NEEDED: Garage Sale Advice ...

[kokane_muthashed]

I'm thinking of having a garage sale in the next couple of weeks or so. Was wondering if any SJers have had successful garage/yards sales in their past. Got any advice for a slammin' sale? Any garage sale hunters out there? What do you look for?

 

[Angola!]

I need some golf clubs, you selling any?

 

[Chi City 81]

I'm thinking of having a garage sale in the next couple of weeks or so. Was wondering if any SJers have had successful garage/yards sales in their past. Got any advice for a slammin' sale? Any garage sale hunters out there? What do you look for?

Normally, I'd love a rhinestone jean jacket with my name on the back, but I don't advertise.

 

[kokane_muthashed]

I need some golf clubs, you selling any?

Unfortunately, no. Too bad cuz I could just bring them to Dallas with me.

 

[Angola!]

I need some golf clubs, you selling any?

Unfortunately, no. Too bad cuz I could just bring them to Dallas with me.

Good point. But I am poor, so I would probably wouldn't be able to pay and then you would lug them there for no reason.

 

[WazzuGrad00]

If you say it starts at 8 a.m., get ready for people ringing the doorbell at 5:30.

 

[John]

Can I give you a bunch of the junk I went to get rid of -- CDs, DVDs, books, clothes? I have a ton of stuff I'm looking to get rid of, but don't want to mess with putting it on eBay.

 

[dog428]

Coupla tips.

1. If you run an ad for your sale, don't put your phone number with the ad. These crazy garage sale junkies will burn your phone up.

2. If at all possible, don't include your exact address or only include the block address. Just leave it at: The 3300 block of GrantWashingtonLincolnMLK Ave. You don't, the garage sale junkies will show up the day before -- and I'm not joking here -- and offer to pay you more for the **** if they can go ahead and poke through it.

Other than that, just don't be late starting. More than likely, these people will be waiting in your driveway when you wake up ... and possibly when you go to bed.

 

[kokane_muthashed]

Other than that, just don't be late starting. More than likely, these people will be waiting in your driveway when you wake up ... and possibly when you go to bed.

Why is it now I'm having second thoughts of having a garage sale? yikes.

 

[Editude]

The best stuff will be taken by the early risers, who will get there well before the posted start time (we just had one two weeks ago). Make sure there's parking for bigger trucks/SUVs. Have plenty of dollar bills to make change. Bargain but be ready to close a sale for less than you think it's worth. Bring a good book.

 

[novelist_wannabe]

Advertise it in the local paper, but also try posting it on craigslist. And don't forget the signs. That's how my wife finds'em. Drives around and follows the signs.

 

[Tom Petty]

Coupla tips.

2. If at all possible, don't include your exact address or only include the block address. Just leave it at: The 3300 block of GrantWashingtonLincolnMLK Ave. You don't, the garage sale junkies will show up the day before -- and I'm not joking here -- and offer to pay you more for the **** if they can go ahead and poke through it.

quite possibly the best advice ever given on this board.

 

[playthrough]

I ran a garage sale with more of a mind of getting rid of stuff in advance of moving than making serious coin. My mother, a garage sale queen, gave great advice: create a 25-cent table and a dollar table. People destroyed those. I held firm on a few things like an old Callaway driver and a signed Billy Donovan Gators basketball (got $10 for that, three years ago, now I wish I had it back), but mostly it was a true junk sale. I made a little over $200, mostly quarters and dollars at a time.

And yes, the earlybirds were amazing. I couldn't unload my boxes fast enough, so they just helped themselves. I wasn't offended in the least.

 

[Frank_Ridgeway]

I don't think we'll ever do it again. Anyway, after we made the goal (I forget, $400, $500?) we pulled back a few items and put up a sign: FREE! Just to get rid of the stuff. Oh my God. The only stuff that didn't get taken: old computer monitor and keyboard.

Some lady drives up in an SUV, says she's remodeling her attic to be a library and asks if it would be rude to take all the free books. On the one hand I was a little disgusted that she apparently didn't care what the books were about, she just wanted to line the walls. (Why? To appear intelligent?) On the other hand, I wanted to get rid of those books. Sure, take them. I should say that weeks before the garage sale I took the books that I thought had some value and sold them to a used-book store.

 

[bagelchick]

My condo assoc. has one every year and it was a few weeks ago. I do it more for fun than to make money, but all told we all made collectively about $500. I sell really nice stuff, however don't be surprised at the crap people will buy. You can buy little price stickers at Wal Mart, in the office supplies section. Buy a case of bottled water and sell it for $1.00 each. Sell 4 and you've made back your out of packet cost. I had a roll of quarters and $25.00 in dollar bills for change. If you're running an ad, put "no early birds" in it, however expect people to start showing up 30 minutes before.

Good luck and have fun--

 

[Bucknutty]

When I was a kid, my mother used to organize a neighborhood garage sale. See if you can get others around you to sign up too, and you should see more people. Plus, they can help offset the cost of buying ads in the local papers.

 

[Inky_Wretch]

Whenever I've done a garage sale, I start wheeling and dealing once the clock hits noon. I'll tell people if they give me $5 they can take however much stuff they want.

Before I got married, I had one and sold everything that was left at noon for $50. The guy had to go get an extra truck to haul it all away. I didn't care, it saved me the trouble of hauling it down to Goodwill.

 

[Big Buckin' agate_monkey]

Coupla tips.

2. If at all possible, don't include your exact address or only include the block address. Just leave it at: The 3300 block of GrantWashingtonLincolnMLK Ave. You don't, the garage sale junkies will show up the day before -- and I'm not joking here -- and offer to pay you more for the **** if they can go ahead and poke through it.

quite possibly the best advice ever given on this board.

Definitely in the team picture.

 

[MacDaddy]

Can I give you a bunch of the junk I went to get rid of -- CDs, DVDs, books, clothes? I have a ton of stuff I'm looking to get rid of, but don't want to mess with putting it on eBay.

Amazon.com. I went through my CDs, DVDs and books and decided to keep only about half of them. The ones that are worth more than a couple of bucks I've put on Amazon and have made hundreds of dollars on them in about two months.

When you're listing items to sell it tells you how many others are available starting at what price. If there are 300 starting at a nickel, I don't list it. But you'd be surprised what some CDs go for.

 

[GoZags!!]

Whenever I've done a garage sale, I start wheeling and dealing once the clock hits noon. I'll tell people if they give me $5 they can take however much stuff they want.

Agree with that - $5 for a sack-full. Usually by that point, it's clothes & less-worthy stuff anyway. The "good" stuff goes early.
Keep some empty grocery bags on hand - some people, esp. if they buy several clothing items, want to bag their stuff.

good idea on the bottled water.
Price as much as you can in the days before, not that morning. You won't have time before people arrive. I also agree with a $1 table and 25-cent table - it'll save you having to put stickers on every single thing.
Try to get yourself a seat in the shade - it'll be a long exhausting day.