Cleaning Out Your Garage for Fun and Profit
Summer is a great time to consider clearing out the debris from your garage and making room! A garage sale is a great way to make some extra cash and clear out lots of unneeded/unwanted items.
Pros
- Clear out needed space & make some money!
- Opportunity to connect and socialize with neighbors and your community
- Feel good seeing your objects go directly to new owners
Cons
- Several hours work to gather items, prepare and hang signs, hold the sale, clean up
- May not make much money
- Will likely have leftovers that you’ll have to donate or dispose
Preparation
- Enlist friends and family to help out – they can add their items into the sale to make the sale more varied and appealing to buyers
- For multi-family sales decide ahead of time how you’ll track who made what
- Stock a fanny pack or cash box with at least $20 in small bills to make change for early shoppers
- Make clear, simple signs (with arrows!) and post at major intersections near the sale
- Post the sale online on www.Craigslist.com, www.WeekendTreasure.com, www.NextDoor.com or other local event listings, 1-2 days ahead of time—include pictures of what you have to sell, if you can.
- Don’t bother trying to sell worn-out or dirty items, but you could have a “FREE” box for items that aren’t saleable.
Pricing Tips
- When setting your prices be clear about your goal for the sale – maximize the $$ made or just move out stuff? Price accordingly!
- Pre-pricing takes time but can save some effort during the sale and make things easier for customers
- Save big expensive items for craigslist, people shopping garage sales are looking for deals and usually not carrying a lot of cash.
Curb Appeal
- Place large items out front
- Group like items together as much as possible
- Use folding tables to make browsing easier
- Hang shirts/dresses/jackets if possible
- Create a container of small $.25 items and label it clearly – this can keep kids busy while parents shop
Deal With The Leftovers
- Advertise on your local FreeCycle.com or Craigslist that everything past 3 pm on your last day of the sale will be free and sitting in the driveway or at the curb
- Have some empty grocery bags or boxes ready for clean-up time to immediately create donation bags
- Pre-schedule a donation pick-up from a local charity for the week following the sale (www.DonationTown.org)
Does all this overwhelm you? Hire an organizer or just call 1-800-Got-Junk!