by Marilyn Knowles Wilke

Created on: September 11, 2008   Last Updated: March 30, 2012

Garage sales take so much time and organization. You spend hours sorting and pricing items only to be disappointed when no one comes, or it starts out great and then the rain comes and spoils everything. Not only does some of your items get wet, but you have to rush everything inside or under the carport. Of course, if you do actually have a garage that closes, it would be much better. You still have the problem of rain spoiling a garage sale for weeks, especially during the summer. Garage sales lasts from maybe Friday to Sunday, if that. You only have a slight chance of selling everything in that amount of time. After it is over, you discover numerous items you could have sold. If you decide to sell those items, you have to start all over again. The nuisance of putting it all together again just does not seem worth it unless perhaps you kept it open everyday and then you would have to get someone to sit with it and sell your items. It makes you wonder if it is even worth going through the trouble of setting one up.

When you sell on eBay, you still have to sort through things, but you do not have to place price tags on everything or make sure the rain does not ruin your profit. eBay makes it easy to sell items and you probably will get a better price in the long run. You have hundreds or even thousands of people on the Internet looking at your items instead of the few people who might come to a garage sale. There is a better chance of someone wanting what you have because they usually search for specific products. People go to garage sales and pick over things and if they are looking for something specific, they walk in and walk out. eBay buyers usually know what they want and you have a better chance of attracting them and selling your items.

When you have a garage sale, your chances are usually slim if you live in a relatively poor neighborhood. The truth is, a lot of people do not even go in that area and the only buyers you get are people who want to pay pennies instead of dollars. If you attempt to have another sale the following weekend, dust has settled on your items and you have to clean them. If they were in containers or boxes awaiting a buyer on eBay, you would not have to worry about dust or having to clean everything once a week. And if you keep them put away, you have to take everything out each time you have the sale. If you sell on eBay, you only have to take things out as you sell them.

In the long run, eBay is the better place to sell your products. No matter what you have to sell, you have a better chance in finding a buyer worldwide than you do in your front yard. Just the fact that people are searching for certain items gives you a better chance of selling at a higher price. You make a better profit and do not have to worry about the hassles of organizing a garage sale that might not even move your stuff.

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