It’s finally springtime and the perfect time of year for a garage sale!  We’ve been gathering items around the house all winter long and this Saturday we are finally having a garage sale!  We’ve been stacking things up for months in preparation for the big day and I think we’ve finally sorted through enough to have a pretty decent sale!

Besides going through the house to find “treasures” we want to sell, I’ve also been making a to-do list of tasks leading up to the big sale.  Here are a few tips in preparation for selling and making money at your next garage sale!

• Good signage – Make it easy for buyers to find you!  Use arrows and big letters, your sign doesn’t need to be fancy – just easy to read!  Don’t put signs out the night before, if you do they’ll either be gone or damp in the morning.  Wake up extra early and get those signs in place.

• Use social media – Twitter, Craigslist and Facebook are great for spreading the word! Word of mouth marketing among friends can always boost sales..and maybe if your lucky, one of your friends will stop by and bring you breakfast!  (hint, hint!)

• The more, the merrier – Ask other families to join your garage sale!  A multi-family sale means more items and more potential customers.  Besides, it’s fun to have others celebrate a big sale with you!  My brother-in-law and his family are teaming up with us for our garage sale! We should have a lot of great merchandise!

• Be ready to make change – It’s something most people forget, but it’s probably the most important thing!  Make sure you’ve got plenty of small bills and coins to keep you from running to the bank at the last minute!  Without proper change, you could lose a sale!

• Be flexible, yet reasonable – Set pricing (and label everything) before your sale, but be ready to drop the prices if necessary.  More than likely, buyers are going to try and negotiate.  If you really want to get rid of things and make money – be willing and flexible to accept less than the sticker price.

• Delegate! – Everyone should have a “job” at the garage sale.  Designate someone to the be the cashier, another to be the salesperson and another to keep things running smoothly behind the scenes.  Organization and good customer service are key!

• Clean Up Plan – At the end of the long day, the last thing you want to do is decide what to do with the leftovers.  Have a plan in place before the day even begins.  Decide in advanced whether to donate items, place them on the curb or use Freecycle to get rid of the things that didn’t sell.  Whatever you do…don’t bring them back in the house!

I’ll update you next week on the results of Saturday’s sale!  For now, what tips do you have for hosting a garage sale?  What worked for you (and what didn’t)?!