[MummyPink]

Hi!

I am really sorry if this has been asked for a zillion times before..but does anyone have any great Garage Sale tips! We are having our first ever sale on Saturday and we dont really know what we are doing..LOL...do we just mark everything at stupidly cheap prices or mark them higher and let people haggle..LOL..any ideas?

Thanks Heaps

Nicole

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v512/oOButterflyOo/NicandJess2.bmp[/img]
{DD 21 Months}

[ricebubbles76]

Well my DB is the Master of Garage Sales. We are having one this weekend too.

We often have one as my DB buys things we dont really need and then I want them gone so he sells them, mostly at a dearer price so we get a few dollars profit.

Price items 10% above the price you actually want so then when people haggle, you will get the price you want and they will think they are getting a bargain.

DB says spread things around. Dont bunch things together. EG, crockery together, gardening things together. He says to mix them all up so that people have to look around everything. Imagine if someone is looking for something in particular, eg, a shovel. They would go to the area where a shovel might be. And then not look at everything else you have to sell. You could be missing out on lots of sales.

You need to do it a bit different to conventional shops like Woolies etc.

Most garage sales make us enough to pay the weeks rent, at least. Sometimes two weeks. Our best garage sale a few years ago was $4000. My DB is a great sales person.

Something my DB is great at is talking with people. Say hello and talk with them. You can usually tell the types who want a chat and those who just want to look and be on their way. Older people tend to want to talk more and then usually buy more as well. But dont be pushy.

Put your signs out early. Our earliest customer came knocking on the door at 4:30 in the morning. He was a dealer so out to get all the good stuff early. We told him to come back when it was a decent hour. I must admit he did bring his own torch with him lol.

We usually put our rubbish bin out with balloons all over it and the signs our newspaper gives us to advertise with them. Put some on some major intersections close to your home as well. Points people in the right direction. Many a time we have been out driving and seen a sign and went and found the garage sale. DB is addicted to them.

My DSDs always have their own stand at the garage sale. Last one they made over $20. They were so excited they made their own money with toys they dont use. It keeps their room under control as well. But as your little one is a bit too young to be a sales person it is something to keep in mind for the future.

DSDs also sold our Mangoes we had growing. Made a few dollars from that too. I must admit it takes a bit to explain they cant ask everyone who walks in if they want to buy some though lol

Well I have rambled enough.

Hope this helps.
If you have electrical items for sale we usually give out mobile number to people as an idication we believe the item is in good working order.

ME 28
DB 33
DSD 8
DSD 7
EDD 7 February 2005

<a href="http://lilypie.com"><img src="http://lilypie.com/days/050207/3/21/1/+10" alt="Lilypie Baby Days" border="0" /></a>

[MummyPink]

Ricebubbles, THANKYOU so much for all of that great information!!!! Wow, I cant believe that you made $4000 at a garage sale!! I dont think we'll even get close to that..LOL Great idea about not bunching things up together!! I never would have thought of that..my retail experience would have had me neatly arranging things together, in order..LOL.. Some people sure are eager arent they? We put on our add 'No early birds' so hopefully we dont get any 4.30am door knocks!!!

Thanks again for your help!!! I'm quite looking forward to this now!!

Take Care

[Guest_fatnat_*]

We are having a garage sale tomorrow too. We have had several also as we move a bit and it's a good spring clean. Any money is good for something you don't use. So if you really want to get rid of the stuff as the day wears on maybe think about lowering your price and show you have on the price sticker.

I think you have to think about the price. What would you pay for the item 2nd hand and in the condition it is in. If you are pricing things have a sign saying open to all offers as sometimes people will just think something is too dear and walk on.

About the early birds, at our last garage sale we had someone come the night before and my DH told them to come back in the morning. We had a 7 a.m. start and they turned up at 6 a.m. and got the poos when DH told them to come back at opening time. Luckily we were already up but they didn't come back. They were after furniture and were probably 2nd hand dealers.

ALso watch out for thieves. You won't believe what some people will steal. Last week DH went to a 2nd hand trash and treasure market to get rid of some of our stuff and people nicked stuff when he was busy. Some people are hard up.

[caroline_d]

We are having a sale too tomorrow and i had 4 people (all at separate times) turn up YESTERDAY!!!. i told them i was happy to sell then as long as they didn't haggle over the price - the ad in the paper is now already paid for, and all else is profit.

Caroline + Siobhan (3/2000)+ Shannon (7/2003)

[cotty]

Have things laid out, most people dont like to go through boxes or piles of stuff.

We had free stuff at our garage sale, just to give it a good home, but found that people didn't take the free stuff without buying something.

Make sure it looks good from the road, you will get cruisers who slow down just to guage whether they should stop and go in. Make sure it looks like you've got heasp of good stuff from the road view.

Cheers, Tracey.
DH, Emily 02/02/01 and Thomas 11/08/02

[MummyPink]

Wow, it seems that tommorow is the day to have a garage sale..LOL..I live in a small town and there were 10 advertised for tomorrow too!!

Rachel - Thanks heaps for that link! There are some great tips on there!

Fatnat - Theives hadnt even crossed my mind!! Thankyou so much for the warning! I guess you just cant be too careful these days!

Caroline - Yay! That everything you sell now is profit!! I hope that it all goes well!

Tracey - People wont be able to just cruise by our place...LOL..our garage is out of view from the street..hehe..thanks for the tip on the free stuff box, we werent sure if we should have one or not!

Thanks again everyone for your help!!

Nicole

[MummyPink]

Thanks Rach, off to go and have a nosy at them now..!!

Take Care

Nicole

[img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v512/oOButterflyOo/NicandJess2.bmp[/img]