How To Hold The Ultimate Neighbourhood Garage Sale

It’s the season for garage sales, and there’s no better way to get rid of the clutter left over from spring cleaning. Host a successful garage sale to raise money for a short trip or large summer party for friends and family. Of course, a successful garage sale won’t happen overnight. Spend a few minutes to plan and organize the event.
Great inventory for a great sale
You need to have enough to sell to encourage people to drop by. That may mean asking your children for things they’re willing to part with. Look through stored items that you don’t usually go through – that means combing through closets, the basement, and the garage. If you still can’t scrounge enough things to sell, consider hosting a garage sale next to your neighbours. After all, shoppers like variety and that makes a great sale.
Get organized
Before you start selling, group your items by price. This way, you don’t have to individually price each item. Instead, post a large sign that will help shoppers figure out the price of each item. You’ll have fewer people asking you about the price, and you’ll have more time to attend to other tasks. In addition to sorting the items and garage organization, it’s best to have tables and chairs for the event. The tables will raise items closer to eye level. It also makes your wares more appealing. The chairs are for you and people helping with the sale.
Advertise and then advertise some more

Getting the word out is crucial to the success of the sale. Post online ads 1-2 weeks in advance of the actual date. In addition, you may want to post flyers on bulletin boards at local coffee shops and community centres. Signs and flyers should be put up the day of. Signs at major intersections will draw random pedestrians walking by. Using free classified adds and posting on any community website is an other option. Placing notice boards in neighbourhood libraries, shops etc is a great way for advertsing.

The following decisions should be made ahead of time so that you may plan and advertise accordingly:

  • schedule friends and family to help
  • choose a day of the week to host the sale
  • check the weather forecast ahead of time

Running the event
Start your preparations early in the day. Having change will help people buy individual items. Having readymade food, like sandwiches, around will give you enough energy throughout the day.

Anticipating the problems
You’ll probably deal with your share of hagglers if you get enough foot traffic. Since some of the things you’re selling are hand-picked by you, you couldn’t possibly see letting it go for lower than you’ve already priced it. There will be people who feel like arguing, so make sure to take a step back when you think they’re being unreasonable.

You’ll also want to keep an eye on your sales at all times. Never leave your cash unattended as you can’t account for everyone who comes by.

Clinton Haglund who rose from Toronto in the year 1981. He completed his Masters in Business Administration from Rot man school of management in Toronto. He had a great passion to business and currently he is running a business in Ontario. Clinton has a knack for helping ambitious business people and to determine how they can get more with less by focusing and refining their business strategy and processes. For more updates you can follow him in twitter @clintonHaglund.

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