A Little Garage Sale

This past weekend, Adam and I had a little garage sale.  We had been putting stuff we didn't need or want in a big pile for quite sometime now.  So, we decided this past weekend was the perfect time to get rid of it all and hopefully make a little extra cash.  

Even though I checked the weather a few days prior and it was supposed to be sunny, it decided to rain on us.  We put everything out in our driveway only to have it rained on.  So we drug it all back into the garage.  Once the sun came back out, we put everything back in the driveway.  Then it rained again.  So we brought it back in the garage and that's where it stayed.  Despite the rain, we had a pretty good turn out and made more than we thought we would.  Plus, we got to get rid of a bunch of stuff and free up some more space around the house.  

Here are a few tips and tricks that led to a successful garage sale.  

1. Have plenty of signs.  Don't bother buying the fancy garage sale signs, just get some bright poster board and make your own.  I used some leftover yard flags as the stakes on our signs and it worked out great.  Put signs at the end of major roads and direct traffic to your house with plenty of signs along the way.  Here's what our signs looked like after spending a day out in the rain.

2. Advertise your sale on Craigslist.  We put up an ad the afternoon before the sale, so people could plan ahead.  We also re-posted our ad the morning of the sale.  Include pictures and list some of the items that you will have at your sale.  Don't forget to delete your ad after your sale is over.  

3. Set up your items like you would find them at the store.  We tried to set out like items together so it was more visually appealing and easier to look through everything.  Adam set up several tables and we used tarps to set items on, as well.   

Look at this fabulous clothes rack that Adam came up with!  Give an engineer a ladder, a rod and some clamps and you've got yourself a clothes rack.  People tend to look through clothes more so when they are hanging, as opposed to when they are stacked in piles. 

3. Clearly mark your prices.  We used painter's tape to mark the price of each item.  It was something we had on hand and it won't leave a sticky mark on the items like some stickers do.  We also used signs to show the prices of items we had lots of, like clothing and books.  That way we didn't have to individually price each item.  

4. Sell water or snacks.  Since it was supposed to be hot and sunny on the day of our garage sale, we bought bottled water to sell.  We didn't sell a single bottle.  But, I really think we could have sold a bunch if it had been hot and sunny like it was supposed to be.  This would be a good way to get kids involved, too.  

5. Have a cute dog around to lure in customers.  Jazzy was right in all the action during our garage sale.  She hung out on the porch with us and then greeted each person who came.  She was a big hit.  

All things considered, it was a successful sale.  Good luck with your next garage sale!