to come and go in groups, even when they are not together.  When you see one person walk up, be prepared for a dozen others.
Having some form of entertainment close by during the lapses of time when nobody stops by your sale will make time go faster.
Something unexpected will happen and you will need to think on your toes.
People are not always as honest as you would like to think.  One group that came in asked about our unmarked

Continue reading Tips and Facts About Holding a Garage Sale

I Survived the Garage Sale

The sale went well.  It really did.  I’m just too exhausted to be excited or feel anything about it at all.  But I’m here to share my experience with all of you. :)

I didn’t follow my own rules.  My friends and I stayed up until 2 in the morning Friday night watching my new favorite movie that I had to share with them after I saw it a few weeks ago, Funny Girl.  I feel dumb not having seen it, and if you haven’t you need to.  But anyway – the garage sale.

The four of us (three selling things and one of my friend’s sisters) woke up at 6, got ready, showered up, ate breakfast, and were setting up by 7.  We had about eight long tables and five round tables.  We used every single one of them, plus put a lot of stuff on the ground.  It really was a huge sale.

It looked like this in the beginning

DSC_1107

We had everything set up not only by type but by person so we could easily separate our things after the sale.  All our things were

Continue reading I Survived the Garage Sale

Day Before Garage Sale Preparation

Now that you’ve read about how much work goes into planning and advertising a garage sale, I’m sure you have decided to become self-proclaimed hoarders and never get rid of your things.  If you are crazy, like me and tons of other people in this country, you are drooling waiting for more.  Well I’m here to give it to you!  Today I will share the preparation that needs to be prepared close to the first day of the sale.  If you’re like me and you did everything ahead of time, this is the one time you can procrastinate until the day before.

Here is what needs to be done:

Head to the bank and get some change – How horrible would it be if people started showing up to your sale and you had forgotten to get any change?  You’re going to need plenty, especially in the beginning when people staring out for the day haven’t purchased anything with their bigger bills.  I’d suggest a slew of fives, ones, quarters, nickels, and dimes with maybe a dollar’s worth of pennies.  We decided not to price anything with anything but multiples of fives (no 5.67 or .53 here), so we really shouldn’t need

Continue reading Day Before Garage Sale Preparation

Advertising a Garage Sale

Last week, I told you all about planning a garage sale, from gathering everything to getting it ready to hit the tables on the big sale day.  Today I’m going to share a little about advertising.

To be honest, I don’t have that much to say because I haven’t held the sale yet, so who knows if my advertising will work.  Here are some various advertising routes to use to get people to your sale.

Craigslist – Post an ad on Craigslist with the date, time, location, directions, and a list of things you will be selling.  Don’t be afraid to be detailed and even list prices for some things if you think it will draw more people in.  Because our sale is going to be so large, I decided a long list of the different types of items we will be selling would draw people in.  Our ad looks like this (the location has been removed):

When: June 19-20 Time: 9am – 5pm Saturday the 19th  &  9am – 2pm Sunday the 20th What: Multi-family garage sale Where: ——-

Directions: —— Signs will be posted.

Items Being Sold (and

Continue reading Advertising a Garage Sale

Planning a Multi-Family Garage Sale

Earlier this week, I mentioned that I will be holding a garage sale.  Back in January, I posted about the vacation a couple friends of mine and I are taking.  Well, in order to go on vacation a person needs money, so we decided to hold a garage sale!  Not only was it the perfect time because of the trip, but it was also perfect to sell all of my old things I no longer need before I move into my studio apartment in the fall.

The first thing you will realize when preparing for a garage sale is that you have a lot of stuff.  Maybe it’s just me, but I have so much I didn’t even realize.  When you see it all together in one big pile, it is overwhelming and even a bit disgusting.  I have vowed to not buy anything for the rest of the year because I have everything I could ever need and more. Stay tuned for more on that…

Because I think garage sales are becoming more common with the recession and because I know most of my readers are like me and love thrifty things, I thought it might be useful to document

Continue reading Planning a Multi-Family Garage Sale

Related Posts with Thumbnails