A garage sale is an exciting way to clean out and pare down while also finding a new life and a fresh purpose for your beloved items. At the same time, it can be a major headache from start to finish.
To help you navigate the dos and don’ts of hosting your own garage sale, Bob Lang, president of Blue Moon Estate Sales, shares the pitfalls to avoid.
Skipping Promotion
Getting the proper foot traffic at your garage sale is paramount to a successful event. Lang suggests a mix of both sharing information about the sale online and placing signage in high-traffic areas near its location. One benefit of using a professional team for this is that they already have an existing following.
“Blue Moon Estate Sales listings are on their own website but are also added to EstateSales.net, where the majority of avid, repeat buyers search,” Lang said.
Not Committing to the Clean Out
“The most common goal of an estate sale or garage sale is to clear items because more space is needed or inherited goods have no place to go,” Lang said.
It’s important to find comfort in the process, especially when considering that your items will be going to a home where they’ll be loved (rather than winding up collecting dust).
“When DIYing a sale, it is easy to assume something worn won’t sell, but knowing the item’s story and overall value may prove otherwise,” Lang said.
This is especially true when it comes to estate sales: Place items that you’re unsure of in a separate location so you can easily run them by an expert for feedback on value prior to the sale.
Not Doing Your Research When Pricing
“Trusting instincts will often lead to underpricing, leading to loss of return on valuable items, or overpricing, leading to fewer overall sales,” Lang said.
While hiring a professional to handle the sale can make the job quicker and more efficient, there are still options if you want to go it alone. Lang suggests reviewing sold listings for similar items on eBay, online auctions, or social media marketplaces.
Underthinking Organization
How you set up your garage sale matters: You want traffic to flow easily and your most-prized possessions displayed front and center, according to Lang. Keep similar items together (for instance, have all your serving pieces in one area, clothing in another, and so forth) and ensure that everything is visible.
Scheduling Errors
Busy weekends are no friend of a garage sale. Whether it’s a holiday, fundraiser, or even a big game, any kind of popular local event can mean diminished foot traffic at your sale. Ensure that there are no competing local events or holidays. Lang said it’s always a good idea to schedule your sale for weekends when many of your potential visitors won’t be drawn elsewhere.
Avoiding Negotiations
While there are many aspects of a garage sale that might come as a surprise, the fact that people will negotiate shouldn’t be one of them. Expect to be asked questions and have customers looking to haggle. If just thinking about this makes you uncomfortable, you might want to enlist help from the pros.
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