I love garage sales. Yard sale tips are something I enjoy sharing because everyone should live well no matter the budget. I’ve had some wildly successful sales in the past and discovered some great frugal advice from shopping at yard sales.
Whether you’re having a yard sale or shopping at garage sales, you’ll find these garage sale tips right on the money! Either way, start by bribing a friend into your yard sale adventures with the promise of coffee, donuts and fun conversation! Then, let the fun begin.
10 Yard Sale Tips for the Best Return
1. Make your garage sale attractive.
An attractively displayed sale says, “This stuff is valuable”. Shoppers will feel comfortable, stay longer, and buy more things.
Organize sale items by hanging clothing and placing your treasures on tables. If you can manage to place your items by type even better! Put all the kitchen items together, toys in another spot, etc.
If you pile up everything on the lawn without attention to organization, your stuff (which might be pretty good stuff) will be perceived as junk. Even I’m not adventurous enough to rummage through unknown lawn piles.
2. Start and End Early
Plan to start your sale early. 7 am is the perfect time. Why? Avid garage sale shoppers plan to go to many sales in one day. And for these people, time is money. They want to get to a sale, get something great and move to the next one before all the good stuff is gone.
They often plan their route the day before by looking in the newspaper and on Craigslist. A garage sale that doesn’t open until 9 or 10 often won’t make the list. Serious garage sale shoppers won’t want to go back to an area or neighborhood they’ve already visited.
End early as well. I’ve found that shoppers enjoy the morning and the afternoon brings very little yield. So stop at 1 or 2 and enjoy the rest of your day!
3. Price your items.
This is big for me. When items aren’t priced, visitors are sometimes reluctant to ask, and your chance to sell the item could be lost. Make it easy on your guests by pricing everything.
Price your items the day before the sale begins.
4. Garage Sale Pricing: Price to Sell.
When pricing items keep two things in mind:
- Is this really stuff you want to keep (is it?)
- Are you going to bring it back into the house?
The standard for garage sale pricing is 10% of what the item cost new (give or take for condition). If in doubt, ask yourself honestly what you would pay for the item at a rummage sale and price accordingly.
Also remember that visitors may want to haggle so that they feel they’re getting a good deal. Expect this. Allow for a bit of it in pricing, but always remember not to price items so high that guests won’t even bother to ask.
5. Advertise Your Sale
Put an ad for your sale in the paper, on craigslist, and on your Facebook page. These are usually very inexpensive. Advertising is one of those yard sale tips that has always paid off for me.
Shoppers who visit garage sales every week check the papers and craigslist first.
6. Make Nice Signs
Start the day before your yard sale, or even earlier. People coming to an unfamiliar area need help finding your sale. Make your signs visible, readable, and brief. That way, drivers won’t have any problem navigating to your sale.
7. Check Your City Garage Sale Regulations
Check to see if your city requires a yard sale license. (Mine does). The license is $5 and is in place to keep residents from having “permanent” yard sales.
Believe it or not, I’ve had the “yard sale police” come to every sale I’ve had. They’re actually city police sent to collect fines for not posting your permit. The fine for not purchasing the permit is $200 in my city. If you’re unsure of your local ordinances, double check. Go to your official city website for information.
8. Provide a Shopping Bag
When you see a shopper with a few items in her hands, ask her if she’d like a bag. Hand her a recycled grocery bag. She’ll free up her hands and be more able to shop for additional items.
9. Donate Unsold Garage Sale Items
These yard sale tips don’t end when the sale ends! There’s still money to be had. Donating your items is a great garage sale tip that can save money on your taxes.
Keep an accurate list of each and every item you donate that didn’t sell. Type it out along with the condition and value of each item. Some organizations, like the Salvation Army, post a guide to help you determine the value of donated items. Attach the receipt you receive from when you donated to your list along with the organizations value guide. File this away with other tax receipts.
When tax time rolls around, this receipt could be a sizeable tax write-off. You may be quite surprised at what your donation center values your items at.
10. Yard Sale Shopping Tips: Know What You Have
True Story: I once bought a $700 set of “forever guaranteed” knives for $1. How? I recognized the name brand and knew that even though these knives where well worn, I could send them back to the manufacturer to be refurbished (for free!). The company actually sent me an entirely new set!
My point: Know what you have. If you have anything that you think might be of value, look it up online. If it’s worth more than what you can get from your garage sale, then sell it on an Internet auction site.
Huge Frugal Minded Tip for Garage Sale Shoppers: an avid garage sale shopping friend taught me some very valuable garage sale lessons. She advised that it’s a good idea to know the top brands of items you’d like to have (such as knives, china, handbags, etc).
She also advised shopping for (but not purchasing) these items at retail stores. This practice allows you to distinguish the real from the fake. The more you know, the more you’ll be shocked at how often you find these items at garage sales. I’ve collected many luxurious items for pennies, simply by knowing what to look for!
This article was written by Jennifer of Best-Grocery-Coupon-Websites.com, where you can get printable coupons, the latest freebie report and more money saving tips.
Photo credit: Tomasz Stasiuk
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