I am an entrepreneur at heart. I also like to organize and sort stuff. I always get compliments on how nice my sales are and how well organized. Garage sales aren't hard and you want to maximize your profits.

Don't let yourself get overwhelmed:  Basic Organizing skills dictate a place for everything. If you often have stuff to get rid of make a box or tote in the garage for stuff to sell. Keep some price stickers and tape next to it and as you put something in the box... slap a price on it, I also always put my initial on the sticker or pre initial the sheets so that if I have a sale with a friend then my stuff is already identified. Then when you unpack your garage sale ... everything is priced and ready and you didn't have to stay up all night the night before doing it. Nothing can be more off putting to a buyer than to have to ask how much everything is. Some people aren't comfortable asking and some people feel you are waiting to trap them by seeing how interested they are in the item before quoting a price.

Don't waste your time pricing anything under a Quarter : Look at it this way... when you are a kid you stick a quarter in a gumball machine and wait for some random treasure to pop out. Your items are worth as much as any cheap trinket in a gumball machine. When I garage sale I will pay people .25 for a item marked a dime. I try to teach as I shop :o)  Another good point for quarters is you don't have to make as much change. Don't price anything under a quarter and you don't have to mess with nickels ,dimes and pennies. If you can't bring yourself to price one item a quarter then bag all the dime and nickel worthy stuff together and price it .25 to 1.00 and get rid of more items at once. Make it easy on yourself.

All your stuff is Old and Used:  Don't insult your customers by saying phrases like 'That's old ', 'It's never been used', 'Well you could sell that on EBay for more'. Your customers aren't stupid and the whole idea of a garage sale for the buyer is to get good deals and rock bottom prices. I know you have good things but all your stuff is Old and Used even if you didn't use it. It's like the old Cliche about cars... once you drive it off the lot it's lost value.  Maybe you paid top dollar for an item but you won't get top dollar back. Sometimes you have to eat profit in order to sell. I call those lesson learned items. I have them myself, nobody is perfect. I'm not saying give your stuff away ...but you should expect roughly a 20-30% return on new items. If you paid $100 for it new you may only get 20-30 dollars for it at a sale depending on the item. Expect bargaining... it's the nature of the game but don't be insulted if someone tries to talk you down. 

Merchandise and Advertise : Most sales I go to are pretty good about groupings. I think it's kind of second nature to put like items together. It's always best to have themes so that you optimize sales if someone is looking for a particular item.  It also never hurts to wipe some dust off an item, you can charge .50 for that .25 cent item if you take time to wipe it down. People don't like to go to sales and see lots of dirty things. Your sale is a reflection of your lifestyle and habits if you want it to be or not, these are your things. Try to get as many things out of boxes as possible. Allot of people don't want to root for things and for older customers it's hard for them to bend down to see items and things may be overlooked. Have good signs for your sale. Not everyone knows where you live, try to have signs at major intersections they will cross before reaching your house. You could have a simple arrow so they know they are on the right track. Don't rely on just your address in the paper you also want to grab the attention of random drivers that are in  the neighborhood and didn't know that they had a need to stop and see what you got ! And I can't stress this ENOUGH... DO NOT write your sign in ballpoint pen. I'm amazed how many signs I see like this. You can't read that in passing at 30-40 miles an hour, you can't always stop on a street to read the sign. Your signs don't have to list allot of information... sale and an arrow pointing the way are pretty affective. You don't have to list the times... if your sign is out you should be open. Always be kind and remove your signs when the sale is done.

Customer Relations:  We aren't all morning people, customers and sellers alike. It's always nice to greet your customer with a simple hello or good morning. Most people respond back and it can put them at ease while searching through your belongings. I also always say thank you for stopping even if they didn't buy anything. I also say thank you when I don't buy anything from a garage sale after all I am glad to have had the chance to buy a treasure.    Don't apologize or make excuses when someone is buying something of yours. I have that happen... 'oh I bought that once as part of a costume or that was a gag gift'  Sometimes people seem to be embarrassed by what they are selling. I don't see why .. after all now that person is buying it !     Your voice carries ...  when you are sitting there with friends or family during your sale and you are having a conversation, everyone hears it. As a buyer you can't help but zero in on it since there isn't usually much else noise going on. Be leery of what you say and how it sounds. I went to a sale once and the guy was complaining about all his wife's junk and then when a person at the sale tried to talk him down, after she left he boasted about how all his stuff was worth what it was marked blah blah blah. There were other people still shopping and it just makes the seller look ugly. Makes you wonder what they say after you leave.

Last minute notes and supplies:  Be sure you have a money table so people can put their purchases down while digging in their billfold to pay you it also gives people a place to put stuff so they have hands free shopping to buy more of your stuff. Save some newspapers to wrap breakable items for the customer. Also save your plastic grocery sacks for people to carry away their multiple purchases. Have a calculator and pad of paper handy to keep track of a running tab and mark down sales if it's a multi-family event. Get your kids involved by letting them sell stuff for fun money that they can spend on anything they want. It will help de-clutter their rooms and then they feel grown up by making decisions on what they need and don't need.  If they have no spare stuff let them have a kool-aid stand to make some money. Keeps them involved and they are easy to keep an eye on.

 When it's all over and you pack your items away... keep a box handy for charity donations. I always try to give a little and keep a little. Keep some of the nicer things for another sale and give away some things as good karma for the next sale. Remember this is supposed to be FUN... people are coming to you and giving you money for your unwanted stuff !

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