What type of person are you? From country house plans to modern home plans with contemporary touches, all house designs have clutter. While you are cutting the clutter do you toss it out or give it away? Or are you an individual that would like to make some money from your gently used items and have a fun time along the way? If that is you and you’re thinking of having a garage sale but don’t know where to begin, follow the tips of the trade below to ensure your sale is a success.

Success can be measured in a couple of ways, did you get rid of a lot of stuff or did you make money? Hopefully you will accomplish both and deciding that before you move forward can help set your goal as the sale continues. How low will you go and do you want to make money at any cost, even if it means keeping it? Keep that in mind as buyers barter for your wares.

How to Prepare

• First you need to set a date – Plan at least one month in advance and take time to look at the local directory to make sure you aren’t competing with community events such as the church picnic or the big football game. These types of events will cause your foot traffic to be low and your profits to drop. Also make sure you don’t plan it on a holiday weekend where people are hitting the road and leaving your area. Make sure the weather is pleasant and not extremely cold or hot. Setting a date can perhaps be the hardest part of your garage sale. You have to pick a time where bargain-hunting people are comfortable, in town, and ready to shop!
• Set length of time – Typically garage sales run Friday through Sunday with Saturdays being the busiest. Busy families with full schedules find their time more restricted so flexibility is best. Friday afternoon and evening shoppers are becoming more popular. Sundays may bring in a few more sales if you are already planning to be at home it may be a good way to wrap up some final sales.
• Hours of the sale – Usually 8am – 4pm is a full day of selling and by the evening you will be ready to close up shop. As a rule of thumb you will have Early Birds that arrive the night before or at 7 am to check out the items. It may be beneficial to be ready to sell prior to the advertised hours. But is this does not fit your schedule, make it clear that Early Birds are not welcome or they pay double.
• Advertisement – As with any good sale you need to reach your buyers. Many local papers have a garage sale area. Make sure you get your sale in the paper as well as your flyer on community bulletin boards and online advertisement. One week before the sale you should take the time to email special sale items to your family and friends and also post them on your facebook page. Word of mouth is a great way to network the news of your upcoming sale.

Signage Do’s and Don’ts

• Get permission – Before posting signs on poles or common grounds check with the local homeowners association or Chamber of Commerce to see how and where personal signs can be placed. The last thing you want to do is take the time to post the signs, only to have them removed before your event.
• Make it nice – You want your signs to attract attention so use large thick boxes or posterboard that won’t warp in the weather, thus making them unreadable. Make them clear, neat and simple and use bold lettering that can be read from the road.
• What to write – Shoppers need to view you sign while driving so keep it to four, concise lines that state Garage Sale, Address, Date and Time. As the signs are closer to your location use arrows for clear direction.
• Keep it constant – There are sometimes many different events in the community and the signs all blend together. Make sure your signs stand out. Use the same colors and writing style so customers can be sure to find your sale and not the one down the street.
• Placement – You will want to place your signs out a week before to give customers the general location of the sale. Signs with arrows should be placed the night before the sale to clearly give direction. After placing the signs take the time to drive the route to make sure they can be clearly read from the vehicle and seen 3 car lengths in order to read all the information. It is also important to double-check that someone didn’t “accidentally” move your signs to redirect customers, thus causing frustration and the possibility of ruining your sale.
• The Big Day – Any way to draw attention to your sale will further guarantee it will be a success. Place balloons and signage along the way to ensure people that have to park down the block will find their way.

Organization

• Sorting your items – Once you decide to have a sale you need to designate an area that you place items. Organize them by type, like clothes, kitchen, toys, etc. so as the date for your sale arrives you already have some of the work done.
• Labeling items – Make it easy on yourself and make sure buyers can quickly see the price so they will not pester you with questions. The easiest method is using colored labels and assigning a price to a color and then simply sticking the color label on. However, this makes it easy for the dishonest shopper to switch labels, thus cutting into your profits. What is easier is pricing by type. “All books are A, all dresses are B, etc. When selling items for a variety of prices make sure everything is clearly labeled individually with a bold felt tip marker and placed on the front of the item. The last thing you want is confusion over a price and bartering to begin.
• Pricing items – A good rule of thumb when pricing items is 10% of their original cost. Remember, this is your junk that you want to get rid of. Even though it may have sentimental value to you or was the most popular item when it was originally purchased, it means nothing to your customer and is out of date and unpopular now. If not, you wouldn’t be placing it in your garage sale. Take the time to clean things up, test items that have moving parts or need power to operate to make sure they function properly. The lower the price the less items you will have to box up at the end of the sale.
• Careful placement – Make sure the most popular and larger items are placed near the road so nosy passerby’s will take time to stop. You will need to use your yard, driveway and garage. Borrow tables and arrange them so buyers and easily navigate through all items being sold. Try to hang clothes when possible, don’t stack items, place books and music with spines facing the buyer, and take the time to straighten things up as they are rummaged through. Potential buyers will walk away if they have to put effort into rummaging through cluttered tables.

Safety First

• Money – Make sure you have one person acting as the cashier. The same goes for having one person making the deals and bargaining with customers. Otherwise it becomes too easy for a customer to claim someone else promised them a lower price. It is also best for the cashier to keep the money out of site and out of mind. Some people use a cash box while others prefer a fanny pack close to the body. Whatever your preference this person should try to remain close to the exit to ensure no one wanders out without paying.
• Helpers – A garage sale is a lot of work and you will need to enlist in some assistants.  You can’t do it alone or you will lose money as things just seem to disappear. Three people are ideal, one to be the cashier and handle transactions, one to answer questions and keep items organized and one to make sure shoppers don’t have sticky fingers. If more expensive items are for sale it may be best to have one person monitor them until they are sold. While adults are best for these tasks older children can help out with refreshments or tasks like helping people out with their purchases or bagging items up if necessary.
• Lock it up – Even with the best laid out plans, things can quickly get crazy. Make sure your lock up your home both front, back and garage door leading into your home. When crowds are gathered it would be easy for someone to slip away and get inside and take something valuable or make off with cash from the sale. It is also important to make sure younger children are spending the day with neighbors, friends or family members. This will ensure your peace of mind they are safe and are not running in and out of the home. Never let anyone enter your home to use the restroom, phone or to try on clothing. Although these are paying customers they are also strangers and precaution should be taken.

A Few More Things…

• Be honest. If you have items you know are flawed, broken or damaged create a FREE table and just let them disappear. It is always better to give them away than sell them and then encounter an unhappy customer in the days following your sale.
• It is also important to have a no return sign stating all sales are final. Be clear from the beginning, you buy it, you own it, end of story. You don’t want buyers remorse and customers showing up at your home days later asking for a refund.
• Along with keeping small children out of the sale area it is just as important for the family pet to be inside and away from the chaos. Though Champ may be cute and cuddly you definitely don’t want people with allergies and fears and the potential for accidents to put a damper on your day.
• Just as important is to make sure the sale area is clean and hazard free. Make sure all pet evidence is away from customers, clean up the lawn and walkways, trim the grass, pull the weeds, sweep the garage and driveway and keep all cords or other tripping hazards out of the way. You may need a power cord to test electronics but make sure it is taped down with a sign pointing to it to avoid passersby from tripping.
• Along with the price you will need to measure and clearly label the size of larger items. Have a tape measure on hand so customers can double-check your work.
• Before the sale make plans to park your vehicles a few doors down. This keeps the sale visible and leaves open parking spaces available for customers. It is also a good idea to notify your neighbors that you are having a garage sale so that they are prepared for the additional traffic and take the necessary precautions.
• Other personal items that may be near the sale area but are not for sale need to be clearly labeled, “Not for Sale.” Customers will still ask but hopefully this will avoid any confusion.
• No matter how nice and kind the customer may appear. A word of caution, do not accept checks. Have cash – will carry needs to be the rule!
• Make a quick stop at the bank and get the necessary change for the sale. Try to price items 50 cents to lessen the need for making change. Keep a calculator to make transitions go smoothly. A good starting amount is 4 ten dollar bills, 5 five dollar bills, 25 one dollar bills, $5 in quarters, $5 in dimes and $2 in nickels. If you start to run low make sure you have a dependable person that can run to the bank for additional change.
• No matter how busy you are it is a good idea to check all sales yourself. A helpful customer may add up their stuff and tell you the amount for while adding forgot some items they picked up along the way. If you take the time to bag sales you will ensure small children and forgetful adults don’t walk off with items without paying first.
• The work was in the planning. Now that the sale is upon you – have fun! You need to set the atmosphere so the customer feels welcome and comfortable spending time rummaging through your possessions. Set the stage – greet the customer, answer questions, have pleasant background music and offer cold drinks or snacks for sale. The longer they linger the fuller their bag will be when they leave.

Wrap It Up

• If possible at the end of each day move items inside for the evening. If you don’t have room put covers on them and place them close to your home. Just be aware that anything you leave outside will have a greater chance of walking away for nothing.
• Be willing to lower your prices at the end of the sale. You can pair items up for a greater bargain to ensure you have less leftover items in the end.
• Before you begin the sale make sure you know what you are going to do with things that don’t sell. Divide them up into three groups: save for future sales, throw away, and donate. For future sale items you need to make sure these are things you think you can really make money off of at the next sale you have, your community has or at a friend’s. For items you plan to throw away simply bag up the trash and dispose of it. For items you plan to donate you need to remove the pricing labels and box up deliver to the charity. If you don’t do this right after the sale the clutter will end of lingering and eventually back into your home.
• Out of courtesy, take the time to thank your neighbors for the traffic inconvenience and also make the trip to remove your signs so you don’t have unwanted customers showing up on your doorstep.

So regardless if your house design is country or your house floor plan is considered one of the modern home plans currently in style, the next time your clutter has gotten out of control, rather than throwing it away or donating it, think about selling it and making some money. Garage sales are definitely not easy events to organize but by following the tips outlined above and planning beforehand you could be on your way to a very profitable weekend!