The lake community behind us is having their community garage sale coming up here in May. It is well advertised and from what I hear, they get a really good turnout. I've never participated in a garage sale before, but since Barry and I are getting out of the "baby business", I have LOTS of things to get rid of. Like tubs and tubs of baby clothes, both sexes. And a changing table and a daybed and a crib and an exersaucer and bedding and well, you get the picture. I am so looking forward to all this stuff being gone, because I can't even wrap my brain around the fact that I will have ALL THAT SPACE. I sold my 2-child bike trailer on Craig's List for $70 this week (I'm becoming a Craig's List fanatic folks!)...and I am sooooo excited about that!
So anyway, back to the garage sales. Being that I've never done one, I am having trouble getting started. It seems to me that the biggest part of it is pricing everything. I can't even imagine how long that will take! LOL! And how do you determine what price to put on the various items? I've heard from a lot of my friends that they think it is a ridiculous amount of work, and they would rather do Craigs List or Ebay. But I don't know that I want to deal with the shipping. So I was wondering....what are your thoughts? Any advice? I just KNOW Logzie will have some!! Ha!
9 comments:
It's funny how down here they are called yard sales.
Pricing takes forever but then there's really no work.
We do 1 to 2 sales a year. Just price everything a little higher, that way you can come down and people think they are getting a great deal. Also, you will always have people ask you to take less on things, so this way you can! :)
The pricing is the most time consuming part. I've found that it helps if I put the size and price on the tag. It makes it easier on the shopper and on you.
You will make a ton of money off of all of those baby things!
Are you trying to say that I'm opinionated??? LOL!! I AM!!
Okay...I have done all 3...Craig's List, EBAY and many garage sales. My OPINION is this. EBAY...I'm kinda done with EBAY as it is a ton of work and then you have to go to the post office and HOPE you charged enough for shipping and don't loose money there. EBAY is good for "new" or "like new" items...people are really picky on EBAY and that gets on my nerves.
Craig's List...I love Craig's List. The only problem is scheduling someone to come and look at something when your husband is also home (for safety reasons) and then hoping they do show up. But...it's FREE and you can do it at your leisure. And no shipping...they come take your junk...that's the best part!
Now garage sales. They are awesome in their own way. Yes, the pricing does take a while...that is the worst part and most time consuming as you said but after that's done...you just sit in your lawnchair, sipping lemonade and collecting money for your junk! At the end of the day it's usually all gone or atleast mostly all gone and then you call the Salvation Army to pick up the rest and viola...you're done!!
I use EBAY and Craig's List for more expensive items such as Gabriella's crib bedding set. It's worth atleast $100 but NOBODY will pay that at a garage sale but people on Craig's and EBAY will and have...I sold Kenzie's on EBAY for $100!
KC is right about not worrying too much about your prices. If they are too high...people will not hesitate to talk you down or give you an offer. If they are too low...you probably won't have anything leftover to clean up! Ha! I always price my things really low because I have already determined that I didn't want the junk anymore anyway. I don't want to run the risk of being stuck with it when it's all over again. And when things are cheap...people tend to buy more anyway.
My last garage sale...I cleaned up! I stood outside my house and collected MONEY for 10 straight hours...I didn't stop to eat or pee...they just kept on coming and I raked in over $500!!
Here's a few tips for you:
--make sure you have change...people will inevitably buy something for a quarter and try to pay with a $20 bill.
--don't ever leave your cashbox out as there are people who purposly go around trying to steal your cashbox!
Good Luck!!
...wow, that WAS long! Sorry!
I've done all three. You can make more money on eBay, but it takes more time. Craig's list is good for bigger more expensive items, but for smaller stuff - people can be really unreliable about actually showing up.
Garage sales - LOVE THEM. My little guy and I hit a big neighborhood sale thing morning and then Logzie and our kids spent most of the afternoon at another community sale. I get most of my kids clothing that way. I'm a fan of pricing a bit lower to get it all out of the house. Last summer we made over $700 on our two sales. Community sales are the way to go, but list our sale in on Craig's List as well.
As you set up your sale, make sure that stuff is spread out so that people can see that you have LOTS of stuff. Many people sit in their cars and decide if it is worth it to get out. The more well laid out your clothing is, the more people look. Piles overwhelm people.
I suggest that you have a friend help you out. If you make people wait to pay they can decide it isn't worth it. It also allows you to answer questions, get a bathroom break, eat, etc.
Well worth the time and energy.
I've held exactly TWO garage sales and have decided NEVER again! The pricing takes forever and you always have stuff left over that didn't sell. Then you have to figure out what to do with all the leftovers. I'm a big fan of donating and taking the tax deduction.
My wife makes crazy cash at her annual yards sale.
p.s. most stores (target, walmart, etc) carry stickers with prices already on them. Saves lots of time. Or you can post a sign - pants =$x.xx, shirts=$x.xx, children's=$x.xx UNLESS OTHERWISE MARKED
Both ways save time
I've had several garage sales and found that yes, the pricing took time but I also did something to save on that time. I'd lump a lot of stuff together - all hardback books $2, all paperbacks $1 -or what ever the pricing is - and I'd put them all in a box and be done with that. I kept a list of the 'big ticket' items of how much I wanted for them and then just marked them off as I sold them. Everyone is correct in that people who go to garage sales will have no hesitation in trying to bargain the price down. Its all about what you're willing to take. Its a lot of fun, most times, and you get to meet some pretty interesting people.
Good Luck!
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