It's Garage Sale Season at Cindy's Porch!
 "The goal of any garage sale is to get rid of stuff you no longer want in and around your home!"
The end of summer holidays, the cooling temperatures, the falling leaves, and the return of regular schedules are sure signs of fall. This also marks the second season of garage and yard sales. They are more common in the spring, but they are becoming more popular in late August and well into September as people clear out their homes and garages before winter blows.
A garage sale can be a great way to get rid of clutter around the home. It can also be a great way to bring home new clutter if you are not careful (hee hee!). Let's look at some tips for making your garage sale a success!
Preparing for Your Garage/Yard Sale - about two or three weeks before
Select a date for your garage sale. Give yourself a couple weeks to get ready.
Book a charity to pick up your garage sale leftovers for the following Monday. This is the most important part. Rarely will you be able to sell everything. The last thing you want to do is bring the leftovers back into your home!
Clear out a temporary holding area for your garage sale stuff: I sweep out a corner of the garage that is going to hold the stuff I plan on selling. You have to be very careful here, because it is quite common for this "temporary" spot to become permanent. Remember, the goal is to get RID of stuff!
Collect the stuff you want to sell: This simply is a matter of going through your home one room at a time and pulling out any items that you no longer want in your home. Do this with your eyes wide open. You are looking for clothes that no longer fit (children's clothes especially - they take up a lot of room in your home), items that you never use (look in kitchen cabinets for these hee hee!), and things you have two or more of (and really only need one). I think of this as an anti-treasure hunt. The more of these anti-treasures you no longer have, the more space you will have for the things you use and love. Do a little everyday. Get your kids and spouse involved. Make a game of it.
Pricing the Stuff
 This is the yucky and time-consuming part! A simple trick is to price as many of the items as you can while you are collecting them. Furniture, dishes, games, toys, etc can all be priced as you add them to your temporary holding spot.
Remember the goal of a successful garage sale: to get rid of stuff! Do not be disappointed to find that items you spent $20.00 on are now only worth $1.00 (or less - especially if they are clothing!). Let's look at some pricing strategies
Pricing Guidelines:
- Hard Cover books: $1.00 each
- Paperback books: $0.50 each
- Cookbooks: $0.50 - 2.00 each depending on condition
- Jigsaw puzzles: $1.00 - 2.00 each
- Baby and Toddler Toys: About 20% of what they are new. So an item you paid $10.00 for new, would be worth about $2.00 in a garage sale. You can price some of the more popular brand names slightly higher.
- Older kid toys: About 10% or what they are new. So an item you paid $10.00 for new would be worth about $1.00 in a garage sale. Up to date computer games, etc. can be priced higher.
- Stuffed animals: Oh, these are hard to get rid of! And they are not worth much: $0.50 to $2.00 for one in brand new condition.
- Household goods: About 20% of what they are new. Single glasses, mugs, etc are only worth about 25 cents each.
- DVDs, CDs, Videos: $1.00 - 2.00 each
- Adult clothing: $1.00 - $5.00 each (winter and spring coats in good condition can be priced higher).
- Kid Clothing: $1.00 - $5.00 each (for brand name). I have found a good way to sell kid clothes is to bundle them into boxes and sell them by the lot. For example: $40.00 takes it all! I once bought EIGHT boxes of girl's clothes for $15.00. After I sorted them out and chucked out what I didn't want, I almost had enough girl's clothes for the next FIVE years!
The Week Before the Sale
Anyone who has held a garage sale in the past knows about the all night marathon the night before. The one where you are out there in your sweats and slippers trying to sort, package, move, and price all at the same time. Your spouse and kids are already tucked in bed, and you know there are only a few hours left before the dreaded early birds show up! It is much easier to spread this part out over a week, get the kids involved, and not worry about it being perfect. It is just a garage sale after all! Do just a little bit everyday and you will be ready long before the sale.
 Book your classified ad: The newspaper ad is still your best advertisement for attracting customers to your garage/yard sale. Include some of the hi-lights for the sale like baby/toddler items, yard items, camping items, sports equipment, tools, antiques, etc. Remember to include the date and time of the sale and your address!
Set up your tables and shelves first: It actually doesn't take too long to set up for a garage sale. Get the kids involved - they are in charge of the toys. I have used old moving boxes with a sheet of plywood over top, foldup tables, and old shelving units to display the stuff.
Decide how you are going to group things and where you are going to put the stuff: Make some labels and put them in the general area.
- Grouping guidelines:
Books, DVD's, Videos, and CDs: Place this in a spot where there is plenty of "butt room". People like to take a while to look over the titles, so this area can get a little crowded. Are all your books in boxes? Leave them there, just make sure the spines are facing up so people can see the titles.
Baby Items, Baby Toys, Toddler Toys: You want these near the front where they can be seen by the "drive-by garage saler". These are parents and grandparents who are collecting stuff for their little ones. First babies get the most stuff. How do I know? Big sigh...I was one of them LOL (laugh out loud). Dust these items off, group together the pieces and they will sell. If you have large piece, like a toddler kitchen, climbing gym, or sandbox, place these out front, out on the driveway so they catch attention.
Household Items: Group kitchen items into one area. Perhaps place the same priced items onto one table so you only need to make one sign (For example: $1.00 each). A set of dishes is attractive to students starting college. Gadgets are attractive to the new bride. Knick-knacks and collectables should also be grouped together.
Yard Items and Tools These should also be grouped together. And not mixed in with the "cutsie knick-knacks". You want to make sure that any guys who are out looking for things are comfortable snooping through a pile of stuff on a table or in a box. They don't want to be wading through your romance novels and pink fuzzy bathroom accessories. Been there, done that LOL!
Get Your Change and Cashbox Set up: Don't wait until the night before do this. Slip by the bank during lunch one day and get your change set up. Use a fanny pack to hold the money during the sale. Also, as you collect a pile of $10's and $20's during the sale, bring them into the house so they will be safe.
Make your signs: Big signs with dark black arrows pointing potential customers in the right direction are your best bet! Remember, these people are driving. They cannot take the time to stop and write down the address of a garage sale that has been scribbled on a sheet of paper taped to a pole. I use old boxes with a rock inside to weight them down as well as the back window of my vehicles (which are strategically parked to direct people to my garage sale). I need just three signs to direct people from the main street to my home. All I put on my signs are:
GARAGE SALE TODAY!
----->
8:00 - 11:30 am
Gather empty plastic bags: this makes it easier for your customers to haul away their purchases.
Extension Cord: If you are selling any electrical devices, have an extension cord handy for any one who may want to try it out before buying.
Night Before the Sale
Take one last look around:
Get your signs and money laid out for the next day:
Set your coffee maker up: You are going to enjoy that first cup of hot coffee in the morning. Also think about what you are going to have for breakfast. It could be several hours before you get to eat during a garage sale.
Set your alarm clock and go to bed early! This is important. Garage/yards sales are much more fun when you are not a walking zombie!
Day of the Sale
Get up, have a shower, and breakfast: Wear something comfortable and warm (it can be chilly first thing in the morning!). Your feet will thank-you if you wear comfy shoes too.
Put out your signs about 45 minutes before your garage sale starts: Double check that the arrows are pointing the right way.
Open the Door: Now, if you have a few early birds already hanging outside, and you still want a couple minutes to open your door and haul a few things out onto the driveway before the sale starts - just go outside and tell them you need 5 more minutes before the sale starts. Don't be bashful. This is your home, and they came too early!
 Strap on your money belt, and you are ready to sell!
A note about Bartering: Bartering and garage sales go hand-in-hand. I love bartering when I am buying something, and I hate it when I am selling. Be reasonable, if someone is asking to purchase something for slightly less than your asking price, sell it! If someone has grouped a bunch of stuff and is asking for less than the original total, sell it! Remember the goal of a successful garage sale: to get rid of stuff you no longer want in and around your home! Who knows, a young mom loading up on your toddler clothes and a few baby clothes may only be able to afford what she is asking. I know I appreciated the money I was able to save through garage sales when my children were small.
As you begin to sell stuff and the tables are getting empty, consolidate the remaining stuff so it will not look picked over. Put away empty shelves and boxes.
Have fun!
After the Sale
By now you are tired and you just want to go sit out back and enjoy a cool drink. If you can hang in there for just a few minutes, you can quickly reclaim your garage; get the trash out, and your donation pile ready to go. Then you have the rest of the day to enjoy the sunshine!
Pack up the stuff that didn't sell: Do not bring this stuff back into your home. Even if you think you could sell at a later garage sale. This stuff needs to go out! Remember, your charity will be arriving on Monday to pick up the leftovers. Get it ready to go. A note about trash: it costs charities a lot of money to process donations that are really trash. So please take a good look at what you are donating, if it is trash, please put it into the trash bin, not the donation pile.
Put away the boxes, shelves etc.: Get your garage back to the way it was before and then sweep it out. This will only take a few minutes and you will appreciate it later that night when you can park your vehicle back where it belongs!
Pick up the signs from the street: This is very important. Take down any signs you hung up. You don't want people showing up the following Saturday (don't ask me how I know this!).
Have yourself a hot bath! You deserve it! Congratulations on getting rid of a pile of stuff from your home!
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