Garage Sale Help - Humble,TX

Make sure everything has a price tag or is in a bin with the price clearly marked. Be sure to have change, coins, five and singles (you know that first person will have a large bill). If you are having the sale for two days be sure to have change for two days.

Make sure your home is secure and don't have ANYTHING on your porch/yard that is not for sale. I strongly suggest that you have more then one person helping you, at least to keep an eye on what's going on.

Lastly, be prepared for people knocking on your door at the crack of dawn asking where is the stuff for sale. I couldn't believe how rude people can be when it comes to yard/garage sales.

Keep all the doors of your house locked during the sale. Its easy to get distracted and have someone slip into your house under the guise of 'just looking for a bathroom'. If you are just trying to get rid of stuff price low and offer discounts like buy 1 get 1 on clothes or small toys. Whatever you don't sell pack up and take to Goodwill or some charity after the sale ends. Don't bring it back in the house to add to your clutter.

Speak to each person with a smile. Say "good Morning!"

Thank them for stopping even if they do not purchase anything.

Make sure you have change. Everyone will have a $20. Bill.
You really need a partner. One person to collect money, the other to sell.

People do not like to purchase stuff on the ground. It makes it look dirty and not important. If you can set up tables or boards on top of saw horses etc.. You will sell a whole lot more. Use ladders to hang things off of. Hand a rod from the garage door rods. Put a sign on the ladder stating the ladder is not for sale.

Is your goal to get rid of stuff or to make money. Remember if you do not sell it, you will need to pack it up and donate it. Better to get a bit if money and be done with it. I am usually trying to get rid of it and it us not worth my time to redox it, drag it back inside or have to load it up and take it somewhere.

Do not get frustrated when people ask if something is for sale. Everything is an opportunity. If you are sitting on an old lawn chair, people will ask if it is for sale. If it isn't, a polite, "no sorry, I am still using this." Or you may think, hmm, this thing is falling apart, I can take a couple of bucks and get rid if this rickety chair.. Do not make people feel emberased for asking these type of questions.

Things like socks sell best if you put them in a ziploc bag and sell them 4 pairs in a bag for $1.00. Or baby socks, 6/8 pair for a dollar. Ziploc full of hair bows. Rolls of partially used gift wrap, half used shampoos... Broken jewelry, worn out towels.. People purchase all kinds if things.

Make sure the clothing is clean. Dust off stuff so that it is as clean as possible. A glass bowl will sell a lot faster if it is shiney, than if it is foggy or dusty.
Wipe off tools also. I use ribbons to tie tags onto large items. Stickers can easily fall off of large items.

Have fun! The happier and more welcoming you are, the more time they will spend time looking.

My # 1 advice? Ask each person, "are you looking for something special?" "Was there something your searching for?"

Who knows, you may decide to get rid of things you forgot about.

K.

If you are having it this weekend - do you have the stuff READY?

Do you have a cash drawer so you can give change?
Do you have prices on items?
If you aren't going to price items - ensure you either have basket or tables that have the price of the items IN THAT BASKET...for example:

Kids clothes - basket - $2.00 or whatever the price is in your area.

If you have a lot of clothes? You REALLY need to make sure that you have things separated and tagged.

Make sure things are together. If you have a set of something? Make sure they are clean, easy to identify and TOGETHER...like game pieces in plastic bags, etc.

Directions and signage will be important too.

Use Cragslist to advertise your garage sale. Take pictures of your higher priced items and generate sales that way. When posting on Craigslist, make sure that you list your items - as many as you can in the title:
Garage sale - tools, kids clothes, toys, baby items, exercise equipment, movies

something that will grab someone's attention when they are looking and planning their drive for the Saturday sales.

Make sure you have a smock or something to hold your money on you. Have someone else with you and once you get over a certain amount of money? You take it inside.

Good luck!

Maintain heightened awareness of EVERYTHING going on around you.

I personally do not participate in garage sales because I feel like the benefit of personal safety and a tax deduction from donations is better than potentially compromising the safety of my home.

There are a lot of honest people out there but there are also people who shop garage sales to case out a home. Just be safe and do not do it alone.

Best wishes to you... a lot of people love this way to make a few extra dollars. It depends on what your time is worth. My time = $$ and I live 5 minutes from a new Goodwill drop off which makes my decision much easier!

When we moved from California to Georgia 3 years ago, we had several garage sales.

Craigslist is VERY important to get customers to your door. Take pictures of things you have. If you have sought after toys (LEGOS, baby toys, baby clothes).

I can't agree more with signage! Make sure you have arrows and signs at intersections to guide people to your development. If you have them all the same color, that would be great. Tyler went to Office Depot and bought several packages of the large, neon heavy paper and cut out arrows. He got a map of our area and marked where he wanted to plant the signs. He put the signs out Thursday night.

Help - have help

Money
* Keep money close.
* Make sure you have plenty of $1 dollar bills and quarters.
* Your first customers will have larger bills, so make sure you have PLENTY of $10's and $5's as well.
* Keep a set amount of money on you.
* LOCK your doors. Do NOT allow anyone into your home. Sorry!

Customer service:
* Have grocery bags for customers to put their stuff in.
* Keep items separate. Baskets for one size of kids clothes.

NOTHING on the ground. I noticed people didn't want to bend down and get dirty. Didn't matter if the item was on a tarp, things sold better and faster when at waist level. Tables or use wood over saw horses. We actually used old doors over saw horses as well and at the end of the day, sold the doors!!

Pricing everything appropriately, price to sell. We recently went to a garage sale that had the tables set up and set apart. Signs were on the tables that said "EVERYTHING ON THIS TABLE $1" and up to $10. It was easy. There were 4 people "working" to make sure that things didn't get moved around.

Great suggestions below. I agree about keeping an eagle eye on your cash. Have coins - you'd be surprised how many people want to pay 25 cents for something, so have at least $100 in cash ($10, $5, $1 and a roll of quarters), and wear an apron with pockets or a fanny pack. Put the bigger bills in an envelope inside that pocket.

Definitely have plastic bags and newspaper for wrapping things, even some old cartons (get extras at the liquor store for free). Turn boxes on their sides to create "bookshelves" so people can read the spines of books.

Clothes - you will spend a lot of time refolding what people go through and mess up. Consider a drying rack or stringing a clothesline - we used a long rip with loops tied in it every foot or so, so that things didn't slide any farther than 1 loop. Prepare to have that line sag over time so have a plan to hang it higher or tighten it up.

If you can't tag everything, put a sheet or tarp on the ground (or several) with a sign that everything on this sheet is $1 and everything on that tarp is $2. If you have electric items to sell, have an extension cord hooked up to your garage or outdoor outlet so people can make sure things work.

Assume that people will start arriving 60-90 minutes before your start time even if your ad says "no early birds". They don't care. You can still be setting up but this is when the real collectors come, to find the best deals on stuff you don't know the value of. Be prepared for people in search only of specific things - china, jewelry, record albums. Don't be upset if they leave without looking at everything else.

If your goal is to get rid of stuff almost without regard to price, be prepared to knock down prices early, price things in groups ($1 each, 7 for $5 etc.). And put out a table for free stuff - if not at the beginning, then halfway through.

Have a plan to get rid of stuff at the end of the day - donate it, go to the dump, schedule a pick-up for Monday morning by Big Brother/Big Sister or anyone else with a truck. There are "junk" services that will come and take stuff away for a fee, and then sell or dispose or donate as they see fit. There's a fee for that so investigate - but you don't want to bring stuff back in your house!

If you can't sell everything you own in one weekend, fine. Choose what you can display easily and attractively, and get it out there. You can have another sale later on - unless this is a moving sale and you don't have time.

If you haven't run an ad on Cragslist, do so. In the future, send an email to your neighbors asking if they want to sell on the same weekend - putting "multi-family yard sale" in an ad brings in way more traffic, even though you are sharing shoppers with others.

Have enough help. If people stop by and no one is around to talk to or pay they could just leave without buying.
Keep the money, even for change, hidden in the house. Just keep it in a drawer and don't let strangers know where it is. Or keep it in an apron or fanny pack and around your waist. I know of someone who was robbed by a customer; two women came after dark to look around, one woman started asking questions about an item at the back of the garage distracting the home owner, the other woman took the money box and slipped out with it. The money box had all of the days' sales in it totaling around $400.
Keep tables neat, no one wants to dig through piles of unfolded clothes etc. to find what they are looking for. Make sure everything is reasonably clean and in good working order. You might also want to have a power strip so people can plug in anything electric to be sure it works.

I won't add any more advice because the stuff below is great - and obviously some moms are real pros at this. Super organized! wow!

I haven't had my own garage sale before, but we have participated in the neighborhood one. I really like this concept - the whole neighborhood has a weekend day once a year and they do all the advertisement, but the families can put stuff out at their houses or end of drives, or if you prefer, you set up at the local park - you can rent a table. That's what we did. Great way to meet people, and also no one is seeing your home. I just felt more secure that way. Some of the people that show up .. are a little bit sketchy :)

Just thought I'd mention that for future use - even a street yard sale will attract more attention - more people would be willing to come out if more stuff on sale.

Good luck :)

If you're selling kids' clothes, separate them by size and put them in separate bins. Make it easy for people to find what they're looking for and you'll sell more than if they have to sort through it all. We sell all but the fanciest kids' clothes at 50c each and sell a lot each year. Price them to sell if you want things gone.

I agree with the others to have plenty of change and bags available.

Also, if your kids are school-aged, this is a great opportunity for them to run a little business, too. Our kids have sold lemonade during our garage sales in the past and it goes fast, esp. on hot days. If it's cool there, consider selling hot cocoa.

Have change.
Be ready. There will be people there EARLIER than your "start time."

I never stress over pricing stuff. Just give a price when asked.
Put "set" prices on only the big/valuable stuff. And the be ready to negotiate.
Isn't the goal to get rid of stuff & make a few bucks? Don't get bogged down in the pricing of every dollar or quarter item. You want an empty garage at the end -- so keep that in mind when giving prices.
Get a good nights sleep before!
Good luck!

Prices should be clear and you should know in your head what you'll go down to. Don't overprice things - save those items for ebay or a consignment store if you want more for them. If the goal is to clear out stuff, then keep the prices low. Sticker dots are good for price tags. Have change on hand (coins and bills) and consider having plastic bags, too. Make sure your signage is clear. If you are having a sale on Saturday, say the address, time and date. Have tables or racks to put things on. If you do toys, consider a couple of small bins or a laundry basket and price them all the same.

Have everything marked OR priced the same such as all clothes $.50 each piece, shoes $1 per pair, sheets $1 per set, etc....this is so much easier since you don't have to save pieces of tape or anything to show someone how much was sold.

Also, be out there and watching. Have other family members out there too so they can watch for thieves.

It might be hot so be prepared by having a small children's hard side pool with a few bags of ice in it. Put a few 12 packs of Walmart brand pop in it to get icy cold. Let the kids sell them for $.50 pr can. They'll go quickly and make a little money on the side to show for their hard work.

Only put up signs if your city allows this. Just because you have seen garage sale signs all over town doesn't mean those people didn't get a letter in the mail saying they violated the sign ordinance and have to pay a fine of several hundred dollars. Call your city offices to find out exactly what the sign ordinance is. Make sure you write down the person's name so if you go by what you say you can show the judge that you called and asked. They'll let the ticket/fine go if you can show you did indeed call and were given the wrong answer.

If they allow signs put them up in a few places to direct traffic to your house but also put a couple in some major intersections close by. No one wants to drive half way across town to a sale so pick main busy intersections near yours but maybe up to a mile or two away.

That's pretty much it. If you can advertise in the paper and it not cost more than a few dollars then do that too and do include some things you have. If I put PLUS SIZE CLOTHES for women I can guarantee every heavy lady in town is going to show up at my house to look at my old clothes. They don't get advertised often.

If you have infant or children's clothing be sure to say size/gender like Lots of 0-3 mo infant girls clothes or lots of boys size 4-5 winter clothing. So they'll know if it's where they want to spend their time and possibly their money.

First have you checked to see if you can have a garage sale in your neighborhood? It's best to advertise in a local paper. Price everything but people do take the tags off thinking you don't know what price you put on it and that they will get it lower. Make sure you have enough change because a lot of people show up with hundred dollar bills. Keep an eye on the area of your stuff because people tend to walk off with stuff without paying!