Monday, April 13, 2009

Moving Out!


The school year is starting to come to end and it’s time to start packing to go home. (Image from Sun Sentinel website)

I have been living off campus in Fairways at Towson apartments off of Goucher Blvd for about two years now. As we all know, a lot things start to build-up over the school years, like junk and other random items.

My roommates and I are trying to get a head start on cleaning and deciding what could be sold in garage sale. But none of us have personal experience running a garage sale, so we looked online to find some help.

Here are 6 tips for future garage sellers from an article called “How to have a successful Garage Sale”.

Garage Sale Tip #1: Get a Friend

You will need someone to help you with your garage sale. Besides needing help moving tables there will also be times during your garage sale you are going to be bombarded with people asking for lower prices. It’s more enjoyable with another person (or persons) and probably more cash. Also note that people tend to flock to the multiple family garage sales.


Garage Sale Tip #2: Let People Know Ahead of Time


Get garage sale signs out at least three days in advance. People need some forewarning and some encouragement when it comes to getting up early on Saturday morning. Many customers show 30 minutes before your posted start time. Early birders swarm garage sales and are some of the best customers of all. They are your friends when it comes to a successful garage sale.


Garage Sale Tip #3: Timing

You need to know that no matter what time you start the garage sale, there WILL be people there earlier. “Early Birds” are often ready to buy, buy, and buy. It might be wise to purposely list the garage sale a half of an hour later than you really would like to start. For example, set your start time to 8:00 knowing that folks will be there at 7:30.


Garage Sale Tip #4: Location, Location, Location


To state the obvious, you need to have your garage sale in a populated neighborhood. However, if you have garage sale signs directing folks or an ad on Craigslist.com, you won’t have an issue with numbers
.

Garage Sale Tip #5: Limit the work

Don’t get hung up on marking every single garage sale item with a price. Arrange your garage sale in separate pricing areas. Make a box full of socks 25 cents each. Try to limit your pricing to a few different numbers (e.g. $.25, $.50, $1, $5). This will help you when folks start wheeling and dealing.

Remember your goals when you are asked to lower a price at your garage sale. You do NOT want to have a lot of stuff left over to haul to Goodwill; that would be more work for you. So don’t be stubborn and refuse to knock 25 cents off the price. You will be surprised at innate bargain quality that arises in the heat of the bargaining moment.


Garage Sale Tip #6: Enjoy the Interaction at Your Garage Sale!


Have fun talking to people. Most people that frequent garage sales are enjoying the process. (Otherwise they wouldn’t be up at such an early hour on a Saturday). If they are enjoying it, you should too!

By following these simple garage sale tips, you can turn your trash into cash! One more note: once you have completed your garage sale (most garage sales tend to slow down in the early afternoon), gather up all of the remaining unsold stuff and haul it immediately off to Goodwill. Not only will you be cleaning out your garage but you will be helping people in need.

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