WEEK 1 - 16 Ways to Execute a Successful Garage Sale - COLLECTING

As you know, I will be posting every Monday in May, tips on how you can execute a super successful garage sale.

Week 1 - COLLECTING

#1 – Assess Your Stuff

The average person has a ton of stuff they do not use. If you are planning to “de-clutter” your life and make a few bucks in the mean time, here’s some suggestions on what you can do:

Go through each room in your house and re-evaluate the items in that room. Ask yourself these questions:

* When was the last time I used this item?

* Do I “NEED” this item?

* Will I ever “NEED” this item in the future?

* Can someone else benefit from it?

* Could I get a little money out of it?

* Does my life depend on me keeping this item around?

I would recommend taking a week or 2 to go through your entire house. Grab and empty box, pick one room each day of the week, and have at it. You shouldn’t have to spend more than an hour going through each room. You probably have more clutter than you think, and not only will you be cleaning at the same time, but you will be organizing for a garage sale AND organizing your house. I look at it like I will be “making money” off my cleaning.

When you have a box full, go ahead and start pricing each item. I generally have an idea of how much I want to sell an item for. I have colored-dot stickers with prices on them. I mark each item right then and there so I don’t have to do much preparation when it comes to set up and price-marking the day of the garage sale.

#2 – Ask your Family & Friends

Sometimes your family and friends don’t want to take the time and effort to have a garage sale themselves, so you can capitalize on that. Ask around every now and then to see if they have anything they want to get rid of. Lots of people probably have little knick-knacks, or even some bigger items that they just want to get rid of. If they don’t want to part with it, you can always offer to give them a portion of the profits. Shoot – they will make money off doing nothing…just giving you their item.

#3 – Curb Side Service & Dumpster Diving

I know this seems a little unorthodox, but it can always help. My husband and I live in an apartment complex, and our apartment is close to the dumpster. Every week, there is some big item too big to put in the dumpster. I’ve seen computer monitors, keyboards, couches, bed mattresses. You can’t really have a garage sale at an apartment complex, so there’s always something sitting outside. Lots of people put stuff on their curbs for people to come and pick up (if they get there before the garbage man). I saw some perfectly good pillows on someone’s curb the other day. The next hour I drove by again, they were gone. If you want to make a bigger profit at your garage sale, and don’t mind picking up what other people throw away, you can probably make a good little profit.

#4 – BIG ticket items

Nobody wants to go to a garage sale with all clothes! You will attract people if you have some bigger ticket items, conveniently placed. One garage sale, my mom and I put 2 big couches, and a pool table in a very visible location. We were able to attract a TON of people just because we had big items. I have noticed that the more big ticket items I have, the more people stop and look. The more people stop and look, the more people stop and look because people want to see what’s going on. It’s a win-win!

Stay tuned next week: Organizing & Staging

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