Garage Sales - How to Bring the Ka-Ching! … by neil smith

1/24/08

In this age of crass consumerism, we often find ourselves swimming through our own clutter and wondering, “Do I really need all this stuff!?” This is about the time to start considering the finer points of a Garage Sale!

You may be wondering, who is going to buy this old “Welcome Back Kotter” lunchbox or you thimbles of the world collection… YOU’D BE SURPRISED! Organized correctly, a garage sale can potentially bring you in some pretty good bucks!

STEP #1 - TAKE INVENTORY - GATHER AND OBTAIN ITEMS AND KNOW THEIR VALUE!

Go through every room in your home and gather items you no longer want or need. Even if you don’t see value in the items, someone else very well might, so don’t throw things away! You need lots of items to attract buyers! Be sure to take a bit of time and research your items online to find out their values. Antique collectible pottery, comic books, toys, etc. are often mistakenly sold at garage sales for far below their true value only to become an experienced treasure hunter’s retirement fund or make a featured appearance on the Antiques Roadshow!

If after all your sifting and sorting you still don’t have much stuff to sell, consider visiting other yard and garage sales and scoop up their “desperation sales” and do a little treasure hunting of your own. Sometimes, you will find items for literally pennies which you can then re-sell at your garage sale at a decent markup. Books are a good example. Many people will sell old books for 5 or 10 cents. You can snatch these up and sell paperbacks at 50 cents and hardbacks for a dollar! And keep your eyes peeled for the incredible collector finds. A few months ago, I found a high-end, very decorated large sombrero in excellent shape for a dollar! These usually go for much, much more! High-end audio equipment and musical instruments are also items people tend to unload unusually cheap, normally out of just not knowing the value of what they have and a desire to get rid of that bulky, big black box (a vintage Marshall guitar amplifier) taking up space in the spare room. If you have some expertise in a certain area of merchandise, use it to your advantage to find super deals which you can turn into big dollars at your garage sale!

STEP #2 - ADVERTISING

Spend a few dollars and take out a decent classified ad in your local newspaper including a list of top-attraction, big-ticket items you have for sale along with the other types of items you have. You stand to get many more people interested with a long list than you do with just - “Garage Sale” and an address. Also be sure to make large, colorful, eye-catching, very readable signs to place around your neighborhood to help direct people to your sale! Also, if you have a particular skill or business of your own, even if it is completely unrelated to garage sales, make sure to have plenty of business cards onhand as you will be meeting and conversing with many different types of people from your community that you otherwise would not have an opportunity to communicate with. Garage sales can be yet another great networking opportunity! You never know what sort of side-business you may strike on sale day!

STEP #3 - SMART PRICING MAKES YOU MONEY!

It’s ok to price your items a bit higher than you think you may be able to sell them for as many shoppers peruse the sales and live for haggling. You can always come down in price as you deal verbally, but going higher than the price you have marked is almost never an option, so price high enough to leave yourself some dealing room. A good rule of thumb for a garage sale is that if an item is in good condition, price it about half of what it would sell for new. If it is a collectible, be sure to label and price it as such. Also, make sure to have each item clearly labeled (and don’t put sticky labels in sensitive places of a collectible item or its packaging!). If people have to ask you the price and size of every item you have, they will eventually stop bothering and find a more pleasant environment to shop in. Just think about how annoying it is to shop at a place with no prices posted. I have personally walked out of many stores for just this very reason.

AND LASTLY - GUARD THE CASHBOX AT ALL TIMES!

NEVER leave the cashbox unattended. Periodically throughout the day you may also wish to take some of the larger bills accumulated and stash them inside your home for safety’s sake - especially if you are operating the sale alone!

Please visit my flagship website at http://www.letsgetahead.com for more great articles like this one!

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Garage Sales - How to Bring the Ka-Ching! … by neil smith