Step 2: Getting Organized

garage-sale-pricing-guide-getting-organized

Photo by John Beagle. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0).

The night before the big day, have tables, shelves, garment racks and pricing all done and ready to be carried out of the garage door onto your driveway in an orderly, organized fashion.

It makes it so much easier and stress-free when your inventory is ready to simply slide out onto the driveway. You may want to use a canopy for rain or shine to accommodate the avid all-weather shoppers.

If you dont have a canopy or “pop-up,” borrow one from the soccer mom next door. Here goes:

1. Group your items in categories, taking your hint from how stores organize their products. Some examples:
  1. Put your clothing in one area, books, DVDs, games, toys, etc. in another.
  2. Sell books as a package deal. Small paperbacks, for example, often sell best at garage sales for 25 cents each (Goodwill sells them for 99 cents or more). Make all small paperbacks 4 for $1 and get two benefits. First, the buyer is getting a great deal. Second, you get rid of more books!
  3. Package similar small toys into separate gallon sized zip-lock bags and price at $1 each bag.
  4. You can rent garment racks for about $12 from local party and events stores, and if you’re short on tables, rent one or two for as little as $8 each. You may also be able to borrow tables from a friend or neighbor. Or . . .

Helpful Tip: Here’s a little gem a fellow garage put-er on-er shared with me: take two ladders (if you have two), place a broom handle between them and voila, you have a free garment rack (unless you had to go out and buy another ladder, which may be cheaper than renting a rack).

Place larger items nearest the sidewalk/road. This helps draw the “window shoppers,” i.e., those who drive by before deciding to stop ‘n shop.
Remember to have money on hand to make change: 10 – $1 dollar bills, 5 – $5 dollar bills, 4 – $10 dollar bills and 1 – Roll of quarters.
Get your signs out on the main crossroad or roads a day or two before your garage sale. And have one to put in your yard as well. Arrows pointing your shoppers in the right direction are also very helpful if your house is a ways from the main road around a corner and up the hill, in the 2nd cul-de-sac to the left, etc.
1. As for signs: it is affordable enough to buy the pre-made signs – any size will do. G-Shoppers have eagle eyes when it comes to spotting their prey. Those delectable neon red and black G-Sale signs are hard to miss.At most hardware and home improvement stores a basic garage sale sign can be had for about $1.00. Although they cost a little more, I prefer the kind with built-in stakes.As an alternative, you can attach one of the really inexpensive signs to a couple of straightened metal hangers and stick them in the ground to hold your sign.
2. Make it a family craft time by purchasing neon colored poster board and have fun designing your own signs. Just make sure they stay dry in the event of rain and straight in the event of wind and they are firmly staked in the ground. Use the same poster board for the directional arrows, as well as price tags!You need only include your address (number & street name), days or dates and hours of sale. However, if you have room it often pays to go the extra mile in writing a few big ticket items on the sign.(Find more information about garage sale signs here.)

Garage Sale Sign Wording

You musn’t forget the ever popular and must-have “FREE BOX” – a cardboard box or two set out at the curb marked FREE is a joy and delight to children and day-care owners.If the kids spot it and want to stop – guess what will inevitably happen – mom or dad will stop! It also keeps the little ones occupied so parents can shop uninterrupted.