People usually have garage sales to…

1. de-clutter their home (so they don’t have to rent a 26 foot truck to take everything to Goodwill) and
2. make a little extra money.

Unfortunately, after holding a garage sale, many people find that most of their stuff is still sitting in their garage and they only have a few measly bucks in their pocket to show for several hours of work.

I am by no means a Garage Sale Guru, but I have held a few garage sales in my time. I’ve also been to a few garage sales over the years, and as both a seller and a buyer, I’ve seen some garage sales strategies that work—and a lot that don’t.

So even though I freely admit that I don’t know everything there is to know about holding a successful garage sale, here’s my list of tips that will hopefully help you hold at least a better one.

• Location, location, location. Some garage sales just won’t work regardless of how much great stuff you have to sell. If your road doesn’t get a lot of traffic because you’re off the beaten path, consider joining up with a friend that lives in a better location and hold a 2-family garage sale. If that’s not an option, then at least…
• Make sure have great signage. I’m not saying you have to spend a fortune on professionally designed signs, just follow a couple of basic rules when you make your signs:
  1. Use big, bold words. Whether your sign is a cardboard box or poster board, use large thick letters. Drivers have only a second or two to look at your sign, so don’t waste your time writing out your full address, the dates and times of your sale, and the major items you have for sale. Just make sure that drivers can see from far away that there’s a garage sale in the area. If a driver is unfamiliar with your subdivision, putting your street address on the sign wouldn’t help them anyway. And if you leave your house address off the sign, once you pack up for the day, you won’t have to worry about people stopping by “after hours” if you’re holding a 2-day sale. In fact, for simplicity’s sake, consider writing just one word on the sign—”SALE.” People really don’t need much more information than that. If you live at the back of a subdivision, just make several signs that look the same (i.e. same color, wording, etc.) and point the drivers in the direction of your sale.
  2. Include very simple directions. Instead of your full street address, a simple arrow (a big, BOLD arrow) may be all you need to point people in the right direction. In the past I’ve made a pair of garage sale signs using one sheet of neon-colored foam core board. I painted the word “SALE” in large black letters twice on each side of the sign, and then cut the sign in half long-wise. I then cut one end of the sign in an arrow shape [wedge] so that the direction it was pointing was obvious from far away. The signs were also sturdy enough that I was able use them for multiple garage sales.
• Use tables. You want what you’re selling to be easily accessible to your buyers, so if at all possible, put everything on tables. (Toys might be the exception here. I’ve found that putting toys on the ground where kids have easy access works well. That way kids can be looking over the toys while mom “shops.”) If you don’t have tables, see if friends or your church have some you might borrow.
• Organize everything. Put similar items together—kitchen, tools, toys, decorations, clothes. Many shoppers are looking for specific items, so grouping your things together makes it easier for buyers to find what they’re looking for.
  • Clothing. Consider putting clothing on hangers and hanging them in an easily accessible place. I’ve never been able to hang clothes for my garage sales, so I just divide the clothes by age and/or gender, and then divide them again by type of clothing (pants, shirts, dresses, etc.). Then I fold the clothes in stacks on a table, trying to make the stacks as short as possible so that the clothes are easier to see. If you fold clothes like I do, during the sale you’ll find you have to restack the clothes often (remember, buyers are much more likely to look through clothing if it’s neat.) This doesn’t have to be too difficult to keep up with since refolding clothes is a great job for kids to do!
  • Books. Stack them in boxes, spine side up, so that titles are easy to read. Do not stack them in piles on a table since titles are very difficult to browse through this way.
  • Toys. If you’re selling trains, car tracks, etc., consider setting up a portion of the track/toy so that buyers (and especially their kids) can see what you’re selling.
• Pricing. Consider selling kids’ or adult clothing for the same price across the board ($.25 or $.50 for example). Of course, if you have more expensive clothing to sell, make them the exception to the “one-price rule.” (Pricing clothing low has always worked better for me; I’ve always found that if I nickel and dime my buyers to death, they’re less likely to buy anything.) If you want your buyers to be more likely to purchase something, don’t make them ask you how much something is—so mark the prices on everything you are selling. Draw attention to bigger-ticket items by taping larger signs on them. And if you’re afraid you’re pricing a big-ticket item too high, simply write OBO (or best offer) next to the price.
• Set large items at the entrance to the sale. If you have furniture, baby items, or any other “big” item, set them at the entrance to your sale so that passersby can easily see them. It will make buyers more willing to stop if they can see you’re selling more than just trinkets and odds and ends.
• Sell bottled water (in other words, make some extra money and teach your kids about entrepreneurship at the same time). If your garage sale takes place on a very hot day, purchase a case of bottled water and have your kids sell the water for $1 a bottle. Not only do your kids learn about capital—the money spent to purchase the case of bottled water, profit—the money earned after paying mom and dad back for the case of water, and basic sale skills (I mean, what person can deny your sweet-faced 5-year-old when they ask, “Would you like to buy a bottle of water?”) but you can make an easy $20. We have always had several people come to our garage sale and leave without buying anything but a bottle of water.
• And last but not least, don’t sell junk. If clothes are stained or holey, dishes are cracked, or you’re trying to get rid of “Happy Meal” junk toys, consider putting them in a FREE box. When buyers see junk mixed up with higher quality items, they’re less likely to see the good stuff you actually have for sale.

For more Frugal Friday tips, visit Crystal’s blog.

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