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How To Make Money With Garage
Sales
by: Marilyn Pokorney
Drive through almost any neighborhood in any city or town on a
weekend, and you're sure to see garage sales scattered throughout.
These homeowners are spending their weekend time off making
money. The average profit is $600 for a one-weekend garage sale.
It's time to get your share of the pie. Organization is the key.
Step one: Check with the local officials to see what the local
laws and regulations are on operating garage sales in your area.
Step two: Spend a few weekends going to garage sales in your
area. See what is selling, what people are buying, how the items are
priced, how the sellers advertise. Observe how the sellers display
their items. Take notes.
Step three: Clean house and take stock of what you have and what
it's time to get rid of. Be sure to pick out at least one
interesting and unusual item to call attention to your sale; some
large ticket item you can set up in front of your home during your
sale.
If you find older items such as dishes, a painting, an old flower
urn etc. that you feel it's time to dispose of have it appraised.
You don't want to sell something for 50 cents only to find out later
it was an antique valued at $500.00. You can be sure there are
garage sale shoppers who are on the lookout for just this kind of
treasure.
Step four: Pick a date for your sale. The best time to have a
garage sale is twice a year in May or September. People will be out
shopping for summer items in May and winter items in September.
Never pick a holiday weekend such as Mother's Day or Labor Day.
Holiday festivities will get the attention of most people.
The best days for your garage sale are Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday.
Step five: Advertise, advertise and advertise some more. Place
ads in the local newspaper, shopper guides, on bulletin boards and
even online. Place signs all over the neighborhood with brightly
colored letters, attached balloons, etc.
Step six: Organize your sale. Put price stickers on your items.
Have a wide variety of clothing and jewelry and arrange them in a
rainbow of colors. Make sure jewelry and appliances sparkle! Hang
clothing on racks arranged in sizes. Imagine that you are opening a
retail store and copy what the stores do.
If you have items that are hard to price and you think they will
not sell, put them in a penny box. And be sure to mark the box
"Penny Box" or "All items just 1 cent each".
Step seven: Timing. Consider starting at 7:00 a.m. instead of
8:00 or 9:00. And close no later than 6:00 p.m. And positively NEVER
shut down for the noon hour! There are people who work on weekends
and will stop on their way to or from work and shop during their
lunch breaks.
As most customers will have come and gone by 1:00, noon hour
being the most active, you can start lowering prices after 1:00 p.m.
On items you think will not sell at all, put them in a box marked
"Free".
And lastly, what doesn't sell take to the local Good Will or
other organization of your choice.
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