Garage Sale How-To

Garage sales aren't rocket science; they're not even a science. But neither is playing a slot machine and even that has a few strategies. If you want to sell as much as you can, you must lay out your wares efficiently, price wisely, and advertise thoroughly. But let's not put the cart before the horse-or, as my mom once said by accident, "the fart before the corse"-you need to decide whether you're having a garage sale, yard sale, or an estate sale.

Garage sales and yard sales are virtually the same thing; they're like the yam and sweet potato of the domestic market world. The demarcation is obvious, however: garage sales are held within your garage, and yard sales are held on your yard. An estate sale is most often held within someone's house and usually it's the house and the items of someone recently deceased. Moving sales are also called estate sales; the term "estate" mainly indicates the volume of items being sold-usually so much that it's easier to not move the goods but rather have people shop in the home. If it is an estate sale for a deceased person, the survivors may call on Estate Sale Services who relieve the burden of such a task from the bereaved and are also experts in pricing finer goods like antiques.

If you're having an estate sale then laying out your items won't take much energy since they're basically already laid out. Make sure, however, that your early morning rummagers know which items and rooms are theirs for the rummaging. If there are items or rooms off limits, tape "Not for sale" on the item and lock specific doors. You want to be focused on dealing with your sales the day of, not keeping people out of bedrooms.