Get Cash For Your Stuff, Have a Garage Sale: 6 Tips For Success

It’s there whenever you go to the garage, the basement, or the attic.  It’s there when you go to bed and when you wake up in the morning.  It’s there when you leave for vacation and when you get back.

That mass of unused items that you keep telling yourself you need to get rid of but never seem to go anywhere.

Suddenly, BRAINSTORM - you can have a garage sale!  Make some cash to get rid of your stuff, who wouldn't.

Sometimes garage sales can be overwhelming, we get it. Here are a few tips to make it EASY:

Don't be lazy when promoting your garage sale.

In the days leading up to your sale, make sure you get the word out.  Put out lawn signs, put ads in the local newspaper or want ads, and set up promotions on websites like local garage sale Facebook sites or Craigslist.  The more people who know about your sale, the more people are likely to stop in.

Get the right permits for selling your stuff and get plenty of change.

You may even need permits to put flyers in telephone poles or on fences, depending on the community. It’s also an unnecessary hassle to have to send someone to chase down change in the middle of your sale.

Roundup your neighbors or friends for garage sale help.

Throwing a garage sale is quite the undertaking, so make sure to enlist plenty of help.  Get help for keeping track of merchandise and assisting customers.  It’s also a good idea to team up with others having sales on the same day as you.  Pool your stuff together in one location, and it’s a good bet you’ll get more shoppers stopping by.

Be prepared to haggle, but be friendly.

Folks come to garage sales in search of great deals.  Have prices in mind, but give yourself enough room that you can bargain with customers without giving your merchandise away for pennies. Still, no one wants to deal with a grouchy sales person.

Join a community-wide or neighborhood-wide garage sale like Billings Biggest Garage Sale.

This annual event does all the marketing for you on local radio stations and gives you a chance to sell to literally thousands of people in one day in one place. Garage sale junkies love going to one big area so they can shop for hours!  Less gas, less parking, and lots of variety!

Have fun!

A garage sale isn’t just a way to make extra cash and get rid of unwanted clutter.  It’s a chance to meet a lot of people, hear lots of different stories, and maybe even make some new friends. Remember, if you’re having fun, your customers will probably have fun, too.