Picking a day to host a garage sale goes a long way to determining how profitable your sales will be.  Here are a couple of tips to keep in mind.

Month

Obviously, this is going to vary depending on the weather. In Montana, we can have sunny days in February and a hail storm in June!  Generally, you want to stage your sale during the warm months.  Early spring is the best time to schedule your sale because it isn’t too hot yet and shoppers have cabin fever.  They’re chomping at the bit to get out and score some sweet deals.

Late summer sales can do as well as early spring sales.  Not as many folks are throwing sales and the travel season is over.  If you choose to throw your sale during the hot months, be sure to keep plenty of cold drinks on hand, for you and your customers.

One last thing to keep in mind: People usually receive their paychecks around the first and fifteenth of the month, so you may want to schedule your sale around then.

Day

Saturday is by the best day to have a garage sale.  People are off work and available to shop.  Fridays aren’t nearly as profitable, but it may be worth it if you live in a well-trafficked area.  You could score some good lunch hour and after work business.

Sundays are also less profitable as most shoppers go to church or spend time with their families.  You may get a few hardcore deal-seekers, but unless you have very specific or hard-to-find items, it may not be worth your time.

Time of Day

In general, shoot for the morning hours between 7 and 11 a.m.  Mornings are good because the temperature isn’t too oppressively hot.  A good rule of thumb is to shoot for 3 – 4 hours and be done by around 1 p.m.  After that, business tends to drop way off and your best merchandise has been sold.

Billings Biggest Garage Sale is on June 23rd. Gates open at 7am and we shop till we drop or until 3pm (whichever comes first).

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