How to Oragnize a Garage Sale
I had visions of a giant garage/moving sale, but those visions didn't include 10 short days to get it together! I wasn't procrastinating,
I just didn't want to begin the cleaning out process until we had a contract on our house. After all, who wants to welcome prospective buyers with piles of junk gently used treasures.
So…I was thrilled when the contract arrived and panicked when I saw the closing date. Well, no time to panic, let the clean out begin!
Our new home has the same square footage, but it was built in 1925, so I'm going from a master closet that's the size of a small bedroom to a closet that's…well…the size of a closet. It's time to purge!
Consider this your how to guide for organizing a garage sale.
- Set a goal. For example, the money we make at the garage sale is going toward new den furniture or how about a new flat screen TV?
- Adopt the mantra, if you haven't used it or thought about it in the past year…get rid of it!
- Tackle 1 room each day, including the closet.
- If your children are old enough, have them clean out their own rooms, and remind them that the garage sale funds will be purchasing a new flat screen TV!
- Each room will have 4 piles: garage sale, donations, garbage, recycling.
- Once everything has been cleared out, begin taking the garage sale piles to the garage. Of course, you're going to do this an organized fashion…think like a department store. The Budget Diet Girl highly recommends making signs for your tables. The signs obviously depend on your merchandise, but some suggestions are: $1 table, toys and games, books, household items and clothing (try to borrow a clothing rack). When possible, have set prices for all items on a table like hardback books $1, paperback books 50-cents. Some items are difficult to assign a set price, so get busy with those price stickers.
- Have your husband or teens take care of the donations, garbage and recycling piles.
- Make sure to advertise your garage sale in the local newspapers, and don't forget Craigslist.com.
- Have plenty of signage in your neighborhood directing shoppers to your sale.
- Be prepared for the big day with plenty of change, and be prepared for the serious shoppers to arrive before opening time.
- Line up a charity to come pick up all the remaining items and make sure to get a tax donation receipt.
It's garage sale season!
Have fun, make money!
P.S. – According to Cari Cucksey (HGTV's Cash & Cari), “The average family has several thousand dollars worth of stuff lying around.” Isn't that enough to motivate you to clean out?
