If your anything like me and you walk into your house and you find bags of clothes, toys that havent been used or in many cases even opened since Barbie dolls were released then you might be in need of putting together a garage sale/yard sale. In todays society we all could use a little bit of extra cash or would love to find great bargains on everything from clothes, books, toys, furniture, household goods you name it.To solve my clutter problem I put together a garage sale and to my suprise I was able to sell a ton of my stuff and raised three times the amount of money that I expected.The first step is to decide what you want to sell and what not to sell. If there is something that your saying to yourself I really don't want to get rid of this well than you probably should. In most cases it will continue to sit around the house and clutter your surrondings.Remember price sells so if you have some very nice items for sale at a great price it will sell.Setting up the sale may be the most diffucult part the best thing in you can do is to take pictures of your items and place advertisments online. When I used this site it made everything very easy to contact the buyers so that they could see what items where for sale, I could list prices and it allowed a map for prospective visitors.The last suggestion I have is to just sit back relax and have fun with the sale you will meet a plethora of people and being kind and a hard bargainer will help the day fly by.

# posted by GST @ 12:57 PM   0 Comments Links to this post

I could talk about our new president Barack Obama, Paris Hilton, who is going to win the super bowl, trips to Las Vegas and hanging out with Mandy Moore, instead I want to talk about things that I feel will benefit you in the future.
When the time comes for your spring cleaning and you say to yourself lets gather all of the items that we no longer need throw it out on the lawn and pay 1-800-JUNK-USA to haul it away.
While using college hunks that haul junk is a great idea, I have an idea of what to do before you pick up the phone: Have a yard sale, by doing this you are now enabling yourself to rid yourself of items that may be useless to you but helpful to others that are in need.
If you have lots of clothes you can price all items at $1.00 a piece and shoes at $10.00 and see what the bargain hunters take a liking to. Toys are great sellers as struggling parents always need good deals for their children. Furniture is always a big hit if there is a local university in the area than be sure to post flyers around the school as students love furniture, Old CDs, records, and tapes are harder sellers these days but you must always remember price sells. It is better to get rid of all of your stuff at a low price than to not get rid of it at all. Instead of Junking your stuff Sell it and whatever is leftover you know a good hauler!!!
I recently threw a sale and used a multitude of ways to advertise it. The most common seems to be the newspaper classified advertisements as well as local signs pointing to my lawn. The next step I went to was to search for online promoters of sales. I found two very useful sites the first being Upcoming which is a Yahoo! owned site that anyone can list a current event that is “upcoming” in their area. The other site I used was Garage sales tracker which was a safe and easy way to list my site as it provided visitors directions to the sale and they happily help promote your sale through innovative ideas and marketing techniques.
In the end I was left with a few items after my sale and went down to the local goodwill with the extra $85.00 I just raised and donated all of the leftover items.
All in all it seemed like a win-win situation and I am glad to share my experiences with you.

# posted by GST @ 12:27 PM   0 Comments Links to this post

If you have read my previous post on how to effectively advertise garage sales than your halfway there in making it effective.
After reading this you should be ready to go. The goal of your sale should be to unload a lot of the items that you no longer want or need, raise money, and to have fun while making this an enjoyable experience
What to Sell?
First off you must decide what to sell and what not to sell. In other words if it’s in the house or garage and you haven’t used it in a year and don’t think you will use it anytime soon than it is probably a good idea for you to get rid of it. Some items if they are absolutely useless to you give it away at the end of the day if you have to or if there is a local donation shelter/ goodwill nearby drop off the leftovers and take the tax write-off.
Pricing
Once you have deciphered what will be going on the lawn for sale you must set a price that will be flexible as most visitors will want to haggle and bargain with you. If you have to do some research on an item to find a fair value asking price it will probably be worth it as everybody knows the story of the man who bought a famous painting at a sale because the owner didn’t know any better and the end result was a serious of headaches and legal battles.
Just remember price sells and certain items sell better than others designer products, furniture, household items, and electronics are always big sellers.
Layout
Having a proper layout so that people passing by can effectively see your items in an uncluttered matter certainly helps. Letting people who may drive by notice a few big ticket items will help draw them in.
Change
Proper change is one of the biggest problems that I have run into at local yard sales/garage sales, there is nothing more frustrating to certain people than being shortchanged a couple bucks because nobody has proper change and than having a buyer flake out or offer you a lower price. It will most certainly help to go to the bank and get all the singles and change for your sale.
When
Certain days of the month are better for having a sale as most people get paid bi weekly so around the 15th of the month may be a good time to throw a sale. However, if you live in a town with a large amount of military personnel than the 1st of the month would be better suited as that’s when the government pays them. Be sure to investigate the situation for your town and the most successful garage sales tend to happen on Saturdays and Sundays because this is when most individuals have off of work and usually they go to multiple sales in search for that authentic Picasso for the price of a replica. Seasons are important if you live in Wisconsin the winter time probably will hinder your sale being outdoors but you can be innovative and heat up the garage or participate in a large indoor sale. On the issue of time the earlier the better, start around 7:00 A.M. to 8:00 A.M. and go till you have had enough, all the traffic has stopped, your stuff is all gone, or your ready to get rid of everything left that hasn’t sold.
Tips
Make sure all of your items are as clean as can be because nobody is going to buy your old clothes if they still have stains on them when all you may need to do is wash them before hand and with furniture, jewelry, and vases give them a thorough cleaning to have them appear shiny and pleasing.
To make the event more enjoyable for visitors and to bring in some extra cash sell food and drinks.
Multi-family sales tend to do better than single family because you have more items for sale and more people to help you advertise and spread the word.
Bags, tables, and other supplies are necessities when setting up the sale and will make it easier for your visitors.

So good luck and enjoy your sale just remember the most important piece of advice: Have fun.

# posted by GST @ 12:25 PM   0 Comments Links to this post