by Erica Michaelson

Created on: July 10, 2009   Last Updated: February 16, 2010

Are you tired of tripping all over the clutter in your home? Can you use some extra money? Close your eyes and imagine a clean and organized house, and, some much needed money in your pocket! Garage or yard sales are a fantastic way to clean house, and an excellent way to make some cold hard cash in the process. Preparation and organization is essential for success! In this article you will learn: where to begin, how to advertise, pricing suggestions, merchandising advise, and several tips that will make your garage sale a winner!

Start with inventory.: You need items to sell. This is a great way to clean out the clutter and get rid of the old stuff you just don't need anymore. Make three piles when de-cluttering an area: keep, toss, sell. This makes it real simple!

Find an empty area or closet in the house to make your store room. This way when you come across items you want to sell, just bring those items there. Don't worry about organizing at this step, unless it is obvious like clothing, shoes, kitchen, kids toys etc. Be prepared to usually spend about two to four weeks on this step. This will also give you time to remove items that you may have changed your mind about it, (or someone else in the family has).

Permits, time, place, and advertising: Check with your local municipality to find out if you need to have a permit, and where you may post your signs. Put a sign up on the bulletin board at the local grocery store. It is also attention grabbing to put some signs with balloons around the area the day of the sale to point to where the sale is. You can run multi- day sales, but, I have run one day sales and sold almost everything on a Saturday. The garage is the best place for the sale, however if you do not have one just set up you tables on the lawn.

Advertising: You can advertise with a small budget and even no budget at all. If you have big ticket items such as televisions, computers, refrigerator, or the like, it is definitely worth it to place an ad in the Penny Saver, or small newspaper from your town. The ads are usually very inexpensive and you will be surprised to know that the big ticket items are usually the items people are looking for. You want the people that are planning on garage sailing to know where to get the items they are looking for .

Another way to advertise is to post an ad on Craigslist. This is a great way to advertise and it is free too! You can even take pictures of your items and post them. Don't forget the good old fashioned

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