Ten Tips to Make Your Summer Garage Sale a Hit

They say you learn by trial and error. This definitely applies to a recent summer garage sale I held. I spent weeks preparing my items for sale. I cleaned them, sorted them, and priced them. The end result is that I made very little money. I was wondering what it could be that resulted in my low sales? I live in a well driven neighborhood, central to everything. I posted a sign at the end of both roads. I even had a steady stream of traffic. After it all was over, my best friend helping me gave me a few tips of what had worked with her garage sale. I have listed the tips here to save others from unnecessary work for very little profit.

1) Provide ample parking space. My yard is very small. I do have a side yard. My friend suggested putting a sign in the side yard stating free parking. Better yet, have someone who helps people negotiate parking if it gets busy.

) The day I held the sale, it was probably 95 degrees. It was suggested that I provide drinks for free. My friend provided Kool-Aid and she noticed that once people got hydrated, they stayed longer to shop.

3) Negotiate prices. I was pretty set on my prices. I was told to set the prices a bit high, and then let people negotiate. People love to feel like they have gotten a bargain. So the suit I wanted ten dollars for, I should have let someone negotiate it for five.

4) Have a dollar bin. She suggested having a sign outside saying, "Some items for a dollar. Put the dollar items up front to draw people in.

5) Make sure you have seasonal merchandise. This means to not have sweaters during the summer. People are not looking for sweaters. I was trying to get rid of a pile of winter clothes. I should have had more merchandise such as summer shorts and flip flops.

6) Have some large merchandise for sale. Big items such as an old coach will bring people in.

7) Have someone stand by the sign at the end of the road. This will bring more people in if you have someone directing them, and someone who looks excited.

8) Check the weekend you are having the sale to make sure nothing else is going on that weekend. There was a city wide summer event that weekend that everyone was at.