Fun fact about me! I love to set up and organize garage sales. So, stick around
for my ten best garage sale tips to set up for success! If this is your first
time here, welcome! I'm Lindsey a proud anthem resident and your local REALTOR®
with the Wise Move AZ Team at Realty ONE Group. On this channel, we have a lot
of fun talking about all things Anthem and real estate, and we would love to
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Garage sales can be a great way to declutter your home, get rid of things
you no longer want or need, and even to put a little extra cash in your pocket.
We hosted a three family garage sale with my in-laws a couple of summers ago
and it was so much fun! We ran our garage sale from Friday afternoon to Sunday
afternoon that weekend, and my husband and I walked away with almost $1000. We
also had a ton of fun spending our weekend outside with our families.
Whether you're getting ready to move or you just need to declutter, these 10 tips
are going to set your garage sale up for success! Tip #1: Know the Rules.
First things first, you need to make sure that you're allowed to have a garage
sale or yard sale at your house. This means reading the bylaws, CC&RS, and
other governing documents for your neighborhood. For example, in Anthem where
we live, some neighborhoods allow garage sales and some don't.
It's possible that you'll be required to get a permit to host your garage sale, as
well. Make sure that you know and understand the rules in advance
so that you can plan accordingly. If you can't host a garage sale at your house
consider asking a friend or family member if you can host your sale in
their yard. You could even offer to sell some of their items for them if they'd
like. Tip #2: Schedule Wisely. You want to schedule your garage sale at a
time when people in your community will be around. This tip will require a little
research on your part. Jump online and see what's already scheduled for the
weekend you're considering. Will the other event scheduled help to bring
people into your area or take them away? For example, you may want to avoid major
holidays if people tend to leave your area. You also want to take the weather
into consideration. For example, in Arizona, July and August are really hot,
and people may prefer to stay inside where it's air-conditioned. I know I do!
You want to find a weekend where it's warm enough for people to be outside
comfortably, and you also want to avoid the rain. The rain can wreck your stuff
and drive people inside. Tip #3: Consider Combining Families. As I
mentioned at the start of this video, we did a garage sale where we combined
three different families and it was so much fun!
Combining families meant that we had a wider selection of items to offer and it
also meant that we had more people to work at the sale. Combining families can
add a little bit of complication when it comes to setup and accepting payments. So,
just make sure that you're talking through those elements in advance.
Will everyone bring and set up their own tables? Will you use color-coded stickers
to know which items belong to which family? Will each family be responsible
for taking their own payments? If not how will you keep track of how much money
each family makes? Tip #4: Spread the Word.
Now that you've determined the rules and picked the perfect weekend to host your
sale, you need to spread the word. I strongly encourage you to share an
invitation to your garage sale online. You can create a really cute digital
garage sale sign using a program like Canva. Share it on social media, including
in local buy and sell groups, if permitted. Additionally, you may want to
post on sites like Craigslist. I encourage you to share the details of
some of the most intriguing items you have. For example, if you have a piece of
exercise equipment, luggage, or furniture, I encourage you to include the details
in your post. Don't forget to include the dates times and locations.
Additionally, I encourage you to make a flier that you can take to your
neighbors. I always like to invite my neighbors and apologize in advance for
the added traffic. You want to advertise your garage sale a few days in advance.
That's enough time for people to plan but not enough time for them to forget,
hopefully! Tip #5: Get Organized. There is a lot of work that goes into
planning a successful garage sale. If you haven't already done so, do the following:
Go through your entire house and compile everything you're hoping to sell. Move
all of the items for sale into one area of the house. Price everything in advance
using colorful stickers. Prices should be clearly visible. You should also have an
idea of how firm you are on each price. People like to negotiate and you need to
know your bottom line. Ensure you have the right supplies. This includes tables,
chairs, a cash box or apron, pens, markers, shopping bags, and so on. Come up with a
plan of how you're going to display things. Assign clear jobs to each person
working at the sale. Tip #6: Make Good Signage. This might be my favorite
part of a garage sale! Making the signs! Firstly, it's really important that you
know and follow any rules around signage in your area. If you're not allowed signs,
you're going to have to really push with the online advertising of your sale. If
you are allowed signage, you're going to want to use directional signs to help
people get to your home. Start at the main roads and work your way back to
your house. Keep the signs simple. Remember, people are driving, they can't
read the small essay you wrote on a little sign. I recommend just writing
garage sale in big bold letters and then using an arrow to point them in the
right direction. You also want to have great signage at your house.
For our last garage sale I made a huge banner that went across the top of the
house. I really wish I had taken a picture that I could show you. Make sure
that you have a good plan for affixing the signs so that they don't blow away. Okay,
now for a little rant, bear with me. Please, please,
please, pick up your signs at the end of each day. Leaving them up clutters and
degrades the neighborhood, and its litter. Take pride in where you live and clean
up after yourself. Tip #7: Have a cash float. Unless this is a really
fancy garage sale that accepts debit and credit card payments, you're going to
have to use good old-fashioned cash. Make sure that you go to the bank and get
lots of change and small bills. Chances are that your first customer will show
up with a twenty dollar bill to buy a 75 cent item... just sayin'! Know how much of a
float you started with so that you know how much money you made at the end of
each day. Be sure to take large bills inside regularly. Tip #8: Take
Time to Set Up. If your garage sale is set to start at noon don't think that
you can just open up the garage door at 11:45AM and you'll be ready. Do as much
prep work as you can the night before, and put in a couple of hours before the
sale starts. You want to create aesthetically pleasing displays of like
items, kind of like your favorite boutique stores. You also want to make
sure that all prices are visible. I also recommend that you set the tables up in
a u-shape so that there's a clear flow, rather than just having tables scattered
around the yard. You also want to set up items that aren't clear or require
explanation. For example, at our last garage sale we had a tent in a bag. It
didn't sell on day one, but on the morning of day two we set it up in the
yard and it sold almost immediately. You also want to make sure that you have
shopping bags and possibly packing material handy for people who buy
several items. Tip #9: Be Safe and Have Fun. Inviting strangers
up to your house to go through your things probably isn't up there with the
safest things to do. That being said, there are so many things you can do to
keep yourself safe. Put the more expensive items at the back. Always have
more than one person working. Remove big bills from the cash box or apron
regularly. Lock the house but keep a key on you. Don't leave the cash un-
attended. Keep your cell phone on you at all times. If someone is making you
uneasy or scared consider going inside. Remember you're not replaceable but your
stuff is. Remove any valuables from your garage that are not for sale. In addition
to staying safe, have fun! At our garage sale we had lemonade, and snacks, and
music. We didn't take it too seriously, no one was there to get rich, and we just
had a lot of fun spending time together and meeting new people. Tip #10:
Plan for Unsold Items. Spoiler Alert: Not everything's going to sell. I know, it
sucks! You put all this work into your sale and on Sunday afternoon the tables
aren't empty! Come up with a plan for the items you don't sell so that they don't
just sit and collect dust for years. I recommend boxing everything up and
dropping it off at a donation center the very next day. Get it out of the house
and move on. Alternatively, if you have some bigger ticket items left you could
sell those online in local buy and sell groups. So, there you have it! What do you
think? When will you be hosting your next
garage sale and what tips from this video will you be incorporating? If you
found this video helpful let me know by hitting that like button, subscribing to
our channel, and sharing this video with your friends. Also, if you're having a
garage sale because you're trying to get your house ready to sell you're going to
want to click and watch this video up top where we share our checklist of
getting your home ready for listing, or if you'd like to hire a home cleaner, now
that you've done all this work decluttering your house, click to watch
this video on the bottom where we share our tips for hiring the best person for
the job. Enjoy those and I'll see YOU next
Thursday!