Learn how to have a successful garage sale with these tips on pricing, marketing, sales, signage and more! Organize and start planning today!

School is letting out and summer is getting under way. That means for many it’s Garage sale season! Garage sales are a great way to declutter and get rid of unwanted items and items you don’t use or need any more, and make a few dollars while you’re doing it! Having had a couple of garage sales, with some of them being complete wash outs, here are my tips on how to have a successful garage sale.

Do you need a permit for a garage sale?

Check with your town regarding laws and regulations of garage sales. You’ll need to know if you need a special permit, and if there are any other local laws you need to be aware of. Not all towns require one.

Things to know about permits:

• How much does a permit cost?
• How long will it take to get a permit?
• For how many days is the permit good?
• What are the rules for rain dates?
• Are there any restrictions on how long you can remain open?
• What are the restrictions on the size and number of signs you can put up promoting your sale?
• Can you post flyers? If so, where can you post flyers? Where can you not post flyers?

Once you have a permit (if you need one at all), you can start organizing your garage sale. Some towns will issue a fine if they find people having garage sales without a permit so it’s worth making the phone call rather than receiving a fine for having a garage sale without a permit.

Where do I hold a garage sale?

A garage sale can be held anywhere in your front yard. If you do it on your lawn or driveway, try to place things in an organized fashion where people can easily see what they are. I have a few tables that I use. Should you not have tables, consider displaying on top of a piece of furniture you may be getting rid of, or blankets and old sheets if you don’t have a piece of furniture you can use.

What you can sell at a garage sale?

Almost anything! Some of the items frequently found at garage sales include furniture, toys, vacuums, lawn mowers, jewelry, baseball cards, camping equipment, dishes, dolls, coins, toasters, toys, clothes, small appliances, hair dryers, coffee pots, old records, bikes, furniture, pictures, books, sporting equipment, televisions, video games, bags, CDs and records, household tools, and any much more.

How do I organize the things I am selling?

Everything for sale should be displayed when the sale opens. It’s risky to try and put more things out later in the day or on a second day because there is no guarantee people will come and see them.

Organizing effectively will help you know quickly where things are and what’s been sold. It will also help keep people moving through and buying instead of just rummaging about and moving things around.

If at all possible, don’t put clothing on the ground. It’s easier to see if it’s either hanging on a line or rack, or folded on a table.

Put the remainder of your merchandise out on display in a way that makes it easier for people to find and buy what they are looking for. instead of just putting anything anywhere, try to make one section seem to be a logical fit with the items that are in the next section so you create a sort of buying flow. As a result when a shopper is looking at one item, they have a much better chance of seeing another, somewhat related item next to it that has a greater chance of catching their interest.

Display smaller expensive items such as jewelry close to the house or at a table where you or someone you trust will be stationed to keep watch.

How do I price items for a garage sale?

If you aren’t sure how to price your items, try visiting a few garage sales in your area. This will give you th opportunity to see how people are pricing items and what people are buying.

If your pricing is too high, then the stuff won’t sell. If your pricing is too low means poor profits. What you want is a nice balance so that you will get the most money and not be left with a lot of unsold items.

Once you’ve decided what price you’re going to ask for items at your garage sale it’s time to mark the items. You can price items individually. You can price by section and out all items that are the same price in one area. You can color code items, so anything with a certain color sticker is a ecrtain price.

Put the appropriate sticker on each item that you have up for sale. Post a large sign with the price scale for everyone to see at the sale. Be sure to have a smaller version of the price key at the cashier’s table or in your pocket for your convenience.

How should I market my garage sale?

In order to have a successful garage sale you need to let people know you’re having one. Think about garage sales that you’ve been to. How did you find them?

Did you see a cardboard sign stapled to a telephone pole. That’s one of the most commonly used methods of advertising a garage sale. Place signs in high-traffic intersections within a few miles of the location of the sale. Use sturdy cardboard and big lettering. Make sure you remove your signs once the sale is over.

Use the oldest referral system there is – word of mouth. Tell your friends and family.

Put it on social media. Using social media platforms such as Facebook is an easy way to spread the news of your garage sale to local friends, family and acquaintances.

Ask neighbors to join in and make it a neighborhood event. The more homes participating the further the word will spread.

Place some balloons to your mailbox to attract any neighbors or passersby.

Place a sign on your lawn to attract any neighbors or passersby.

Place an ad in one or more of the local newspapers. The positive aspect of newspaper advertising is that it reaches an audience of people looking for garage sales. The negative aspect is that it can be pretty expensive.

Yard sale and garage sale sites and apps. There are a number of sites dedicated to finding garage sales and yard sales that are free to use. Some of these sites have an app, and some of those even have a sale finder or route map. Sites I’ve seen used include YardSales.net, YardSaleSearch.com, GarageSalesTracker.com, GarageSaleFinder.com and GSalr.com.

Print your own garage sale signage

Don’t buy garage sale signage at the store! Garage sale signs you can find in stores like Walmart are expensive! Additionally, they likely won’t have all of the signs you are looking for in one kit, if at all. I have an inexpensive printable Garage Sale Kit in my printables shop right now that you will find super helpful.

Check it out!

Want to grab the kit and start planning your garage sale? Click on one of the photos above or click the link to go to my printables shop and grab this printable garage sale signs and tags kit! Just print additrional copies of any pages you need more of.