by Kristy Stevens-Young

Created on: July 04, 2008   Last Updated: July 13, 2008

Having a Garage Sale is a great way to both reduce clutter and make some extra money. After holding many garage sales of my own as well as organizing ones for our whole block I've learned there are five main things that to consider to ensure a more profitable sale.

1. Choosing A Date

Your garage sale will do the best if you hold it on the weekend closest to (or on) the 1st and/or the 15th of the month. The reason is that the 1st and 15th are days that many people are paid. Your buyers will have more money in their pockets and are more likely to purchase something.

2. Organize Your Sale For Easy Browsing and Buying

Go over every item you plan to sale, making sure it is clean, works and has all the pieces. As you find an item, clean and test it (if applicable), mark the price and set with like items: bed and bath - kitchen - books and media - toys etc.

This will help when setting up as you will want to keep all like items together. If you have sporting equipment you want to keep the all together as it will also keep buyers that are looking for those items there longer. If you have the pieces all over, they may miss something they would have bought. Keep all electronics near an outlet so they can be easily tested.

Have a few tables where everything is the same cost or within the same range such as $5 or $1-$3 or best offer over $5. This seems to draw people over, remember to group similar items together.

Find a way to hang nicer clothing such as a portable wardrobe or hang a clothing line. Make sure everything is clearly marked with the correct size and separate them by both size and gender. To make pricing easier set up a nice sign by (or above) the clothing listing the prices: men's shirts $1, all jeans $3, women's skirts $2, sleepers $1, ladies dresses as marked.

Make sure your buyers can walk around all of your tables, with enough room for strollers to get by. Place items so they are facing both sides so people on each side of the table will have things to look through. Walk around and offer to answer questions or hold items up at the check out table.

3. Set The Stage For Buy, Buy, Buy

People are likely to stay longer if the mood is light (upbeat music playing) and there are many options available. Have a cooler of pop and water available for sale as well as some kid friendly snacks like packages of goldfish and animal crackers. Some areas do not allow selling of food and drinks and if you are in one of those areas, simply offer a free cold drink with every purchase

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