Come sale away, come sale away with me!

I've been talking about wanting to have a garage sale for months now, and this past weekend we were finally able to do it.

It was the second garage sale Chris and I have had 

(we held our first one last year when moving out of our last place). 

Like the last, this one was pretty successful as we were able to get rid of some of the clutter from our house and make a few bucks in the process (about $500 to be exact).

You might be wondering how we have accumulated enough clutter warranting a garage sale if we just had one last May and moved into this house less than a year ago?

Well, let me just give you a peek at what the office above our garage was starting to look like and you'll understand why (yes, I'm embarrassed to show these pictures and I'm pretty sure this almost guarantees me a spot on Hoarders: Buried Alive):

The truth is when we moved, we brought with us a lot of things we thought we would find a place for.

That turned out not to be the case. 

Couple that with your typical spring cleaning/purging and having the option to just toss these unwanted items into a space like this office, the piles just grew.

Since our garage sale was a little impromptu (we had it on Sunday versus the typical Saturday garage sale day and didn't advertise well), we didn't sell everything we wanted. But, I think once the warmer weather is really here on a Saturday in May, we will have one last crack at it. Either that or we will be making one very big trip to Goodwill.

So if you are thinking of having your own sale, 

here are some tips and suggestions I have picked up along the way...

1. Advertise!

We were a little last minute with this but advertise your sale in advance. Post your sale on Craigslist, in the local paper, on Facebook (if your town has a tag sale group like ours), and hang up signs on nearby main roads.

Also, make sure your signs are bright (try neon poster board) and write in big bold letters so people driving by can easily read about the sale.

source

2. Be ready.

If you can, set the sale up the night before or have everything ready to just be pulled out of the garage/attic/basement. You've probably heard the saying "the early bird catches the worm" and you want to be ready for these types. Since we weren't so organized, I was happy that we didn't have any early birds but often times you will find people coming to see what you are selling much earlier than your advertised 9 AM sale. 

3. Price and price smart.

I've been told that people don't like it when things don't have a price on them. So, if you can, price what you are selling with stickers/duct tape/etc. You can even try a $1 or $5 table where all the items are priced the same.

Also price smart! Anticipate that people will try to negotiate with you. It doesn't hurt to price a little higher than you'd expect to sell something. But at the same time, don't price too high! People will be turned off by someone selling something they can find brand new for the same price at a store.

4. Be organized and stage as best as you can.

I admittedly wasn't very good at this at our sale this weekend, mainly because it was very last minute. But, organize items by categories if you can. For example, put kitchen items together on one table. It also doesn't hurt to stage the items so that buyers can envision it in their own home.

5. Don't be stubborn!

If your goal is to really just get rid of your stuff, don't be stubborn with your prices. 

Ask yourself, do I really want to drag this _______ back into my house?

In fact, if it is nearing the end of the day and some items you really don't want are still lingering, offer them at half price or even for free (or even to pay someone to take it off your hands like my husband did haha):

6. Be friendly and smile!

I've been to sales before where the sellers barely said hello, were grumpy, and were unapproachable when it came to negotiating. It's a turn off and might drive potential buyers away.

Plus being friendly goes a long way! At our sale, it was nice to chat with some neighbors we haven't met before.

Do you have any garage sale tips or suggestions?

I'd love to hear them!

- Caitlin