I hold a garage at least once a year. I have found that the following steps work for me and if I can help someone have a successful garage sale by even the slightest bit then I will be happy, after all the purpose of a garage sale is to A)Get rid of stuff and B) make a little extra cash.

Here is what I do:

One month prior to sale take a day and go from room to room in your house, spending 15 minutes in each room, look for stuff that you think you no longer want and ask yourself the following:

A) Do I need it?-If Yes then keep it.
B) Do I want it?-If Yes then ask yourself question C.
C) Have I used it in the last 6 months?-IF NO then your best bet is to sell it.

Decide what date(s) you want to have the sale on and what hours of operation you want.

3 weeks before sale:

Make signs and always make an extra one just in case one gets damaged or, like what has happened to me before, get stolen.

2 weeks before sale:

Gather all the stuff you are putting up for sale and price, my rule of thumb is to go a bit higher than you wanr. For example: End Table...you want to price it at $5.00, go up to $6.00, this way it leaves room for haggling.

After pricing, seperate into groups, this way when you set up your tables you will have one category on each table. For example: Table 1:Kids clothes, Table 2:Books, Table 3:Gousehold Items, etc.

1 week before sale:

Make sure you have money to start the sale with.

I always start with:
$1 bills: 25
$5 bills: 4
$10 bills: 1

Quarters: 40
Nickles: 20
Dimes: 20

Count this money and make a note of it so that you can calculate what you have made.

Morning of the sale:

If you are going to start your sale at 7 am, then I suggest that you start setting up at 5 am (I know it is early but this way you can be ready for the people that like to get there between 6 am and 6:30 am)

Remember that you will probably have someone come while you are setting up and wanting to buy almost everything at once and at a cheaper price, in a way that is good but DO NOT sell to them, tell them that they are more than welcome to come back on the last day of the sale about 30 minutes before the ending time and then you will wheel and deal with them.

I hope I didn't forget anything and I hope that this will help you, even in the tinest way.

Good luck with your sale.

Learn more about this author, Terry White.
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