How long has it been since you last had a garage sale? If you feel like you could use extra cash in your wallet, perhaps it's time to start planning. Following are some tips to make the most money at your sale.
Pick the Right Days to Hold Your Sale
You can usually make more money if you have your sale on the right days. Typically, this would be during a weekend when rain is not in the forecast.
"Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings are usually the best time to hold your garage sale," says Ramsey Solutions.(1) "Here’s an insider garage sale tip: Consider scheduling your sale on the first weekend of the month—when people have just reloaded their personal spending and fun money for the month. Also, the earlier the start, the cooler the temperature will be. You might even have more people show up because they like to get their shopping out of the way early!"
If you can make it work, you might even consider starting on Thursday to cater to people who wish to beat the usual garage sale crowd.
Accept Digital Payments to Give People Options
Some people don't carry much cash, if any at all. If you provide them with an alternative way to pay, such as digitally, you can potentially increase the amount of people you can sell to. You may also increase the amount you're able to sell per person. Try using apps like Zelle, Square, PayPal, Google Pay, Venmo, etc. You'll likely want to avoid accepting personal checks because they may bounce, and/or people might try to scam you.
Make Sure People Know About Your Sale
Be sure to advertise your sale to get the most traffic. The local newspaper and street signage have always been popular options for advertising, but there are many online options. You can put your sale on Craigslist, social media sites like Facebook and Instagram, and get listed at garage sale-specific sites, such as garagesalefinder.com. NextDoor, the localized social media platform, is another potential way to get the word out to folks in your area. In your ads and on your signage, you should note the payment types you'll be accepting.
Include Your Neighbors
Speak with neighbors to gauge their interest in having a sale. If you get enough people to participate, you can draw even more traffic. If one of your neighbors decides to have a garage sale the same day, having multiple sales could draw an even bigger crowd. As an added bonus, you may even be able to bargain or trade with one another.
Try Not Putting Prices on Your Goods
It may sound counterintuitive not to put price tags on the items you're trying to sell, but it can actually work in your favor. "Ask buyers for their best offers; they will often name a price that's higher than the one you would have suggested," suggests Consumer Reports (2).
"If people seem too shy to negotiate, then you can name a price," they add. "To get an idea of an appropriate valuation, go to Statricks.com. It aggregates pricing data from online auction sites such as eBay and classified sites such as Craigslist. You'll find hundreds of thousands of used products, from small appliances, bicycles and cell phones to computers, photo and video equipment, and sporting goods."
Be Friendly to Your Customers
You may not work in retail for a living, but on garage sale day, you're a salesperson, and that means it pays to be friendly. If people aren't perceiving you to be nice, they likely won't browse for very long. If you are affable and engage them in conversation, they might stick around longer and be more likely to buy from you. As you talk, you can drop in details about items that might not be obvious at first glance.
Garage sale season may start in spring, but people will shop at them all throughout the summer and beyond. Some will even show up any time of year. Garage sales can be a great way to make extra cash quickly while also decluttering your home.
1. https://www.ramseysolutions.com/saving/garage-sale-tips
2. https://www.consumerreports.org/money/make-most-money-from-garage-sales