Nothing says "green" like a garage sale! Green in that you recycle things you no longer want (keeping it out of the landfills) and that people will hopefully buy and not need to require as much new stuff to be produced...and ultimately hopefully green in your pocket! I'm known by many as a garage sale master so thought I'd share my tips of what it takes to hold a great garage sale in an organized way that will allow you the largest profit and the largest audience.
1) Gather up your gear - go through every closet, nook and cranny! My rule of thumb is that if you haven't used it for a year - it goes! Why clutter your house with "stuff" you don't use? Unless there is great sentimental value, there is actually a lot of peace that comes with cleaning house! Less stuff means less to clean and keep track of. =)
2) Sort - look for stains, rips, tears, mold, etc. These sort of items will make your garage sale look dumpy and may scare away customers who would be willing to buy otherwise. Granted, if there is a hot item like an expensive Armani purse or Baby Lulu outfit you may want to still try to sell it, but most likely it does not belong in the sale! Also, out-of-date items (unless you truly think they are collectible) should be given to Goodwill and not placed for sale. I absolutely LOVE "no junk" garage sales and will sometimes spend half of my cash at such a sale because I know I'm getting quality items.
3) Get the kids involved - kids can help sort as well as contribute things to the sale. What easier way to get your children to clean up their toy bins? Give them incentive, say they really have been wanting a big ticket item for awhile, tell them that if they sell enough they can buy it (you can make up the difference or just use that as a down payment, it's up to you). You may also find you have a natural born sales person on your hands, but be sure to coach them about the appropriate way to sell and avoid scaring away customers with too much sales pressure.
4) Price - the key here is to determine TRUE worth. Completely disregard your purchase price! Don't mark a toy that you splurged on and went over budget buying for your son for Christmas for $8 when other garage sales are selling the same item for $2. You will simply not sell the item and end up donating it anyway! If in doubt of what to price something at use these two rules of thumb: price it for what you would pay for it at a sale or if you don't have any idea price it at 10% of retail. DVDs should be marked at about $2-3 (a little greater than rule of thumb) if they are in mint condition, if they all scratched up stick to $1 or less. The goal is to move the stuff, not to cling onto it. Please don't color code things, but price them out or do a sign saying "all shirts $1, all DVDs $2 unless marked" and place in appropriate areas (not one large sign for all). The color coding or long list makes it obnoxious for buyers. If it takes too much time to figure out the price, you will lose a lot of sales.
5) Timing - spring is an ideal time to have a garage sale as the weather is warm, but not blistering hot. If you have a neighborhood garage sale, try to hold it the same weekend! Try to open a day before the "big sale" because many of your neighbors will as well. However, Thurs/Fri/Sat is sufficient. Yes, there will be traffic to a Wed. sale, but in the long run it won't be worth your time. All of the really desirable things will likely be gone the first day, regardless of a Wed/Thurs/Fri open and your profit per hour worked goes down with the length of your sale. Most "die hard" garage salers like me trek out on Thurs as there are usually an abundance of sales and it is fun to score early deals. If I see something has been open since Wed. I wouldn't stop since the general belief is that it is picked over after the first day.
6) Advertise the sale - there are plenty of free ways to do this! Craigslist is great as is http://www.yardsalesearch.com - what I like about the latter is that there is a way for users to punch in a zip code and see locations on a map. This is very helpful for buyers! I thought of this idea a long time ago, but never had the resources to carry it out so I'm glad someone else had the same idea and carried it out! Make sure to throw in as many desirable key words as possible such as "no junk!" (be truthful, though) or list out individual name brands that are high end (such as Hanna Andersson or Baby Jogger) as many people are in search of particular things. The more things you list to drive traffic the better!
7) Signage - all your hard work will be for naught if you don't get good traffic to your sale. If you read no other part of this post, I hope you read this one because it's essential! Number one, size is important! If you make a great big sign saying "HUGE sale" it will definitely make people more willing to stop (note: if your sale is not huge, don't waste your time having the sale! Donate your items or team up with friends to combine your stuff for a "multi-family sale" which attracts buyers and spreads out the work). Most importantly, don't forget the LARGE arrow! I so often see this mistake, where a well meaning person writes their address on the sign instead of an arrow. Think about it, no one is going to whip out their GPS on the fly and the only people that do know exactly where your address is probably already passed the sale! Do everyone a favor and make it easy - lots of signs with large arrows to point the way! Make sure signs are sturdy and if it is a particularly windy or stormy day have someone check occasionally to make sure signs are still up. If you buy a large enough sign you can put select "key words" on it to attract attention such as "toys, kids, tools, antiques". Then you will know you are getting the right buyers. If you have a mainly antique sale, you will get less drive bys by disappointed minivans and if you have loads of kids stuff you won't get the drive bys by people who don't have kids. Try to have something for everyone, though! If you don't have kids, team up with someone who does, or if you have mainly kids stuff don't forget to go through your closet, kitchen, and garage because people with similar aged kids probably need/want similar items to what you own.
8) Presentation - make sure to load things as much down the driveway as possible. People that keep things in their garages may have great stuff, but many people will just drive by. A lot of times people are looking for specific things so if they see something at a glance they will at least stop. Group similar items together, and have things labeled as nicely as possible (don't make the buyer have to guess). Selling clothing items as matching sets will allow you to sell more and you can mark up the prices accordingly (for ex: I might pay up to $1 for a shirt, but if it's a shirt and pair of pants that match and sold as a set I might pay $3-5). Take the time to clean up items, a clean sale sells more because presentation really sells things!
9) Clean up - don't let anything back in your house! One of the goals of a garage sale is to declutter, and if you don't care about something enough to sell it you might as well give it away. Find a local swap, Goodwill, or needy family and donate. You will bless them and keep your house clutter free! There is no point in deep cleaning your house just to fill it back up, and under no uncertain terms do you want to keep things and try to sell it the following year in a garage sale! If they didn't sell in three days, they likely won't sell in three days next year and why clog up your garage/basement?
10) Have fun - remember, you are doing this to make money and help the environment so don't get overwhelmed. When the day(s) are done, go out and celebrate! It is always fun to have a goal in mind (maybe in tiers if it's your first sale!) of what to do with the profits and how sweet it is when your goal is realized!
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