How to Have a Good Garage Sale

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It's garage sale season!

Who doesn’t love a good garage sale?  We sure do! We like to think of garage sales as mini treasure hunts! It’s amazing what you can find at a yard sale, and the deals cannot be beat! The saying ‘someone’s junk is someone else’s treasure’ is really true!

Garage sales are great ways to reclaim your garage and make a little extra cash by selling things that you no longer want or need (aka clutter).

Getting ready for a garage sale can be a lot for work, and for all that effort, you definitely want to sell as much as you can. There are things you can do to have a great garage sale, which we have compiled for you below.

5 Tips for Having a Good Garage Sale

1. Organize Your Sale Items

  • When going through your house decluttering and finding things to sell, right off the bat, group similar items, or similarly themed items together.
  • One way to do this is to create categories based on the room or space the items are best suited for. For example, all kitchen things should be kept together, all outdoor items should be kept together, etc.  
  • By having things organized, it will be easier to organize and set up your garage sale.
  • It will also make it easier to direct your garage sale customers through your sale and let them stop in certain areas that have items they are interested in. Buyers will be less likely to wander around and miss things. They will appreciate the organization and may purchase more!

2. Advertise Your Sale Ahead of Time  

  • Make sure to spread the word that you’re having a sale ahead of time to allow people to plan their attendance.
  • It’s best to advertise your sale at least the weekend before, so that you catch all of those garage sale hunters in the act!
  • Signs and flyers at street corners within and around the edges of your neighbourhood are your best bet. Place bright and easy to read signs on main intersections nearby to grab the attention of people passing by in high traffic areas. 
  • Social media is a great way to reach people in your community. There are many community and neighbourhood groups to post in. You could even include a few images of the items you are selling.
  • You can also put ads out in the paper or online, but it seems that homemade DIY signs are still the most popular method of garage sale advertising.

3. Price Your Items Appropriately  

  • Although this is an opportunity to make some money, and put a little cash in your pocket, try to remember that the goal of your garage sale is to get rid of the items you no longer need or want.
  • You also have to know your customer base – garage sale hunters are looking for real bargains on used items. They aren’t looking to pay much to get them!
  • Pricing your items to sell is what will make you money and also help you get rid of your unwanted belongings. A good method for this is by grouping items together and selling them as packages. If you have a box of CD’s or DVD’s, sell them as a lot, not piece by piece.  

4. Price Like Items at the Same Rate

  • Instead of giving an individual price to each record, item of clothing, or children’s toy, consider putting a set price on these items. For example, have a bin of records and put a sticky note on the box that says “$2 each”.
  • For items that may differ within a category such as children’s toys, sort them by price. Put the small toys in one bin, the bigger ones in another, and put a set price on items within the bins for example, any toy in the small box is $3, and any toy in the big box is $5.  This allows people to choose which items they want at what price they are willing to pay. This also keeps things organized and saves you a lot of time and effort putting individual prices on everything!

5. Be Prepared on Sale Day

  • Make sure you’re ready to sell every item you put out. You don’t want someone to make you an offer, only to realize you don’t actually want to part ways with that item.
  • Also, be prepared to give out a lot of change. Most garage sales have items that are priced at a few dollars, which means you may have to break a lot of $5 and $10 bills for people in order to make the right change and you don’t want to run out.  It’s best to go to the bank ahead of time and get some coin rolls and small bills. 

Itching to have a garage sale, but not comfortable having one in person? Consider having an online garage sale via social media.  You can take pictures of the items you want to sell and share them online. People interested in looking at an item in closer detail or purchasing something would make an appointment with you. You can ask your local friends, families and neighbours to help promote your sale through social media too. Many of the tips we share above, can still help you have a great online garage sale.

Want or Need More Space? Rent Self-Storage From Storage Solutions!

And if you’re ever in need of extra space, we offer a large variety of drive up and indoor storage units for rent. We have affordable, month-to-month rentals so you can rent for a little or as long as you need.

Ready to rent? We make it easy - you can rent 24/7 online through our website. You can also pay online too!

Not sure what you need? No problem! Check out our sizing & pricing page to help you figure out the right sized storage unit to rent. 

You can also virtually tour either of our Milton self storage or Woodstock self storage facilities and different sized self storage units we have for rent via our YouTube channel.

And don't forget to follow us on Facebook & Instagram to get helpful tips, tricks, advice, and a good laugh.

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