How to make money at your garage sale

How to make money at your garage sale

What attracts people to garage sales? Furniture, lawn equipment, children's clothing and great deals!

The tips below will help you price these items to sell.

Advertise the garage sale
Make sure you list the big-ticket, big-interest items, such as furniture and lawn equipment to draw people in.  If you're serious about getting rid of everything, set a time for it to all go to half-price and share the time in the ad so customers can plan on coming back.

Sell clothing
Most adults won't pay much for clothing unless they can try it on. We recommend not letting customers in your house, even to try on clothing, so a better idea is to set a general price, such as $2-$3 for shirts and $3-$4 for jeans.

Since people are much more likely to buy children's clothing than adult clothing, having it at your sale is sure to drive traffic.  Just organize it by size so customers can sort through it easily. It's not a bad idea to do blanket pricing for kids clothes too.

Display all clothing as neatly as possible— hanging is preferable.  Then, if you've chosen to do blanket pricing, place a large sign beside the clothing to display the prices.

Price everything
Some people prefer to price each individual item.  Others like to save time by placing colored dots on items and creating a key to display on a poster.  Whatever pricing method you choose, we recommend that you price everything. If your items aren't priced, you'll often accept less money than you otherwise would have. It's worth it to spend some time thinking about how much you want for an item so you're not surprised and fishing for ideas later.

Do your research
If you have a higher dollar item that you're worried won't sell, cut out an ad for the same item from a store and display it beside your price tag.  If you do this, customers can see they're getting a good deal in comparison with what the item would cost new.

Scout other garage sales
If you have extra time, go to other garage sales in the area before you have yours.  Scout out their prices, so you'll have an idea of what people are willing to pay.  Taking the extra time to price your items thoroughly will save time and effort later.