Short story: my place of employment was cyber-attacked, and when I say attacked, I don't mean "oh, we were "offline for a few hours." I mean every.single. system was down- we had no internet or wi-fi, no email even, for over a week. I mean every single laptop, desktop, device had to be "cleared" before we would let people have them back. Right at the beginning of the semester.
I work at a technology school. In the IT department. Who do you think "clears" those machines? People in my department, myself included. So my life has been nothing but workworkworkworkwork (thanks Rihanna) for 3.5 weeks straight. Every single day (weekends included), 10-15 hour days, non-stop. Which really doesn't leave a lot of room for blog fodder, you see?
I did take off one Saturday though, to host a pre-planned garage sale at my apartment building. My neighbor Raven and I had invited the other 6 apartments to join, but they didn't. Whatever, their loss! (Funny aside: last night my upstairs neighbor texting me saying she couldn't get her act together in time to join the first time, so she's doing one alone this Saturday! I can't join because I'll be away, but I shared these tips and our original flyer with her and she was very appreciative!) Anyway, we each made about $350 from our "stuff," and that's not even including any furniture, just smaller items! Not bad, if I do say so myself! And this was my first ever garage sale, so I decided to share my top ten tips for hosting one!
Start planning early.
Raven and I started talking about this about two months beforehand, because summertime is hard and we needed to find the time to gather our stuff and a weekend when we would both be around (obviously). And we wanted to invite out neighbors to join with at least two weeks so they could put their stuff together too, if they wanted to participate. Once we had a date set, everything else was pretty easy, and we divided tasks (like who was making the flyer, putting them out, buying any necessary supplies, etc.). Also...
Set aside time to clean out, clean up, and dump. I'd been doing this sporadically for about a year, with piles of each. The "clean out" was for sale, "clean up" was for things that I either needed to take to the cleaners or alter slightly (like fix the zipper or replace a watch battery), and dump, well, literally throw out.
Know the rules early- and share them!
My first assignment was making sure our landlord was cool with us hosting a garage sale, which he was, as long as we kept held it in our parking spaces and kept the driveway clear for our other neighbors. Next up was obtaining a permit from our local clerk's office, which only cost $5 but was a pain since they didn't have an online form and keep banking hours. This isn't a necessity, but it's good in case other neighbors complain or the cops show up, just in case. Luckily we have a lot of (free) curbside parking by us, so that wasn't an issue.
Gather any supplies you may need.
I purchased a 4 ft table for displaying items, but I know I'll use it in the future for various parties and get-togethers as well. I also bought a clothing rack to hang clothes that I was selling. Not sure what I'm going to do with it now, but it does stow away neatly in my closet! Raven also bought directional signs from the Dollar Store to direct traffic since we live down a one way street. We put them in our cars literally directing people with arrows toward our little complex, but it worked!
Advertise!
We did a LOT of advertising. Raven made flyers (and grabbed some plastic protectors in case it rained), and I hung them at the local grocery store, post office, library, liquor store(s), bus and train stations. I actually ran into one of my friends while I was hanging one at a train station, and he offered to display a flyer on his truck. The next day, my cousin from 5 towns over told me she saw that flyer on a truck in a local BJ's and considered going!
We also advertised on social media. Blue and I had it on our personal Facebook pages, but she also posted it on numerous "Buy/Sell/Trade" type Facebook Groups she was a part of (or joined for this purpose), and Raven posted it on Craigslist.
Price and clearly label everything.
This was my biggest mistake. I didn't do this in the beginning, because I was still putting my stuff out. Raven had this part completely under control. Every clothing item was between $2-3 dollars, shoes either $5-10 (depending on wear and tear). She had even purchased price stickers from the Dollar Store that I stubbornly refused to use at first. But as I was still putting my stuff out a big wave of people came in, asking how much every item was. I was flying by the seat of my pants for most stuff (especially clothing), so one minute I might say "$5!" and the next, to a different person (or the same, honestly they were coming at me so fast and it was before my coffee so I couldn't tell) I'd say "$3!" and the original customer (never the same customer, obviously) would overhear and be like, "But you just told me it was $5!" I learned this lesson FAST, and immediately starting putting price stickers on everything! (That's not to say I didn't leave room for haggling, I did, for certain items.)
Decide your goal(s) beforehand.
My goal was to sell items for a fair price. I wasn't going to go below a certain amount for some items though, because I didn't have to, and I knew they would earn me more if I sold them elsewhere. Raven's goal was to sell of as much as possible, regardless of price, because she's moving out (and into her bf's place, which has less space). "If I get even $2 for it instead of nothing, it's worth it!" was her motto, because she wasn't planning on bringing anything back into her apartment. In that case...
Watch the clock. You should be lowering the price by the hour. The later it gets, the cheaper the items should get, so that you're practically giving it away by the end... if that's your goal.
Start putting stuff out early on Garage Sale Day.
I cannot stress this enough. Maybe it was because we planned for our sale to start at 9 instead of the usual 8AM, I don't know, but customers were pouncing before we were even fully set up. And that was STRESSFUL! So yeah, make sure you set up at least 30 min before your advertised start time, because people WILL show up!
Don't forget the change!
Literally go to the bank- we each started with about $150 in small bills.
Don't hover.
This may just be a personal pet peeve, but I hate it when salespeople watch me like a hawk when I'm perusing their wares. Whether it's a garage sale or in a store, it is an instant turnoff for me, and I will walk out almost immediately if I notice them hovering around me for anything other than the simple "do you need help with anything?" before walking away.
Have a plan for leftovers.
Raven was literally throwing out anything she didn't sell. In my case, I'll post a lot of my clothing (especially those with tags) on Poshmark. Non-clothing items I'll attempt to sell on FB Marketplace, otherwise I'll donate. This is why I wouldn't sell these items for dirt cheap. I know I can make money on them if I sell them somewhere else, and I'm in no rush, so I'd rather keep them a bit longer and be patient than just get rid of them. It's definitely helpful to try to decide what you plan to do with your unsold items beforehand though!
So there you have it, where I've been all month and some things I learned.
Have you ever held a garage sale? Got any tips to add?
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