Preparing for a successful garage sale

July 17, the date for our neighborhood garage sale, is fast approaching.  If you intend to participate, please sign up using the garage sale form or contact Aaron Bochniak at 518-577-2045 by July 14.

Having a garage sale is hard work....but EHHOA volunteers will help by advertising the sale and placing and removing signs. Below are some tips for getting ready for your sale.

NOW

 
go through your basement, closets, kitchen drawers, bookshelves, tools and kids' toys for items to sell. Put them into boxes or an area set aside for this purpose until you're ready to price them. Go through clothing pockets.

start saving grocery bags (for your customers to take away their purchases) and newspaper (if needed to wrap fragile items)

find tables and/or clothing racks to display your items

set up boxes for items like CDs and books

find a friend or two to run the sale with you

at least a week before the sale

 
wash or clean everything you're selling

get colored price stickers and tag each item with a price. Be realistic about how much you ask; remember that untagged items are less likely to sell.

get posterboard for items that are all priced the same (for example: paperbacks $1)

find a box or other container in which to keep the money organized.

a day or two before the sale

 
set up your table and display your items attractively, if selling from the garage. Keep fragile items away from small hands' reach

if you're selling anything electrical, have an extension cord ready so buyers can test things

consider hanging old sheets from the garage walls to cover items you don't intend to display for sale

if you're selling something of higher value, consider taping an ad on the item showing its cost elsewhere

be prepared with plenty of change (you'll be amazed how many dollar bills and quarters you'll need, especially if selling lower-priced items)

decide who will be in charge of the money box; make sure they know to pull larger bills out and put that extra money inside the house every so often

the day of the sale

 
open the garage door on time, early if you wish...but not late

put some more attractive or interesting items in the driveway to draw lookers in

consider having some soft background music playing

always greet those who come to the sale

consider having a pitcher of water and cups available (it's likely to be hot out)

don't take personal checks unless you're willing to take the risk of a bad check

decide if you want to offer a steep discount on certain items after, say 1 p.m.

keep the family pets indoors

perhaps this is obvious, but don't let strangers into your home