I am definitely not an expert in this.  My prices may be too high and/or too low, but I thought I would share so you could get a rough guideline of how to price for a Garage Sale.

All of the following items were grouped together, and I marked the prices on a computer sheet of paper and taped that paper onto the table or box holding the items.

Clothes that were Hanging Up

• Baby Clothes- $1
• Shirts- $1
• Skirts- $1
• Dresses- $2
• Hoodies & Coats- $3

Clothes that were on Tables

• T Shirts-$0.50
• Shorts- $1
• PJ Pants- $1
• Jeans- $2

CDs- $1.50

Used DVDs- $4; New DVDs- $6

Books- 75% off the cover price

Make up- $0.50

Stickers- $0.50

Jewelry- $0.10

Bags/Backpacks- $1

So we had a Garage Sale last weekend (July 3-4).  We did it on this day because Jonathan had Friday off as a holiday, and I wanted him to be there without having to ask off work.

Beforehand, I thought that July 4th wouldn’t be a good weekend because people might be traveling, getting ready for the night’s festivities, or spending time with family at home.  I completely forgot that in our city, there is a large parade on Saturday morning.  Oops.  So, we didn’t make that much money on Saturday, but on Friday, we did pretty well.  So, my advice is not to do a Garage Sale on a holiday.

On Friday, Jonathan and I made $180, and on Saturday, we got $100.  With the other family, we brought it around $400, pretty good considering the biggest item up for sale was a bed set for $20.

So, when we add up the books we sold to Hastings ($120) plus the items I’ve sold on Craigslist since the garage sale (just today, I’ve sold $23 worth to 3 different people), Jonathan and I made about $430, which is almost 5 of my student loan payments.  Yea!

So, here are some things we learned . . .

1. Gather Your Items: We throw items in boxes year round in tubs marked Garage Sale.  At least start by getting stuff together about a week or so before the garage sale.  Go through your closets, keepsakes and garage sale tubs, items in your shed, and drawers, and start pricing items.  Have a designated place for garage sale items.  We kept them in the South West and North East corners of our garage.  Price the items before you put them in your designated garage sale area to save you time.
2. Schedule: Plan the garage sale for the first weekend of the month.  Many people are more prone to shop then because most of them just got paid.  If you live in an area where it rains a lot (NOT here), check your 10 day forecast and plan accordingly before you start advertising.
3. Get a Block Party Sale: I meant to do this, but I forgot.  I had planned to go by all the houses on our block to tell them we were planning on having a garage sale, to see if they wanted to participate.  That should bring more traffic.
4. Start Early: For us, this meant 7:30 am.  On Saturday morning, around 7:15, there was a lady walking onto our driveway before we even moved out the items.
5. Advertising: We advertised on Craigslist.  We also put up 6-8 signs around the neighborhood on busy streets.  We wrote Garage SALE, then our address, then the dates, then the times, and then *free cookie with every purchase.  Check around in your city to see if they have local advertising papers, like we have the Thrifty Nickle.
6. Borrow items: We didn’t have many tables, and we ended up needing nine.  We borrowed these from our church.
7. Pricing: Try to leave sentimental feelings aside and price things by what you’d be willing to pay for them.  I’ll do another post about our pricing amounts.
8. Set up the day before: The night before the sale, we backed our cars out of the garage and set up tables.  We organized our items onto the tables but didn’t try to make them perfect.  We also hung up two curtain rods from our awning.  So that way, in the morning, we just carried the tables out into the driveway– no set up time (except for straightening up the tables and hanging up clothes).
9. Organization: Place items together on tables that are like each other.  We had an entertainment table: games, cds, dvds.  Two clothing tables, which shoes underneath.  A girly table: makeup, bathroom items, lotion, etc.  A decor table: picture frames, etc.  An electronics table: computer stuff.  Etc.  Labeling each table with a sign helps draw people’s attention.
10. Start with Enough Change for your customers: Run to the bank if you need to get rolls of coins or bills.  We made sure to have one twenty dollar bill, two tens, six fives, twenty ones, and one roll each of quarters, dimes, nickles, and pennies.
11. Store your Money: Keep the money with you in a fanny pack if you must– you never know who might try to steal it while you’re not sitting at your table.  Some other options are an apron with several pockets, or you can use an Expanding File, which is what we did.
12. Consider a Gimmick: Our main one was to offer a free cookie with every purchase, and everyone loved that.  I spent about an hour making them the day before.  I made 97, and we had about 25 left over.  If it were a night sale, we thought about having the grill out to make hot dogs (yuck) for customers.  You could also sale pop-ice or cold drinks.
13. Greet Customers: I’d walk up to customers when they got on our property and would say, “Good morning.  How are you? . . . We’re giving away a free homemade peanut butter cookie with every purchase.  Let us know if you have any questions or need help finding certain items. . . .  We also have cold drinks available if you get thirsty.”  Then, I’d go sit down and wait for the questions, etc.
14. After the Sale: I took pictures of all the items on the tables.  Since then, I have (and still need to) put the pictures on Craigslist to sell.  Just today, I’ve sold baby clothes, blankets, books, and a headboard.

Any other good ideas?