How to Throw The Perfect Garage Sale

Having a garage sale is like throwing a party. There are lots of moving parts involved and you need to prepare adequately for them. If you are looking to free up space inside your garage, or just want to make some extra cash, a garage sale might be the best idea. Follow these tips to ensure it goes smoothly.

Throw The Perfect Garage Sale

Enlist Help

If you think you can pull this off alone, think again. A garage sale is a great way to get the whole family involved. If you have kids, neighbours or friends, ask for help a few weeks ahead to ensure you give plenty of warning. They can help do things like organizing things for sale, putting up ads, or collecting sales on the day.

Prepare

Take inventory of everything in your garage and note what you want to sell. Make sure to spread the word well in advance, great ways are Craigslist and posters on telephone poles around your neighbourhood. If it might rain on that day, and you cannot go through with the sale, make sure to post an alternate date on all your advertisements.

Make It Look Good

You want people to take you and your goods seriously, so make it look good. Don’t be a slob and throw everything onto the table, organize things. Group similar items, have price tags on items, and clean everything as best as you can. You will sell more if your sale looks professional.

Be Vigilant

On the day of the sale, make sure to be vigilant when it comes to crowds. There will always be opportunists that might try to grab an item or steal some cash. Instead of having a cash box, use a money belt and always have a few people watching the items.

Everything is Negotiable

This is a garage sale, not a supermarket. If you set prices and won’t budge, you won’t sell many items. You have to realize that the nature of garage sales means that people will expect to haggle and negotiate on price. Be flexible and you should sell a lot more.

Don’t Stress

Everything might not go smoothly, it may rain, people might not show up or you might not sell as much as you thought. If at the end of the day, you don’t want to put everything back into the garage you were trying to clean, get a storage unit and wait until the next sale.

sweda

Mike Olsen

18:58 16 Oct 19

This is inexpensive storage that operates 100% as advertised - they do not offer 24/7 access and do not charge 24/7 access pricing. They are incredibly responsive to requests to unlock doors and provide access. It is not fancy but if you need a clean, dry place to store your stuff, you can't beat these guys. Don't expect bells and/or whistles but you also won't be paying for them.

Dave Shirlaw

01:54 10 Jun 19

Have to phone to have buildings unlocked. Annoying.

megan chow

23:06 21 May 19

sara ~

01:04 25 Sep 18

Prices are 1/2 the price of other storage units but it shuts down (locked gates) from 10 am - 6 pm except if you have the enormous ground level outside facing units. Those hours are impossible. The technology getting items up to the second story is an actual forklift thats made stationary. You balance your items up the forklift (and you raise the wooden pallet up yourself) Then you must walk up stairs and hope their is a dolly available to wind precariously around tiny turning hallways. Budget carpentry and ancient carpet in the units. The trolleys sound and feel like their from 1980's and are either coached to disobey or they keep their own counsel. They say its secure but I had a neighbor pick something up and they weren't even asked for permission. I explicitly stated only I was to have access. They said they do not let it happen. The locks are your own, but the flip closure is attached by 3/4 wood screws easily and possibly quite quietly could be opened and emptied with no one batting an eye. A kid could detach it with anything. They have "24 hour security" which means a guy lives on site. Does he/she have CCTV access? Probably not, nor would you want that job. Are there motion sensors? Not likely as sometimes the lights won't turn on and finding a switch in the straggly wandering corridors is impossible. They do not offer insurance. You have to sign forms saying all the things you will and won't do, but they are not liable if anything happens: theft, fire, water, vandals, pests etcSo despite all those complaints, its still 4/5 only because of the prices.