by M. J. Joachim

Created on: November 12, 2009

There are a few different ways you can organize your stuff for a garage sale. However, it does take some time to sort through your things, and many people start preparing a few months in advance to make things easier. If you don't want to collect items for months on end in anticipation of having a garage sale, there are ways to get organized fairly quickly.

*Plan ahead: You don't have to necessarily pick your date too far in advance, although it does help to have a rough idea of when you'd like to host your sale. Planning ahead helps you determine display needs and set ups for your merchandise. It prevents you from piling books on the table you expect to sell, and then piling them on the ground when someone buys it. A little bit of foresight will save anyone hosting a garage sale a whole lot of frustration.

Another thing planning ahead is good for is coordinating with your neighbors. Chances are they have things they'll want to sell too. Working together allows you to set up more signs, as well as giving a larger selection of merchandise, both of which can bring in more customers. It's also good to work with your neighbors for safety purposes when you are dealing with the public.

*Sort things by price: Use big boxes, bins, and tables, and sort things by price. Put books in with kitchen utensils, and tools in with movies. Label your display in big, bold letters and numbers, and pile items on it by price. This makes it so much easier to keep track of large groups of customers. It also gives you less things to manage. If you know that everything on a certain table is $2, then you're not going to take fifty cents for something that came off that table.

*Displaying your merchandise: Set up your displays in your garage ahead of time. When you put everything out on your driveway, make sure you have a lot of space between them. Put displays with cheaper items near displays with more expensive things. This way when people try to bargain, and you ask them what table they got something off of, you will know if they are trying to get too much of a good deal.

*Use a fanny pack: Have your change and money on your person. Unfortunately, if you leave it lying around, someone may try to steal it. You can prevent this by wearing a fanny pack under a baggy shirt. As you collect lots of funds, put them inside your home where they'll be secure, keeping only enough change to make change for your customers.

Cleaning your home to provide merchandise for a garage sale can be challenging or fun, depending on how you decide to approach it. You can work slowly, sorting through each room over an extended period of time, or you can gather a bunch of things just a few days before. Either way, getting organized for and hosting a garage sale is fairly simple. The few dollars you charge for your used items tend to add up quickly, so it's well worth it when all is said and done.

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