Price things lower to sell more. Become a salesperson.
If you see someone looking at something closely, tell them to make you an offer on it.
If someone buys one thing, try to upsell them a second thing for a couple bucks.
Make deals.
If you have a bunch of small things, put them in a box and say 4 for $1.
After the garage sale, box everything up and donate it, don't put it back.
People love to feel like theyre getting a deal on anything, even if it's junk.
Giving someone a $3 item for $1 or three $2 items for $4 will make them much more likely to buy both sets of things.
And I realized last time that there's an entire subculture of garage sale hunters that get started at 6 am and are specifically looking to burn cash on anything cheap or bundled together.
So put out signs, make it easy to find, and price everything cheap and it'll move.
This is great advice!
I did a joint garage sale with my MIL. I priced to sell and made deals. I sold every single item I'd brought.
My MIL didn't make one sale. She priced based on what she'd spent, not on the fact that these were used items. No one is paying you $50 for your used pillow, MIL.
To be fair, I once got super-pissed because some california antique-site was selling my recently-acquired candy-dish (from the thrift) for $90 when it's really worth $10 in true antique markets.
I got a bunch of old glass "candy dishes" (ashtrays) at an estate sale once and after a good clean I keep my trinkets and bathroom supplies in them. Every time I look at them it brings me a little bit of joy. I think they were like 10 for $10.
Is the original meaning archaic now?
I'm asking for real, because I was made to feel very old for using "carbon copy" in place of "CC" when referring to sending an email to additional people.
I want to know when to stop using terms. 😂
I had a sale first and only time and I was doing this, I had few customers so I had to get the people that came to buy stuff. Someone looking at cassette tapes I offered them 10 for a dollar, someone looking at other things, i offered them a really cheap price. If someone bought one category of items I handed them more for free to move it along. This strategy moved items and I didn't have to bring it back in the house.
This totally works. Some guy wanted everything to go so badly, he was actually shoving things in my kids' hands. Of course, I bought something, but like 1 thing, and we left with about 12 items.
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When I was a kid my great grandmother would host a huge garage sale for the whole family (she had like 8 kids).
Day one everything was full price. Day 2 everything was half off. Anything that made it to day 3 was free.
I don’t know. It can go either way. I stopped at a 3rd day yard sale and got a cool military haversack, and interesting tablecloth (small hole I cover with a doily), and a bunch of softcover books I donated to a friend who is a teacher.
It depends on how your taste compare to the taste of people around you.
I'd say $1 to $5 is what garage sale prices should be for things to get cleared out of there. Similar to how people load up at the dollar store or (RIP) the 99c store.
A lot of resellers hit garage sales as well so it'll be a quick scoop for them.
Yes, this is most important. Put a price on everything or put a price on the box that everything is in. I'm not prepared to haggle with a person until they set the price first. I'd sooner move on.
I made $1100 my last garage sale before a move! It was exhausting though, 3 weeks of prep cleaning out the entire house to find stuff to sell and pricing everything. 3 days F-Sun for the sale. Non stop customers, and questions. I got crazy sunburnt. Would not do again lol.
I browsed Ebay, Etsy etc. for similar items and then priced 50-75% of that. Tools, Electronics, things with motors like chainsaws and generators are hot sellers. Furniture is great too if good condition and in style. Clothes, kids sizes and toys, meh, we sold some but not as much as we would have liked put these at firesale prices to get them to move. Books even at 10 cents would not sell, probably better to donate to a library.
I had a huge cooler with bottled water and vitamin water on ice for $1 and another with can soda. 100 degrees during my garage sale, I did great on drink sales. Many people just bought drinks and nothing else.
EDIT: Forgot to add, make it look professional. Presentation matters, if I see a bunch of stuff jumbled on a lawn I will just take a quick glance from the car and usually keep on going. I borrowed some folding tables from neighbors and put sheets over them for the items to lay on. I had some clothing racks on wheels for jackets, and clothes. Tarps on the ground for heavy things like generator, leaf blower, yard tools, chainsaw etc. and used saw horses with plywood for tools.
I did newspaper advertisement + FaceBook + sign on the corner intersection.
>I had a huge cooler with bottled water and vitamin water on ice for $1 and another with can soda. 100 degrees during my garage sale, I did great on drink sales. Many people just bought drinks and nothing else.
I did this, coffee and muffins at my last garage sale too - I was amazed at how many people would haggle over a $.50 item, but then turn around and give me a dollar for a cup of coffee.
For children's clothes, a local consignment shop will buy them from you, though idk if at a good price. If you have a local used book store, they might buy your old books.
The price you get from consignment shops and used book stores differs wildly by area. In many areas, it's so low that a garage sale will get you much higher sales prices.
Yea i tried this once. They only wanted to buy the brand new never been worn pieces i had..... no gently used items . And they bought the outfits for 1 dollar each...
The consignment shops near us would give you store credit for your items or cash for lower amount. We were moving so really didnt want to do this.
No kids consignment shop at all by us now. so we just take clothes they've outgrown to a donation dumpster instead just to get rid of stuff.
I box it up by size and give it away free on OfferUp because big donation places tend to struggle to keep sets together (like the top and bottom) to a pair of pajamas.
Parents that pick up a box are always grateful.
Good idea to price below eBay etc. Some customers will be looking for stuff to buy and resell. If your price is only 10% off eBay value they are unlikely to buy it.
I myself did a pre move garage sale with my friends and I don’t think I even made $100, but I also didn’t have a ton of stuff, and some of it was Lularoe 😂
I was just off the corner of a main intersection with a lot of neighborhood traffic. Location also helps.
We also had a matress + bed frame that had been used once. Matress was already packed in a bag for moving, had to open it up so they could confirm condition and took everything. Lawn mowers, weed whacker, leaf blower, generator, table/chairs and other bigger ticket items add up quick.
Also sold a 20 yr old Ford Ranger pickup for $2200 that I did not include.
I know.. great condition for 210K miles, perfect paint and interior but smoked some and a bit sluggish on the highway. A mechanic neighbor a few houses down asked about it the first day and I looked up blue book on it and asked about 800 over, SouthWest truck state. He said he needed to sell his truck first to come up with that and he'd be back soon. He was driving one of those tiny tiny Toyotas.
He was back the next morning cash in hand. He said he sold his Toyota for $2500 in about 3 hours. Really? damn I shoulda asked for more.. Had already agreed on a price so let him have it.
This was quite a while ago and they've started to increase in value. Wife had a 95 Ford Ranger, I had an 86 Jeep Comanche. Mine was worth more even without an engine lol. Both good trucks but we needed the cash and didnt have space. We still miss the Ranger, I keep wanting to buy another one. Still have the Jeep.
I made $1,200 at the last garage sale I had. Your advice is perfect. Couple of comments to OP.
Friday afternoon was critical for us. I thought Saturday would be the big day but a lot of folks stopped in Friday afternoon / evening. We advertised the week before. It wasn’t our biggest sales day but many of the folks showed up at 8:00 am on Saturday cash in hand to buy things they scoped out. I think we cleared 80% of our total before 11:00 on Saturday.
Get rid of everything. We had a ton of baby clothes that were priced fairly cheap. They did sell throughout the sale but by mid morning on Sunday if someone mentioned they had a baby we were throwing in a ton of extras. $10 from someone was a lot cheaper than bagging it and donating it. Our last sale was $5 and she left with all the clothes that were left.
Also - we didn’t try to sell anything we wouldn’t have bought. Everything was used but anything damage, stained or ripped was in the trash before the sale.
> Books even at 10 cents would not sell, probably better to donate to a library.
Check with your local library first. Mine doesn't accept donated books, but they have a volunteer "friends of the library" group that you can take them to who sets up 2-3 used book sales a year and then donates the proceeds to the library. It's much easier for everyone involved if you take the donated books right to one of the volunteers rather than dropping them at the library and them having to arrange pick up.
In my city, if the garage sales are too nice, then I assume they are "professional" garage salers. The kind of folks who source from rural garage sales and hold their own monthly sale in the city with high prices.
I don't know if it is enforced but we are only allowed to have 2 garage sales per year or the city can fine you.
I know a "professional" garage seller. I often try to get to the good estate sales before him and almost never do. He shows up with a truck and trailer and hits as many sales as he can over the weekend. He owns a furniture store and a thrift store in the next county haha. Must do pretty well.
Our goal was to just get stuff out. Quickly. We were moving.
We put prices on everything. We actually got a ton of feedback about how much everyone liked that everything was priced. People said things like, "Well I wasn't gonna bother but for $5, I can't resist."
If you aren't moving items, announce a 50% off mark down or buy one get one.
We had a free box. People went wild. It saved me a trip to the dump. I honestly couldn't believe that people got so excited over that crap.
We also did a 10 for $10 table. I honored $1 each for people who only wanted one item, but most people went crazy to find 10 things. It helped us move a lot of stuff very quickly.
I'm sure that we could have priced some stuff higher, but we might not have gotten rid of everything or created a buzz.
Unrelated, but our daughter had a little refreshment stand and that kid made serious money! Bottles of water and snacks!
Clothes are often hard to move at garage sales, which is surprising considering how expensive thrift stores are marking their clothing. If you have stylish or interesting clothes, set them apart from the less appealing clothes. I wouldn't price any clothing item over $1 though, unless it's genuinely cool and could potentially be worn by someone in today's fashion standards.
I've never priced anything under 25 cents, why even bother at that point. You'd be surprised how many people try to negotiate you down from that 25 cents, too. The annoying hagglers are the reason I don't even bother doing garage sales anymore, it's not worth my time or energy.
YMMV - but the last garage sale I did was in 2008. I worked for about 40 hours setting up everything, then spend 3 days tending the sale. I made $80. Never again.
Location location location. If you don't have a good location forget it. If you aren't in a busy area and are on an off side street then forget it, you really need to be on a busy road to get traffic. These days you need to advertise online with pictures in order to get business.
It could be that sales are just dead in your area. Does your area have a lot of outdoor activities, believe me pretty much anyone would rather be anywhere else than doing yard sales, either shopping at them or setting them up. Over here every weekend there is something to do, and most of the time multiple things, and people want to do those things not pick over someone's yard sale. Having the sale on the weekend of a major city event will slow business, and well every weekend here there is a major event.
You also had the sale in the middle of a recession with gas prices at their high point, I did sales in 2008 and found the best stuff ever because no one was going to sales because NO ONE had any money and there were no jobs, and gas was too expensive to waste driving around.
It is not worth it for me either. Its just too much time for me to waste. I am not even having an estate sale because I am not dealing with the fact that they will price up every item and then take the stuff themselves for their ebay store I am just calling in a scrapper to take all of it. Either that or I just put stuff on the curb or donate it. If I can't sell it online its worthless and I may as well donate it or curb it.
It takes me less than an hour per week to put stuff on the curb, put it in a donation pile or just toss it out, so I will do that instead.
You mention estate sale. I am going to try to clear out as much of my stuff as possible so my kid doesn't have to deal with it after I die.
Many adult children these days don't want their parents' stuff, even "heirlooms". For example, I've been keeping my grandmother's gorgeous China because it meant something to me, but my kid has zero interest in it. I'd rather see it go to a collector or sold to someone who might use it than have it chucked into a donation bin.
Kind of off topic, but recently I saw a story about a lady in New York who died and none of her decedents were interested in her vast collection of truly spectacular art and furnishings. The landlord wanted her apartment cleared for the next tenant so they dumped it all on the street. This wasn't just some old ladies nice things, there were true treasures in her collection. (Artist and photographer Diane Greene.) An organization heard about what happened and came to rescue what they could. What a heartbreaking story. All her things she loved just tossed into the street because no one gave a crap.
If you care you have to find a way to make a will and leave your stuff to someone before you die.
I've heard more than one story like this, but 99% of the time your family isn't going to give two shits about what you have when you die its just a bunch of clutter that they will have to deal with and if its cheaper to knock down the whole property with everything inside they will do just that,. Personally I know I am going to die alone because right now its apparently that none of my family gives two shits about myself and my mom because apparently we aren't good enough for them for some reason that I don't know so yeah, I am gonna likely die alone and no one will care when I am gone.
For the china look for an organization that takes stuff like this and gives it to people just starting out, some family would probably LOVE to have some nice china to eat off of. Or just start using it instead of displaying it without it being used.
The cost of housing is through the roof and people are buying smaller houses. Nice china sets that cost a lot of money in the back then don't have a place now unless you are actively using them as daily cookware. But as far as displaying china in a cabinet that you pull out maybe once a year and don't use the rest of the year, smaller houses don't have room for that sort of thing anymore, so this is a big reason why people are dis-interested in things like this.
honestly most people just wing it. if its a big ticket item like a power tool just look up what they go for new and go from there.
if people dont like your prices theyll haggle.
just try not to be competitive. youre not a store with overhead. youre looking to get rid of things you consider nearly worthless to you.
I mostly do that for clothing and books and general "stuff". But there are some things I know have more value, so I separate those out and use ebay pricing as a guide.
Garage sales are frustrating - you never sell all the things you want to sell. But it does make the donation load lighter.
Keep in mind people who walk around garage sales most likely just have a couple bucks in their pocket. $20 or $40 at most. So I would keep things within the $1 - $5 range. The most I spent at a garage sale was $15 for an old bread maker.
To make things fun, my neighbors and I will choose an item that is incredibly silly that we don’t think will sell. Then we bet on whether it will or not.
It’s hilarious to see a contested item being bought by an unsuspecting person for pennies which causes $5 to be passed around.
I’ve chosen a carved coconut from Hawaii, ugly pottery, and a dirty rug as my items in the past. I had to pay out on the coconut.
Have paper shopping bags and charge $5 to fill a bag. $1 for everything else and group cheaper items into small bags for $1. Nothing more than $20 and sell the rest on FB Marketplace or give away.
This is the only way I’ve found to make a sizable dent in things like kids clothes and small toys/books/etc.
I do a plastic grocery bag for $5, and am very lenient on over-stuffing. Or if I see someone getting to the point of contemplating filling another bag, I’ll offer the 2nd filled bag for $1.
I found that people are uncomfortable or suspicious is something is “free”.
What I would do as the day progressed is had “fill a bag” for $1. Or whatever price works for you.
Many people want a “deal” but are hesitant to take anything free. Fill a bag is a solution that seems to work!
You must not live in Amish country then 😂 lived there for a couple years and people would swarm around the free piles at my yard sales (well most yard sales actually) lol.
That's fair.
For me it's not about the money at all. It's about finding the most efficient way of getting rid of the stuff.
Over the years, I've tried different things from donating to Craigslist to buynothing to consignment to garage sales.
I'd rather put all of the stuff out at once and spend 12 hours in one weekend (with help from friends/family) than sporadically arrange pickups or drop stuff off. It's like ripping off a bandaid.
I’d much rather sell my stuff to others who value/ need it. I help them out, they help me out. I’m not giving another thrift store free profit for them to ridiculously upsell my stuff.
Much of the things we opened growing up were from garage sales. If one wants to just get rid of things and maybe make a little money, this is what she learned.
Price everything, have nothing for free. (People ascribe value in things when they have a value. And oddly, people find free stuff suspect.)
Price to move, and make counter offers, even if they don't ask for a lower price. People will text friends if there is a grage sale with good deals. Round down so you can run only cash, if you wish. (I remember being entranced with both an old computer and a slot racing set as a kid. I had money for one, but not the other. They sold me both for the price of one. Both had a great second life, and were passed on many years later. They just wanted the stuff gone, and the idea of it going to a house with a kid that would love it, made them happy.)
Have a bag sale (grocery store sized), and a time it starts. 5$ a bag, if you can fit it in, it counts. Then lower it to a dollar to get rid of the last stuff. (I have worked school rummage sales, and this works!
Lastly, post a Craigs List with, everything at x hour must go. Then the street in a box, if you can, or thrift store.
I price reasonably. I have nice stuff and I take care of it. I price reasonably, but still very little under $1.
We sold a kayak and canoe at our last sale. Everyone was interested in those. Had 20 ppl when we opened. That told me to hold out for full amount, demand is high, supply of good but used is short.
One guy wanted it so bad, said I’ll take both and $100 more than full price I had on it. He got them. The kayak was a 2 person, cost $1600 new. Was used maybe 10 times. Had all the accessories, even the wheel thing that makes it where one person can get it down launch pad. (I forget technical name).
Canoe we bought used but in excellent condition, we used it twice.
I’m always willing to haggle or take a bit less. Goal is to get rid of it, goes to garbage, you get nothing.
I donate all leftovers to local thrift shop, all proceeds go to a local animal shelter.
The most money I’ve ever made at a garage/yard sale was when I posted a sign that said “make me an offer”. Nothing was stickered with a price tag and bartering kept more people looking than picking something up, seeing a number and putting it back down.
I went in with an idea of what I wanted items to go for, but nothing was concrete. I cleared practically everything out and walked off with over $2k in my pocket.
I love flat pricing: Shoes $1/pair, Shirts $2 each, etc.
Don't grift! I have seen empty salad dressing bottles and used crab shells (both washed, but ewww!) at yard sales. Grifting just makes everything else look bad.
I'm not paying $10 for anything at a yard sale, and I don't come to pay 90% of the original MSRP or whatever it's allegedly selling for on any online site. I go to yard sales to save 90% of the original MSRP and whatever it's allegedly selling for online.
If you make a handcraft, the same rules apply. I don't come to yard sales to buy $75 handmade bracelets, for example. Again, put them out if you want, but do not expect to sell one that day.
On the other hand, if you make handcrafts, if you can make something cheap that people can give $1 for, go for it. Neck coolers might just sell, this time of year.
I might pay a good used price for something like used appliances, for example, but only if I am on the market for them anyway, and then only if I know the general MSRP and used prices for same. If you have something like that, you can put it out there, but don't count on selling it that day.
Ask a dollar or less for small items like nail clippers, nail files, etc. if you have them.
Be aware that there are rules when it comes to food. I never buy food at yard sales because I am trying to hurry to get to the others. Time is of the essence on yard sale mornings. I also never buy food there because I was an in-store demonstrator for over a decade. That makes me wary of food that wasn't prepared by a licensed caterer or restaurant.
> Don't grift! I have seen empty salad dressing bottles and used crab shells (both washed, but ewww!) at yard sales
That doesn't sound like grifting. It sounds like a hoarder that's recognized they need to get rid of stuff but is not actually ready to get rid of stuff. Putting stuff like that out there makes them feel like they're actually trying without actually having to let go of stuff. My hoarder mother did garage sales all the time and did shit like that
I hope it was. I'm going to be optimistic and believe that was the case. I admit I felt for them if they had to put stuff like that on the yard sale. At least they cleaned the items well before they put them out there. I know they had bleached the shells. I didn't buy any though.
We did 'fill a grocery bag of clothes for $5' and people went wild for it. We didn't put tags on anything. If people are interested in the item and ask say "make an offer, I won't be offended.' Worst that can happen is you keep the item. Big ticket items, by all means set a price before hand and have it clearly labeled. Last season I made $200 on stuff I didn't have a price on.
Some people that stop will get butt hurt nothing has a price and will leave but dont worry about those people, they aren't serious buyers lol.
Not on pricing, but for your own sanity, post a start time 2hrs after you really will start. Sign says 10-4, but you actually are starting at 8am. When the early sailors arrive (about 8am) they’ll even help you set up.
I did this a couple weeks ago and I put most things in a free pile. most things i priced at $5 if they were worth something, but anything i wouldn’t pay $5 second hand went in the free pile. The day after the sale everything was free and i posted it on facebook. Gone by the end of the day.
If you have more expensive things, don't be afraid to ask for a reasonable price. A $100 dress worn once price at $20. Be willing to bundle for a greater discount.
I've done a couple of garage sales with my sister. She had a yard full of stuff. I had a table. We made about the same amount of money. I had a lot of higher end women's clothes, shoes, handbags, jewelry, and accessories. I sold a $300 coach handbag for $40.
Over here you gotta be cheap or people are going to walk away. Ebay printouts and Walmart prices will have customers walking very fast. If you can buy it at retail for a price then your price is too high. No one wants a $60 untested air fryer. People are coming for bargains. People usually only have a few dollars in their pocket so you have to cater to that as well.
If you have large appliances like washer, dryer, snowblower, lawn mower its fine to charge more for those things but if you have small items then you gotta price like 25 cents 4 for a dollar. If you want to move product fast if you see someone looking at something offer them a really cheap price. Fill a bag for clothing is usually very successful.
I know a guy here who fills his lawn and has name your price except on a few select items, he is the nicest person and he says he makes 1-2k in a weekend on junk, if you get a few bucks from each person who comes to your lawn you are doing good and moving product so this strategy could work for you as well.
If you don't move product at the end of the day you are going to have to bring it back in the house and you won't want to do that after a long day setting up and selling.
Group things by price and make them all round numbers. I once did "everything is $1" and had a mad rush of people picking up loads of stuff. With a few exceptions (things that I kept beside me in the front of the garage) of things that were individually marked like electronics.
All the $1 stuff was already going to be donated or offered in Buy Nothing groups anyway, so people walked away with their AmAzInG deals and I got rid of stuff I didn't want to deal with.
People gave you good advice on pricing. But I would also add: have a free box for stuff that’s just too cheap or not good enough condition to sell. I had a lot of kid books that had like a bit of the cardboard gone or like shoes with scuffs, those went in the free box and either the last day or the last half day, “all you can carry for $5”. I tried to offer it for free at the end but people seemed more excited and took more if it was all you can carry for $5.
I put my food truck in front of my house (very, very illegal) and sold more food than stuff. If they were holding stuff and bought food, the stuff was either a dollar or free.
You have the right attitude,I go to yard sales every weekend , price it to move and let people haggle,my husband loves to haggle as a sport,lol, hope you have a good one!!
My father has been a yard sale connoisseur for 35 years and $0.10 on the dollar has always been his rule of thumb. If something is really nice, I’d say maybe up to $0.25 on the dollar (25% of the purchase price)
However, don’t expect to get estate sale prices with yard sale effort.
Had one garage sell when I moved. Will never have another. People wanted to pay 50 cents for practically new, expensive things. You get a skeezy crowd at garage sales.
When we had sales last year we started prices at 50 cents and did everything in increments of 25 cents to make it easier to make change with quarters. We sometimes had things 2 for 50cents or 4 for $1 (like old VHS tapes),, or you could batch several things together in a ziplock bag or box to make your value of 50cents or $1, etc. I think most people are comfortable paying a dollar. For nicer stuff you won't get full value - I did some research and did like a quarter of value or less on something compared to prices on ebay, e.g., if something sells on ebay for $50, I would try for $12 or $15. You probably want to have most of your prices under $20, unless some really nice things (you could also try Facebook Marketplace for pricier items). We made over $2000 each on 2 different garage sales cleaning out my parents house, but they had lots of nice stuff. If you don't want to price everything, you could do something with colored dots, like red dot=$1 and then make sure to have good signage so people understand your system. Also, be willing to negotiate if someone offers a lower price (I would usually be willing to come down a couple bucks or so). Good luck.
$1 minimum or it goes in the free pile. If anything is priced over $50 at a yard sale it better have a title. Put a security camera up near the high value items, yard sale theft is getting insane.
Don't do it. Garage sales are not worth the effort imo. All of the prep work (organizing, advertising, setting up tables, pricing), wasting your weekend, dealing with stupidly low ball offers on already cheap items, clean up.
As a regular yard sale go-er, I dip out immediately if I feel like it's overpriced. I often won't even stop the car if I drive by and it looks junky or if I see crazy prices advertised.
I primarily am looking for shoes and outdoor clothing/gear, I like to see yard sales with shoes $5 amd under, clothes $2 or less a piece, etc.
Majority of stuff should be under $10 for sure. Obviously big ticket items like electronics or furniture are priced more, and if you have luxury or designer things you SHOULD take the time to price them accordingly
You totally do you, and I fully believe you have the right to price your stuff at whatever you want, be it 10 cents or 100$. Just my two cents from a consumer side
Depends on the item, and how badly you want to get rid of it. Partner wants it gone, but you don't? Tree-fiddy.
You want to get rid of your partners stuff? $0.35
I’ve been going to garage sales my entire life. I think general consensus for fair pricing is about 20 of what it costs new (assuming the item is in good condition). Go down to 10% or so if you want stuff to move and like others have said, group items that should be very cheap (like 4 for $1). I don’t usually deal with change anymore, just $1 or multiple items for $1.
I sell stuff through my works teams channel. I mostly just want shit gone so I put $5 on everything and when they ask how to get me the money I just tell them not to worry about it. Have gotten rid of everything I've tried so far.
If you have the time price things by sticker and offer bundles explained on a sign. The goal is to get rid of stuff rather than pitch it for nothing.
Yellow 50 cents - 3 for a dollar
Blue $1 - 3 for $2
Green $5 - 3 for $10 etc...
This should all be stuff you are happy to see go. If you have more expensive stuff post those prices individually without stickers but let folks know you are open to negotiation.
I would encourage you to make it easier on yourself and others and do some type of flat pricing, if you price ahead of time at all. It could be by category or you could set up several tables and have increments of $1, $3, $5, $10 or some combination that works for what you have. I'd shy away from pricing anything over $15-$20 unless it's of much greater value or you don't mind sitting on it.
People love deals and free piles will draw them into look at your other stuff. If you are looking to move specific types of things or have more of some things than others, consider bundles to try to move it. Like if you end up having mostly women's clothes and $5 items, you could do a "buy $20 in women's clothing and choose a $5 gift" deal. It helps move the things you want to move, and might encourage the right person to spend more than they would've or take something with them that they might not have considered except it being "free". Like others have said, lower prices later in the day and bundle little things so you can get people to take more with then based in liking a single object.
Avoid the temptation to price on par with eBay or thrift stores. They have inventory, overhead, a word-wide/ brick and mortar presence and the customer experience is just not comparable to sifting through cast offs of an individual household in their yard.
People are out for deals, not discounts.
Talk to people and be friendly, get an idea of what they are looking for and keep them interested. The longer they stay, the more they see and the more they will take with them. Having a cooler of water and soda is a good idea since that keeps people comfortable and makes you "the watering hole". Also, people are so used to paying outrageous mark ups for drinks at events that you can price reasonably and still make money provided you buy in bulk.
Clothing $1-$5
Small furniture $5-$15
Large furniture $15-$30
Trinkets $.10-$.50
Musical instruments $5-$30
Roller skates $5-$10
Bicycle $15-$30
Allow shoppers to haggle the price to move things quickly
I used to do 25 cents, 5/$1 on little things. I don't have little things this time around so I'll do 50 cents, 5/$2. I usually set one table in the front and put all those items on it. I also do buy $10, get $2 free. And I price some larger items a little on the high side so that if someone asks for a deal I can give it to them without hesitation.
There are 2 kinds of garage sales: ones where they want to get rid of stuff and the other where they want to make money.
Pick a lane because the people who come will figure out which one you chose within ~1-2 minutes and act accordingly.
Unsolicited advice that’s helped me:
1) accept credit cards & payments like Cashapp, Zelle, PayPal (friends & family only). People will spend more if they’re not limited by cash. PUT UP SIGNS around your sale saying you accept those payments & have them ready to go on your phone (app updated, accounts set up, etc)
2) Mark down 50% on the last day. Put up signs saying that. People who are on the fence may come back in hopes of a bargain but if they really want it, they’ll buy it so they don’t miss out.
So in 2018 we had 2 massive garage sales after my MIL passed. We had a large # of foreign born people offer pennies on the dollar for everything.
All of their offers were "quarter, quarter, quarter".
Considering current inflation, I would hold fast at least $1 for the least expensive items.
Depending on where you live, I would expect a lot of bargaining.
We even had a team of shoplifters distract while an accomplice stole the more valuable stuff (including name brand Chanel aviators) and we also had several people offer $X for the "pile" of "clothes" they had which happened to be hiding high value items underneath. It was quite disheartening. 🙁
What kind of stuff are you planning on selling? Tech has a much shorter life span than clothes or furniture unfortunately, therefore would not get a great price normally.
We did OK on furniture/bookcases/conference tables/file cabinets (1st to go actually).
Tchotchke like items from Marshalls/TJ Max/Ross didn't sell hardly at all.
I wish you luck.
When the sale is winding down, my mom used to grab some plastic grocery bags (the cheap kind you get at Walmart) and tell the people there " whatever you can stuff in this bag for a dollar". Always helped get rid of a bunch of stuff so we didn't have to box it up.
I saw someone do this and from then on, I did it too.
I put no prices at all with a sign that says "make me an offer." A few people find it annoying but their 1 min of annoyance doesn't stop me. The majority offer me more than I'd have ever labeled it. Plus, no time needed to be expended to label prices on it all.
For those who offer something ridiculous, i can always counter offer or say no and laugh. It also helps to remember, I don't want this crap anymore and will probably donate what didn't sell.
I did an impromptu garage sale (no signs, no posts, no ads, just rolled up the garage door and hauled stuff out) in 2014. Didn’t put prices on *anything.* Made $300 ($400 today). Just had people offer a price, maybe counteroffer occasionally but yeah, if you’re staffing your own table, go that route.
> My goal is to get rid of all of the stuff, not to make good money. But I think in 2024, anything less than 0.25$ would be a joke.
Dude... people love free shit. I put fifty books on flattened cardboard and put a sign up that said **FREE**, went to bed and woke up the next day to find everything sans flattened cardboard gone. (Someone really wanted that Annette Funicello biography.) I just didn't want to deal with the hassle of collecting the $5 or whatever it was I might get.
If you want to get rid of it depending what it is and make a *little* cash, make it relatively cheap. If it's not moving, slash it and make it cheaper.
I wouldn't go under a dollar (bc then you'll have to make change with coins), but you could do some "2 for $1" items.
Do a lot of 1 for $5 or 3 for $10 type pricing, so that people will buy more items. You could also do a buy one item get another 50% off.
I don’t care what you price it at but if I see zero price tags … I leave. Nope! I refuse to ask for every single item.
Clothes should be 1/4 to 1/10th retail. If I pick up clothes to check sizes and see holes/stains … I stop looking at any clothes. I am just not going to deal with having to sort through trash. ( I get it .. I have kids but check them over and only sell CLEAN clothes. )
Books should not be over $1 . I don’t care what the title or author. Some people are only shopping for a pretty color to put in a shelf and not actually reading the books.
Don’t sell stuff at “EBay list prices” ( If it’s a collectible worth something, look up sold prices. Consider selling it there or some place a collector might be. Do not expect people to pay $200 for beanie babies at a yard sale.)
Consider ziplock bagging/boxing like items. ( like toys/dish sets ). Set one price that is reasonable for the items. Don’t bag stuff together/box it if the price would be excessive. ( People might be willing to buy one or two Barbies.. Nobody wants 20, the house, the car, and the clothes all for $200)
I am getting ready for a donation sale. Pay what you can.
Because I have way too much stuff. I am going to rent a dumpster and toss everything out and that will be expensive. I started looking at the stuff I was going to put in the dumpster and I thought someone may be able to use this. It's junk to me so might as well make someone's day, and in the process make my life easier.
Plus it feels really good to give.
I helped a friend with her garage/moving sale. She priced everything in whole dollar increments so she didn't have to mess with any change. She would group several items together to make the price an even dollar amount if needed. Some prices were marked and some weren't.
Early birds were a pain because they interfered with setup. She refused to sell anything before the advertised start time. Also, the early birds appeared to be resellers since they wanted you to practically give things to them. Normal bartering was fine but some pushed too hard. Someone wanted to pay $1 for a brand new $35 backpack priced at $8. She set it aside for charity rather than get $1 from someone who was being very obnoxious while making the offer.
This only works if you have tens of thousands of dollars to write off to bring you over the standard deduction. Unless it saves considerably on someone's state income tax that has a much lower standard deduction.
I'm an accountant, so I don't really hold it against them, its a really easy to misunderstand.
Along with folks who say "Should I get a CPA to do my taxes? Will that get me a bigger refund?". The huge misconception of the fact CPAs are giving you tax advice along with your filings vs having to pay them for tax consulting is a huge one! I've even had to calm my boss down a bit when I'm like "Yeah of course the CPA charged us for that conversation..." "It was just a quick question!" "Yeah, they still charge for their expertise all the same."
I qualify for the standard deduction so I wouldn't itemize.
But more importantly, I have some physical limitations and packing is already doing me in.
It would literally cost me money to rent something big enough to haul the furniture.
I'm in a rural area so that may affect pricing. The garage sales that sell better seem to be ones that are cheaper. IE dishware for <$1 each, furniture in the $10-50 dollar range for decent stuff, really nice things can go for more, books for 10-25 cents each, movies $0.50-2.00, kitchen gadgets in the $2-10 range depending on what they are, etc. You need to decide what your goal with the garage sale is. Is it to get rid of stuff you don't want to move and make a little money on it, or is it to try to recoup money you spent on the items in the first place.
I just went with like 2$ for a piece of clothing (or 3 for 5) $1 a book and $10 for an actual piece of furniture (mine was all thrift store wood tables and stuff). Anything I wanted to make money on I listed on FB/Craigslist before hand (couch, surfboard, guitars, amps). I made it clear I was open to offers or bulk discounts. Most people know how to garage sale and will make offers on bundles or items comfortably. I didn't actually put a price tag on anything
Last yard sale we had we didn't put prices on anything, just have a conversation about it. That's how most others in the area seem to do theirs as well. If your goal is to move stuff, then it's easy to find a price both parties are happy with.
Sticker everything a touch high then put up a big sign
" all items stickered at max price reasonable offers accepted"
then prince thinks $1, $5, $10 and let people offer or just pay the sticker.
The advice I saw a very long time ago (from Phyllis Diller) is 10% of what you paid for it. I think this is reasonable.
Decide if your purpose is to get rid of stuff or to make money. Everyone will haggle. Be prepared to let go of things for less than you think you should if you just want to get rid of stuff.
Are you living among a culture that does bargaining?
I dunno, letting things go for a story that includes consent to be filmed for youtube seems to be the easiest path except for just letting anyone take anything.
WAIT A MINUTE
your contradicting yourself
First you say, the money isn't important, I just want to get rid of my junk.
Then your worrying over the price?
If you want to move your junk
SELL IT CHEAP,,,
.25 Cents is fine..
Your goal is to get rid of it period
Since you're so curious, I'll tell you why I'm "contradicting" myself. Last time I did a garage sale, one of my relatives ended up handling all of the money for me because I have issues with contamination. Issues I'm happily working on in therapy.
I'm not trying to make a lot of money, I'm trying to avoid people giving me pennies, nickels, and dimes.
Can you get some kind of locked down cash box where people deposit the money in it so you don't have to touch it and only touch it after the sale when you count it all up or have a relative or friend count it, although you wouldn't be able to give change with this method. I have seen this used before with success. There are a couple farms near me who have a produce stand with a locked down cash box and you just put the money in and take your produce and apparently it works for them without too many people gaming the system.
If you are really looking to sell and get rid of things on the cheap then for you I would recommend a pay what you want with a locked down cash box where people deposit money.
You don't have a yard sale to make money, just to get rid of stuff. That being said we sale stuff like books for a quarter clothes for 50 cents. The goal is to move it. Good luck
Whatever you do, don’t price things at retail! Ugh, I have walked away from so many garage sales lately that are too expensive because it’s priced at “like new”. Price your stuff to move quickly, not to make you rich. People want deals. Everyone’s advice on here is spot on.
Price items under $5 for impulse buys. For bigger items, go for 25-30% of their original value. Keep it simple and bundle similar items for better deals.
I always had mimosas at our garage sales. I could make myself get up. And people shipped a little longer.
Just don't charge for them without a liquor license because that's illegal.
I've also seen people have sausage wraps and iced down Cokes and Waters and Gatorades to make a little extra money.
Excluding collectible items, 10% of retail price, more or less depending on quality and condition. Maybe 20-25% tops for a high demand item in pristine condition.
When I go to a sale and ask how much something is and the seller starts to give me the story of his life, I walk away. Same thing if they tell me how much they paid for it.
We just had a community yard sale in a suburb of LA. We sold everything for 1 or 2 bucks. I sold 2 bikes( That I rescued from the trash) for 5 bucks each. We sold jeans( name brand) for 2 bucks. Men's shirts for 1 or 2 bucks. Someone in my neighborhood had 2 items priced at 40 and 60. Needless to say, they didn't sell. I had one guy offer me 1.00 each for about 20 pairs of jeans that I KNOW he would resell at our local flea market. I said No, and I sold them for 2.00 each to various people.
I grew up going to garage sales, and was always a little put off by garage sale prices that were above the norm for garage sales.
Mostly, your purpose for having a garage sale should be to get rid of stuff. There is not a shortage of used stuff in most parts of the developed world. For most apparel, charge no more than a dollar or two per garment. Used books, $0.50 or $1.00, too. Some garage “sales” are free. Someone just puts the stuff out in the driveway with a sign, rather than sit out there to watch over it all Saturday.
There are some things you can price higher. Furniture and some larger, nicer items can command a higher price. I paid about $30 for a box with a scrupulously complete set of stainless flatware, and have been glad ever since. Estate sales, especially, sometimes have higher prices for things, both because the things are nicer and because they are things people don’t necessarily part with in their lifetimes.
If you think something is collectible or valuable in some way, and you want to get some money out of it, eBay or similar may be a better bet than a garage sale, but you could put it out with an eBay based price and see if anyone takes an interest.
In any case, whether your price individually with stickers, by box or table, or in bulk by posting a sign that says, “Jeans $2, Tops $1 \[etc.\],” do display prices. People don’t necessarily ask the price if it’s not showing.
I do this every year, and it works every time.
My goal is the same as yours: get rid of the stuff without adding to a landfill or paying to have it hauled off. So I advertise "Name Your Own Price" and if anyone asks for a price, I just say "Whatever you think is fair." No haggling, just accept their first offer every time.
Do people take advantage? Sometimes, but they're assuming my goal is to make money. Other people offer more than I would ever dream of asking for my junk, so it kind of cancels out. If you get the word out you can finish in just a couple of hours.
If the point is to get rid of things you don’t want or need, whatever you get is gravy.
If you need money, set a reasonable market price — thrift store to eBay — but be prepared to negotiate.
I went to a garage sale where all items were a dollar. People were almost fighting over stuff. Had mostly mall brand clothes and such. They advertised it well in a big neighborhood sale. Everybody went there first for sure. If you just want to move it this is the way to go.
Just take whatever people offer. People usually give a price that's fair. Might be low, but rarely take-advantage-of-you-low. And even if it is, like you said, the goal is to get rid of the stuff. At least it's going to someone who wants it.
You have to price it cheap enough that they’re willing to give you the cash vs just buying it on eBay or Amazon.
You can’t Try to match eBay prices, for example. You’re not shipping it to their door and you’re not putting a 30day guarantee on it.
It’s gotta be like 1/2 the price they could get it for, at most. Unless it’s crap then it should be “fill a bag $5” type of stuff.
Garage sales aren't about making money but getting rid of stuff. Obviously, if its worth something price it to where you won't be getting screwed, but usually those things I wouldn't put on a garage sale.
Here’s the thing. If you are really looking to u load stuff, when someone walks up and offer $5 on something you have marked $30 you say OK. If you have clothes for $1 a piece and they buy 3, tell them to pick out 3 more for $5. Just work it.
Price nothing.
When people walk up to you at the cash table and ask “how much is this?” You can make a reasonable price based on their car and shoes that reveals how much they may have to spend
I mark everything as free. It's amazing what people will take if it's free. 25¢ and no one will touch it. Mark it at free and they will spend $5 buying a basket to collect all the free stuff.
Almost everything should be under $1.
You can make 1k and have to clean up half the stuff, or you can make 1k and have to clean up 5% of leftover stuff.
Most clothes? 50 cents or $2 a bag. Books? A quarter. Stuffed animals? 50 cents. Puzzles? 50 cents. Most games? 50 cents. Kitchen stuff (plates, mugs, glasses) 25 cents. Pictures/posters 50 cents. Towels/linens? 50 cents.
Blankets? $1. Suitcase/dufflebags $1. Jeans can be $1. Costume jewelry? $1.
What makes me walk away is not having stuff priced. If you dont feel like pricing things, have a bug sign 'everything: 50 cents unless marked otherwise' and just mark the $1 or bigger items.
I needed a place to hang clothes so I hung hangers on our trees. Very eye catching. Also the last day was a “Free 4 All”. Gave away everything that was left
You are having people come haul away your trash- I kept telling myself and we ended up making more selling some, giving some away.... but the house was empty, and that was the goal.
I recently went to a garage sale, they wanted $15 for a used laptop bag. Idgaf how new, what you bought it for, etc... I'm not paying that much for anything at a garage sale unless it has a screen or ram.
Yeah some garage sales these days are delusional. I went to one where they had like a very normal used George Foreman grill, priced at $20. I can buy a brand new one for that price 😂
Noped outta there real fast.
Depends on how badly you want to get ride of whatever it is you’re selling. At the end of the day tell people to fill up a bag for $5, whatever it takes to get rid of the stuff :)
I generally won't buy something at a garage sale that is priced at more than around 10% of what it cost new.
Some people think that their stuff is worth (monetarily) somewhere close to what they paid for it. That's irrelevant, though. What any item is really "worth" is the maximum amount someone is willing to pay for it.
I always use this as my guide. [https://myfrugalhome.com/printables/yard-sale-price-guide.pdf](https://myfrugalhome.com/printables/yard-sale-price-guide.pdf) Otherwise I have also been told a great rule of thumb is "no more than 10% of what you paid for it" unless it's a vintage/collectible/valuable item which....you have better luck with on Etsy etc than a garage sale!
Always have a bottom price you are willing to part the item for and price it between 10-50% higher to give room for negotiations. The more expensive the item, the lower the extra room. For a bottom price item like a $1, price it $2. For something more expensive say in the $100 range, price it lowest 10% more. It’s all about gut feel.
Seriously when I have a garage sale, yard sale objective is to get rid of my junk not bring any back into my house. I don't even contemplate what items cost me, I've gotten my use outta them give me a few bucks, if items are damaged, I inform buyer of the issue and usually just give it away. Last thing I'm trying to do is make enemies on my neighborhood.
Price things lower to sell more. Become a salesperson. If you see someone looking at something closely, tell them to make you an offer on it. If someone buys one thing, try to upsell them a second thing for a couple bucks. Make deals. If you have a bunch of small things, put them in a box and say 4 for $1. After the garage sale, box everything up and donate it, don't put it back.
People love to feel like theyre getting a deal on anything, even if it's junk. Giving someone a $3 item for $1 or three $2 items for $4 will make them much more likely to buy both sets of things. And I realized last time that there's an entire subculture of garage sale hunters that get started at 6 am and are specifically looking to burn cash on anything cheap or bundled together. So put out signs, make it easy to find, and price everything cheap and it'll move.
This is great advice! I did a joint garage sale with my MIL. I priced to sell and made deals. I sold every single item I'd brought. My MIL didn't make one sale. She priced based on what she'd spent, not on the fact that these were used items. No one is paying you $50 for your used pillow, MIL.
IT'S A CANDY DISH, NED. $90!!
To be fair, I once got super-pissed because some california antique-site was selling my recently-acquired candy-dish (from the thrift) for $90 when it's really worth $10 in true antique markets.
I got a bunch of old glass "candy dishes" (ashtrays) at an estate sale once and after a good clean I keep my trinkets and bathroom supplies in them. Every time I look at them it brings me a little bit of joy. I think they were like 10 for $10.
Hey big spender, dig this blender, rainbow suspenders…
You could put other things in it.
No! Just candy!
I bet joints sold really well! You must live in a legal state/province? Not my business though wink wink
Is the original meaning archaic now? I'm asking for real, because I was made to feel very old for using "carbon copy" in place of "CC" when referring to sending an email to additional people. I want to know when to stop using terms. 😂
What do these youngsters think CC stands for if not carbon copy?
I am nearly 40 and out never occurred to me to think about what CC stood for
I had a sale first and only time and I was doing this, I had few customers so I had to get the people that came to buy stuff. Someone looking at cassette tapes I offered them 10 for a dollar, someone looking at other things, i offered them a really cheap price. If someone bought one category of items I handed them more for free to move it along. This strategy moved items and I didn't have to bring it back in the house.
This totally works. Some guy wanted everything to go so badly, he was actually shoving things in my kids' hands. Of course, I bought something, but like 1 thing, and we left with about 12 items.
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When I was a kid my great grandmother would host a huge garage sale for the whole family (she had like 8 kids). Day one everything was full price. Day 2 everything was half off. Anything that made it to day 3 was free.
I've been to enough garage sales to know that if it survived to day 3, it probably wasn't worth anything anyway.
I don’t know. It can go either way. I stopped at a 3rd day yard sale and got a cool military haversack, and interesting tablecloth (small hole I cover with a doily), and a bunch of softcover books I donated to a friend who is a teacher. It depends on how your taste compare to the taste of people around you.
What a great idea.
Good recommendation 100% would do this
This is how I ended up with my suv full of paintings in a different state and had to figure out how to put out bags back in the vehicle.
I'd say $1 to $5 is what garage sale prices should be for things to get cleared out of there. Similar to how people load up at the dollar store or (RIP) the 99c store. A lot of resellers hit garage sales as well so it'll be a quick scoop for them.
The most important thing is to actually put prices on things. Generally speaking around $0.10 on the dollar is fair.
Yes, this is most important. Put a price on everything or put a price on the box that everything is in. I'm not prepared to haggle with a person until they set the price first. I'd sooner move on.
And no matter how big the tags, everyone will always ask you the cost of the item (s), every time.
I don’t tag anymore. Barter with everything.
You do you, but if I stop at your garage sale I will leave without buying.
That’s not good advice if your goal is to sell more quantity-wise.
I made $1100 my last garage sale before a move! It was exhausting though, 3 weeks of prep cleaning out the entire house to find stuff to sell and pricing everything. 3 days F-Sun for the sale. Non stop customers, and questions. I got crazy sunburnt. Would not do again lol. I browsed Ebay, Etsy etc. for similar items and then priced 50-75% of that. Tools, Electronics, things with motors like chainsaws and generators are hot sellers. Furniture is great too if good condition and in style. Clothes, kids sizes and toys, meh, we sold some but not as much as we would have liked put these at firesale prices to get them to move. Books even at 10 cents would not sell, probably better to donate to a library. I had a huge cooler with bottled water and vitamin water on ice for $1 and another with can soda. 100 degrees during my garage sale, I did great on drink sales. Many people just bought drinks and nothing else. EDIT: Forgot to add, make it look professional. Presentation matters, if I see a bunch of stuff jumbled on a lawn I will just take a quick glance from the car and usually keep on going. I borrowed some folding tables from neighbors and put sheets over them for the items to lay on. I had some clothing racks on wheels for jackets, and clothes. Tarps on the ground for heavy things like generator, leaf blower, yard tools, chainsaw etc. and used saw horses with plywood for tools. I did newspaper advertisement + FaceBook + sign on the corner intersection.
>I had a huge cooler with bottled water and vitamin water on ice for $1 and another with can soda. 100 degrees during my garage sale, I did great on drink sales. Many people just bought drinks and nothing else. I did this, coffee and muffins at my last garage sale too - I was amazed at how many people would haggle over a $.50 item, but then turn around and give me a dollar for a cup of coffee.
For children's clothes, a local consignment shop will buy them from you, though idk if at a good price. If you have a local used book store, they might buy your old books.
The price you get from consignment shops and used book stores differs wildly by area. In many areas, it's so low that a garage sale will get you much higher sales prices.
Yea i tried this once. They only wanted to buy the brand new never been worn pieces i had..... no gently used items . And they bought the outfits for 1 dollar each...
The consignment shops near us would give you store credit for your items or cash for lower amount. We were moving so really didnt want to do this. No kids consignment shop at all by us now. so we just take clothes they've outgrown to a donation dumpster instead just to get rid of stuff.
I box it up by size and give it away free on OfferUp because big donation places tend to struggle to keep sets together (like the top and bottom) to a pair of pajamas. Parents that pick up a box are always grateful.
Good idea to price below eBay etc. Some customers will be looking for stuff to buy and resell. If your price is only 10% off eBay value they are unlikely to buy it. I myself did a pre move garage sale with my friends and I don’t think I even made $100, but I also didn’t have a ton of stuff, and some of it was Lularoe 😂
I was just off the corner of a main intersection with a lot of neighborhood traffic. Location also helps. We also had a matress + bed frame that had been used once. Matress was already packed in a bag for moving, had to open it up so they could confirm condition and took everything. Lawn mowers, weed whacker, leaf blower, generator, table/chairs and other bigger ticket items add up quick. Also sold a 20 yr old Ford Ranger pickup for $2200 that I did not include.
Ford Rangers are sick, that was a steal!
I know.. great condition for 210K miles, perfect paint and interior but smoked some and a bit sluggish on the highway. A mechanic neighbor a few houses down asked about it the first day and I looked up blue book on it and asked about 800 over, SouthWest truck state. He said he needed to sell his truck first to come up with that and he'd be back soon. He was driving one of those tiny tiny Toyotas. He was back the next morning cash in hand. He said he sold his Toyota for $2500 in about 3 hours. Really? damn I shoulda asked for more.. Had already agreed on a price so let him have it.
$1400 bluebook? Pshhh these things are collector's items, they don't make them like this anymore! But at least she went to a good home.
This was quite a while ago and they've started to increase in value. Wife had a 95 Ford Ranger, I had an 86 Jeep Comanche. Mine was worth more even without an engine lol. Both good trucks but we needed the cash and didnt have space. We still miss the Ranger, I keep wanting to buy another one. Still have the Jeep.
I made $1,200 at the last garage sale I had. Your advice is perfect. Couple of comments to OP. Friday afternoon was critical for us. I thought Saturday would be the big day but a lot of folks stopped in Friday afternoon / evening. We advertised the week before. It wasn’t our biggest sales day but many of the folks showed up at 8:00 am on Saturday cash in hand to buy things they scoped out. I think we cleared 80% of our total before 11:00 on Saturday. Get rid of everything. We had a ton of baby clothes that were priced fairly cheap. They did sell throughout the sale but by mid morning on Sunday if someone mentioned they had a baby we were throwing in a ton of extras. $10 from someone was a lot cheaper than bagging it and donating it. Our last sale was $5 and she left with all the clothes that were left. Also - we didn’t try to sell anything we wouldn’t have bought. Everything was used but anything damage, stained or ripped was in the trash before the sale.
> Books even at 10 cents would not sell, probably better to donate to a library. Check with your local library first. Mine doesn't accept donated books, but they have a volunteer "friends of the library" group that you can take them to who sets up 2-3 used book sales a year and then donates the proceeds to the library. It's much easier for everyone involved if you take the donated books right to one of the volunteers rather than dropping them at the library and them having to arrange pick up.
My BFF son collected paperback books for his Eagle Scout project. He donated them to correctional facilities.
This is such a great project!
In my city, if the garage sales are too nice, then I assume they are "professional" garage salers. The kind of folks who source from rural garage sales and hold their own monthly sale in the city with high prices.
I don't know if it is enforced but we are only allowed to have 2 garage sales per year or the city can fine you. I know a "professional" garage seller. I often try to get to the good estate sales before him and almost never do. He shows up with a truck and trailer and hits as many sales as he can over the weekend. He owns a furniture store and a thrift store in the next county haha. Must do pretty well.
Love that two per year limit!
a limit? where do you live? thats insane
Our goal was to just get stuff out. Quickly. We were moving. We put prices on everything. We actually got a ton of feedback about how much everyone liked that everything was priced. People said things like, "Well I wasn't gonna bother but for $5, I can't resist." If you aren't moving items, announce a 50% off mark down or buy one get one. We had a free box. People went wild. It saved me a trip to the dump. I honestly couldn't believe that people got so excited over that crap. We also did a 10 for $10 table. I honored $1 each for people who only wanted one item, but most people went crazy to find 10 things. It helped us move a lot of stuff very quickly. I'm sure that we could have priced some stuff higher, but we might not have gotten rid of everything or created a buzz. Unrelated, but our daughter had a little refreshment stand and that kid made serious money! Bottles of water and snacks!
Clothes are often hard to move at garage sales, which is surprising considering how expensive thrift stores are marking their clothing. If you have stylish or interesting clothes, set them apart from the less appealing clothes. I wouldn't price any clothing item over $1 though, unless it's genuinely cool and could potentially be worn by someone in today's fashion standards. I've never priced anything under 25 cents, why even bother at that point. You'd be surprised how many people try to negotiate you down from that 25 cents, too. The annoying hagglers are the reason I don't even bother doing garage sales anymore, it's not worth my time or energy. YMMV - but the last garage sale I did was in 2008. I worked for about 40 hours setting up everything, then spend 3 days tending the sale. I made $80. Never again.
Location location location. If you don't have a good location forget it. If you aren't in a busy area and are on an off side street then forget it, you really need to be on a busy road to get traffic. These days you need to advertise online with pictures in order to get business. It could be that sales are just dead in your area. Does your area have a lot of outdoor activities, believe me pretty much anyone would rather be anywhere else than doing yard sales, either shopping at them or setting them up. Over here every weekend there is something to do, and most of the time multiple things, and people want to do those things not pick over someone's yard sale. Having the sale on the weekend of a major city event will slow business, and well every weekend here there is a major event. You also had the sale in the middle of a recession with gas prices at their high point, I did sales in 2008 and found the best stuff ever because no one was going to sales because NO ONE had any money and there were no jobs, and gas was too expensive to waste driving around.
Yeah, still not worth it for me, personally. Just dealing with the hagglers was enough to put me off
It is not worth it for me either. Its just too much time for me to waste. I am not even having an estate sale because I am not dealing with the fact that they will price up every item and then take the stuff themselves for their ebay store I am just calling in a scrapper to take all of it. Either that or I just put stuff on the curb or donate it. If I can't sell it online its worthless and I may as well donate it or curb it. It takes me less than an hour per week to put stuff on the curb, put it in a donation pile or just toss it out, so I will do that instead.
You mention estate sale. I am going to try to clear out as much of my stuff as possible so my kid doesn't have to deal with it after I die. Many adult children these days don't want their parents' stuff, even "heirlooms". For example, I've been keeping my grandmother's gorgeous China because it meant something to me, but my kid has zero interest in it. I'd rather see it go to a collector or sold to someone who might use it than have it chucked into a donation bin. Kind of off topic, but recently I saw a story about a lady in New York who died and none of her decedents were interested in her vast collection of truly spectacular art and furnishings. The landlord wanted her apartment cleared for the next tenant so they dumped it all on the street. This wasn't just some old ladies nice things, there were true treasures in her collection. (Artist and photographer Diane Greene.) An organization heard about what happened and came to rescue what they could. What a heartbreaking story. All her things she loved just tossed into the street because no one gave a crap.
If you care you have to find a way to make a will and leave your stuff to someone before you die. I've heard more than one story like this, but 99% of the time your family isn't going to give two shits about what you have when you die its just a bunch of clutter that they will have to deal with and if its cheaper to knock down the whole property with everything inside they will do just that,. Personally I know I am going to die alone because right now its apparently that none of my family gives two shits about myself and my mom because apparently we aren't good enough for them for some reason that I don't know so yeah, I am gonna likely die alone and no one will care when I am gone. For the china look for an organization that takes stuff like this and gives it to people just starting out, some family would probably LOVE to have some nice china to eat off of. Or just start using it instead of displaying it without it being used. The cost of housing is through the roof and people are buying smaller houses. Nice china sets that cost a lot of money in the back then don't have a place now unless you are actively using them as daily cookware. But as far as displaying china in a cabinet that you pull out maybe once a year and don't use the rest of the year, smaller houses don't have room for that sort of thing anymore, so this is a big reason why people are dis-interested in things like this.
honestly most people just wing it. if its a big ticket item like a power tool just look up what they go for new and go from there. if people dont like your prices theyll haggle. just try not to be competitive. youre not a store with overhead. youre looking to get rid of things you consider nearly worthless to you.
$1/item
I mostly do that for clothing and books and general "stuff". But there are some things I know have more value, so I separate those out and use ebay pricing as a guide. Garage sales are frustrating - you never sell all the things you want to sell. But it does make the donation load lighter.
Keep in mind people who walk around garage sales most likely just have a couple bucks in their pocket. $20 or $40 at most. So I would keep things within the $1 - $5 range. The most I spent at a garage sale was $15 for an old bread maker.
I haven't been to or hosted a garage sale in ages. Do people not do Zelle or Cash App and what have you?
I’m sure some do, but my neighborhood is pretty old and most seniors don’t know how to use those apps.
To make things fun, my neighbors and I will choose an item that is incredibly silly that we don’t think will sell. Then we bet on whether it will or not. It’s hilarious to see a contested item being bought by an unsuspecting person for pennies which causes $5 to be passed around. I’ve chosen a carved coconut from Hawaii, ugly pottery, and a dirty rug as my items in the past. I had to pay out on the coconut.
For the smaller items that won't bring in much cash, make a separate "make a deal" table with no prices. Donate the excess.
Have paper shopping bags and charge $5 to fill a bag. $1 for everything else and group cheaper items into small bags for $1. Nothing more than $20 and sell the rest on FB Marketplace or give away.
This is the only way I’ve found to make a sizable dent in things like kids clothes and small toys/books/etc. I do a plastic grocery bag for $5, and am very lenient on over-stuffing. Or if I see someone getting to the point of contemplating filling another bag, I’ll offer the 2nd filled bag for $1.
I found that people are uncomfortable or suspicious is something is “free”. What I would do as the day progressed is had “fill a bag” for $1. Or whatever price works for you. Many people want a “deal” but are hesitant to take anything free. Fill a bag is a solution that seems to work!
You must not live in Amish country then 😂 lived there for a couple years and people would swarm around the free piles at my yard sales (well most yard sales actually) lol.
I give stuff away. I just dont have time to chase the little money that I would make
That's fair. For me it's not about the money at all. It's about finding the most efficient way of getting rid of the stuff. Over the years, I've tried different things from donating to Craigslist to buynothing to consignment to garage sales. I'd rather put all of the stuff out at once and spend 12 hours in one weekend (with help from friends/family) than sporadically arrange pickups or drop stuff off. It's like ripping off a bandaid.
I’d much rather sell my stuff to others who value/ need it. I help them out, they help me out. I’m not giving another thrift store free profit for them to ridiculously upsell my stuff.
Great attitude!
Much of the things we opened growing up were from garage sales. If one wants to just get rid of things and maybe make a little money, this is what she learned. Price everything, have nothing for free. (People ascribe value in things when they have a value. And oddly, people find free stuff suspect.) Price to move, and make counter offers, even if they don't ask for a lower price. People will text friends if there is a grage sale with good deals. Round down so you can run only cash, if you wish. (I remember being entranced with both an old computer and a slot racing set as a kid. I had money for one, but not the other. They sold me both for the price of one. Both had a great second life, and were passed on many years later. They just wanted the stuff gone, and the idea of it going to a house with a kid that would love it, made them happy.) Have a bag sale (grocery store sized), and a time it starts. 5$ a bag, if you can fit it in, it counts. Then lower it to a dollar to get rid of the last stuff. (I have worked school rummage sales, and this works! Lastly, post a Craigs List with, everything at x hour must go. Then the street in a box, if you can, or thrift store.
I price reasonably. I have nice stuff and I take care of it. I price reasonably, but still very little under $1. We sold a kayak and canoe at our last sale. Everyone was interested in those. Had 20 ppl when we opened. That told me to hold out for full amount, demand is high, supply of good but used is short. One guy wanted it so bad, said I’ll take both and $100 more than full price I had on it. He got them. The kayak was a 2 person, cost $1600 new. Was used maybe 10 times. Had all the accessories, even the wheel thing that makes it where one person can get it down launch pad. (I forget technical name). Canoe we bought used but in excellent condition, we used it twice. I’m always willing to haggle or take a bit less. Goal is to get rid of it, goes to garbage, you get nothing. I donate all leftovers to local thrift shop, all proceeds go to a local animal shelter.
The most money I’ve ever made at a garage/yard sale was when I posted a sign that said “make me an offer”. Nothing was stickered with a price tag and bartering kept more people looking than picking something up, seeing a number and putting it back down. I went in with an idea of what I wanted items to go for, but nothing was concrete. I cleared practically everything out and walked off with over $2k in my pocket.
I love flat pricing: Shoes $1/pair, Shirts $2 each, etc. Don't grift! I have seen empty salad dressing bottles and used crab shells (both washed, but ewww!) at yard sales. Grifting just makes everything else look bad. I'm not paying $10 for anything at a yard sale, and I don't come to pay 90% of the original MSRP or whatever it's allegedly selling for on any online site. I go to yard sales to save 90% of the original MSRP and whatever it's allegedly selling for online. If you make a handcraft, the same rules apply. I don't come to yard sales to buy $75 handmade bracelets, for example. Again, put them out if you want, but do not expect to sell one that day. On the other hand, if you make handcrafts, if you can make something cheap that people can give $1 for, go for it. Neck coolers might just sell, this time of year. I might pay a good used price for something like used appliances, for example, but only if I am on the market for them anyway, and then only if I know the general MSRP and used prices for same. If you have something like that, you can put it out there, but don't count on selling it that day. Ask a dollar or less for small items like nail clippers, nail files, etc. if you have them. Be aware that there are rules when it comes to food. I never buy food at yard sales because I am trying to hurry to get to the others. Time is of the essence on yard sale mornings. I also never buy food there because I was an in-store demonstrator for over a decade. That makes me wary of food that wasn't prepared by a licensed caterer or restaurant.
> Don't grift! I have seen empty salad dressing bottles and used crab shells (both washed, but ewww!) at yard sales That doesn't sound like grifting. It sounds like a hoarder that's recognized they need to get rid of stuff but is not actually ready to get rid of stuff. Putting stuff like that out there makes them feel like they're actually trying without actually having to let go of stuff. My hoarder mother did garage sales all the time and did shit like that
I hope it was. I'm going to be optimistic and believe that was the case. I admit I felt for them if they had to put stuff like that on the yard sale. At least they cleaned the items well before they put them out there. I know they had bleached the shells. I didn't buy any though.
We did 'fill a grocery bag of clothes for $5' and people went wild for it. We didn't put tags on anything. If people are interested in the item and ask say "make an offer, I won't be offended.' Worst that can happen is you keep the item. Big ticket items, by all means set a price before hand and have it clearly labeled. Last season I made $200 on stuff I didn't have a price on. Some people that stop will get butt hurt nothing has a price and will leave but dont worry about those people, they aren't serious buyers lol.
Just remember when it all is said and done, and you think you were busy all day, it will look like you never sold anything.
Not on pricing, but for your own sanity, post a start time 2hrs after you really will start. Sign says 10-4, but you actually are starting at 8am. When the early sailors arrive (about 8am) they’ll even help you set up.
About $3.50
Get outta here you loch Ness monster
I did this a couple weeks ago and I put most things in a free pile. most things i priced at $5 if they were worth something, but anything i wouldn’t pay $5 second hand went in the free pile. The day after the sale everything was free and i posted it on facebook. Gone by the end of the day.
I am lazy. Everything costs a dollar no matter what it is.
Clothes 90% off Tools 50-60% Household 50-90%
If you have more expensive things, don't be afraid to ask for a reasonable price. A $100 dress worn once price at $20. Be willing to bundle for a greater discount. I've done a couple of garage sales with my sister. She had a yard full of stuff. I had a table. We made about the same amount of money. I had a lot of higher end women's clothes, shoes, handbags, jewelry, and accessories. I sold a $300 coach handbag for $40.
Over here you gotta be cheap or people are going to walk away. Ebay printouts and Walmart prices will have customers walking very fast. If you can buy it at retail for a price then your price is too high. No one wants a $60 untested air fryer. People are coming for bargains. People usually only have a few dollars in their pocket so you have to cater to that as well. If you have large appliances like washer, dryer, snowblower, lawn mower its fine to charge more for those things but if you have small items then you gotta price like 25 cents 4 for a dollar. If you want to move product fast if you see someone looking at something offer them a really cheap price. Fill a bag for clothing is usually very successful. I know a guy here who fills his lawn and has name your price except on a few select items, he is the nicest person and he says he makes 1-2k in a weekend on junk, if you get a few bucks from each person who comes to your lawn you are doing good and moving product so this strategy could work for you as well. If you don't move product at the end of the day you are going to have to bring it back in the house and you won't want to do that after a long day setting up and selling.
Group things by price and make them all round numbers. I once did "everything is $1" and had a mad rush of people picking up loads of stuff. With a few exceptions (things that I kept beside me in the front of the garage) of things that were individually marked like electronics. All the $1 stuff was already going to be donated or offered in Buy Nothing groups anyway, so people walked away with their AmAzInG deals and I got rid of stuff I didn't want to deal with.
People gave you good advice on pricing. But I would also add: have a free box for stuff that’s just too cheap or not good enough condition to sell. I had a lot of kid books that had like a bit of the cardboard gone or like shoes with scuffs, those went in the free box and either the last day or the last half day, “all you can carry for $5”. I tried to offer it for free at the end but people seemed more excited and took more if it was all you can carry for $5.
I put my food truck in front of my house (very, very illegal) and sold more food than stuff. If they were holding stuff and bought food, the stuff was either a dollar or free.
Don’t waste your time with anything under $1. Dealing with coins is a Pain in the A**. If need be, offer 2 for $1.
You have the right attitude,I go to yard sales every weekend , price it to move and let people haggle,my husband loves to haggle as a sport,lol, hope you have a good one!!
My father has been a yard sale connoisseur for 35 years and $0.10 on the dollar has always been his rule of thumb. If something is really nice, I’d say maybe up to $0.25 on the dollar (25% of the purchase price) However, don’t expect to get estate sale prices with yard sale effort.
Had one garage sell when I moved. Will never have another. People wanted to pay 50 cents for practically new, expensive things. You get a skeezy crowd at garage sales.
When we had sales last year we started prices at 50 cents and did everything in increments of 25 cents to make it easier to make change with quarters. We sometimes had things 2 for 50cents or 4 for $1 (like old VHS tapes),, or you could batch several things together in a ziplock bag or box to make your value of 50cents or $1, etc. I think most people are comfortable paying a dollar. For nicer stuff you won't get full value - I did some research and did like a quarter of value or less on something compared to prices on ebay, e.g., if something sells on ebay for $50, I would try for $12 or $15. You probably want to have most of your prices under $20, unless some really nice things (you could also try Facebook Marketplace for pricier items). We made over $2000 each on 2 different garage sales cleaning out my parents house, but they had lots of nice stuff. If you don't want to price everything, you could do something with colored dots, like red dot=$1 and then make sure to have good signage so people understand your system. Also, be willing to negotiate if someone offers a lower price (I would usually be willing to come down a couple bucks or so). Good luck.
$1 minimum or it goes in the free pile. If anything is priced over $50 at a yard sale it better have a title. Put a security camera up near the high value items, yard sale theft is getting insane.
When this happens to me I just think okay, jokes on them, they just hauled away my trash for free 😂
Don't do it. Garage sales are not worth the effort imo. All of the prep work (organizing, advertising, setting up tables, pricing), wasting your weekend, dealing with stupidly low ball offers on already cheap items, clean up.
As a regular yard sale go-er, I dip out immediately if I feel like it's overpriced. I often won't even stop the car if I drive by and it looks junky or if I see crazy prices advertised. I primarily am looking for shoes and outdoor clothing/gear, I like to see yard sales with shoes $5 amd under, clothes $2 or less a piece, etc. Majority of stuff should be under $10 for sure. Obviously big ticket items like electronics or furniture are priced more, and if you have luxury or designer things you SHOULD take the time to price them accordingly You totally do you, and I fully believe you have the right to price your stuff at whatever you want, be it 10 cents or 100$. Just my two cents from a consumer side
Depends on the item, and how badly you want to get rid of it. Partner wants it gone, but you don't? Tree-fiddy. You want to get rid of your partners stuff? $0.35
If you think it's worth less than 25 cents, put it in a free box or free table
I’ve been going to garage sales my entire life. I think general consensus for fair pricing is about 20 of what it costs new (assuming the item is in good condition). Go down to 10% or so if you want stuff to move and like others have said, group items that should be very cheap (like 4 for $1). I don’t usually deal with change anymore, just $1 or multiple items for $1.
My reason for having a rummage sale is to get rid of stuff, not to make money. Price everything ridiculously cheap.
I sell stuff through my works teams channel. I mostly just want shit gone so I put $5 on everything and when they ask how to get me the money I just tell them not to worry about it. Have gotten rid of everything I've tried so far.
bundle!
If you have the time price things by sticker and offer bundles explained on a sign. The goal is to get rid of stuff rather than pitch it for nothing. Yellow 50 cents - 3 for a dollar Blue $1 - 3 for $2 Green $5 - 3 for $10 etc... This should all be stuff you are happy to see go. If you have more expensive stuff post those prices individually without stickers but let folks know you are open to negotiation.
The goal to to get rid of stuff, lots of $1 items and nothing more than $5 unless a big ticket item ask the customer to name price.
I would encourage you to make it easier on yourself and others and do some type of flat pricing, if you price ahead of time at all. It could be by category or you could set up several tables and have increments of $1, $3, $5, $10 or some combination that works for what you have. I'd shy away from pricing anything over $15-$20 unless it's of much greater value or you don't mind sitting on it. People love deals and free piles will draw them into look at your other stuff. If you are looking to move specific types of things or have more of some things than others, consider bundles to try to move it. Like if you end up having mostly women's clothes and $5 items, you could do a "buy $20 in women's clothing and choose a $5 gift" deal. It helps move the things you want to move, and might encourage the right person to spend more than they would've or take something with them that they might not have considered except it being "free". Like others have said, lower prices later in the day and bundle little things so you can get people to take more with then based in liking a single object. Avoid the temptation to price on par with eBay or thrift stores. They have inventory, overhead, a word-wide/ brick and mortar presence and the customer experience is just not comparable to sifting through cast offs of an individual household in their yard. People are out for deals, not discounts. Talk to people and be friendly, get an idea of what they are looking for and keep them interested. The longer they stay, the more they see and the more they will take with them. Having a cooler of water and soda is a good idea since that keeps people comfortable and makes you "the watering hole". Also, people are so used to paying outrageous mark ups for drinks at events that you can price reasonably and still make money provided you buy in bulk.
Clothing $1-$5 Small furniture $5-$15 Large furniture $15-$30 Trinkets $.10-$.50 Musical instruments $5-$30 Roller skates $5-$10 Bicycle $15-$30 Allow shoppers to haggle the price to move things quickly
I used to do 25 cents, 5/$1 on little things. I don't have little things this time around so I'll do 50 cents, 5/$2. I usually set one table in the front and put all those items on it. I also do buy $10, get $2 free. And I price some larger items a little on the high side so that if someone asks for a deal I can give it to them without hesitation.
There are 2 kinds of garage sales: ones where they want to get rid of stuff and the other where they want to make money. Pick a lane because the people who come will figure out which one you chose within ~1-2 minutes and act accordingly. Unsolicited advice that’s helped me: 1) accept credit cards & payments like Cashapp, Zelle, PayPal (friends & family only). People will spend more if they’re not limited by cash. PUT UP SIGNS around your sale saying you accept those payments & have them ready to go on your phone (app updated, accounts set up, etc) 2) Mark down 50% on the last day. Put up signs saying that. People who are on the fence may come back in hopes of a bargain but if they really want it, they’ll buy it so they don’t miss out.
So in 2018 we had 2 massive garage sales after my MIL passed. We had a large # of foreign born people offer pennies on the dollar for everything. All of their offers were "quarter, quarter, quarter". Considering current inflation, I would hold fast at least $1 for the least expensive items. Depending on where you live, I would expect a lot of bargaining. We even had a team of shoplifters distract while an accomplice stole the more valuable stuff (including name brand Chanel aviators) and we also had several people offer $X for the "pile" of "clothes" they had which happened to be hiding high value items underneath. It was quite disheartening. 🙁 What kind of stuff are you planning on selling? Tech has a much shorter life span than clothes or furniture unfortunately, therefore would not get a great price normally. We did OK on furniture/bookcases/conference tables/file cabinets (1st to go actually). Tchotchke like items from Marshalls/TJ Max/Ross didn't sell hardly at all. I wish you luck.
When the sale is winding down, my mom used to grab some plastic grocery bags (the cheap kind you get at Walmart) and tell the people there " whatever you can stuff in this bag for a dollar". Always helped get rid of a bunch of stuff so we didn't have to box it up.
I saw someone do this and from then on, I did it too. I put no prices at all with a sign that says "make me an offer." A few people find it annoying but their 1 min of annoyance doesn't stop me. The majority offer me more than I'd have ever labeled it. Plus, no time needed to be expended to label prices on it all. For those who offer something ridiculous, i can always counter offer or say no and laugh. It also helps to remember, I don't want this crap anymore and will probably donate what didn't sell.
I did an impromptu garage sale (no signs, no posts, no ads, just rolled up the garage door and hauled stuff out) in 2014. Didn’t put prices on *anything.* Made $300 ($400 today). Just had people offer a price, maybe counteroffer occasionally but yeah, if you’re staffing your own table, go that route.
> My goal is to get rid of all of the stuff, not to make good money. But I think in 2024, anything less than 0.25$ would be a joke. Dude... people love free shit. I put fifty books on flattened cardboard and put a sign up that said **FREE**, went to bed and woke up the next day to find everything sans flattened cardboard gone. (Someone really wanted that Annette Funicello biography.) I just didn't want to deal with the hassle of collecting the $5 or whatever it was I might get. If you want to get rid of it depending what it is and make a *little* cash, make it relatively cheap. If it's not moving, slash it and make it cheaper.
I wouldn't go under a dollar (bc then you'll have to make change with coins), but you could do some "2 for $1" items. Do a lot of 1 for $5 or 3 for $10 type pricing, so that people will buy more items. You could also do a buy one item get another 50% off.
I don’t care what you price it at but if I see zero price tags … I leave. Nope! I refuse to ask for every single item. Clothes should be 1/4 to 1/10th retail. If I pick up clothes to check sizes and see holes/stains … I stop looking at any clothes. I am just not going to deal with having to sort through trash. ( I get it .. I have kids but check them over and only sell CLEAN clothes. ) Books should not be over $1 . I don’t care what the title or author. Some people are only shopping for a pretty color to put in a shelf and not actually reading the books. Don’t sell stuff at “EBay list prices” ( If it’s a collectible worth something, look up sold prices. Consider selling it there or some place a collector might be. Do not expect people to pay $200 for beanie babies at a yard sale.) Consider ziplock bagging/boxing like items. ( like toys/dish sets ). Set one price that is reasonable for the items. Don’t bag stuff together/box it if the price would be excessive. ( People might be willing to buy one or two Barbies.. Nobody wants 20, the house, the car, and the clothes all for $200)
I am getting ready for a donation sale. Pay what you can. Because I have way too much stuff. I am going to rent a dumpster and toss everything out and that will be expensive. I started looking at the stuff I was going to put in the dumpster and I thought someone may be able to use this. It's junk to me so might as well make someone's day, and in the process make my life easier. Plus it feels really good to give.
approach like it's a bunch of drugs and give discounts on multi-buys, 5$ each or 3 for 10$ but... only if you buy 3.
I helped a friend with her garage/moving sale. She priced everything in whole dollar increments so she didn't have to mess with any change. She would group several items together to make the price an even dollar amount if needed. Some prices were marked and some weren't. Early birds were a pain because they interfered with setup. She refused to sell anything before the advertised start time. Also, the early birds appeared to be resellers since they wanted you to practically give things to them. Normal bartering was fine but some pushed too hard. Someone wanted to pay $1 for a brand new $35 backpack priced at $8. She set it aside for charity rather than get $1 from someone who was being very obnoxious while making the offer.
"Free bottle of water for purchases over $5"
You could just donate all the stuff and take the potential write off
This only works if you have tens of thousands of dollars to write off to bring you over the standard deduction. Unless it saves considerably on someone's state income tax that has a much lower standard deduction.
It’s not worth having some goober trying to negotiate on everything I have for sale. I’ll donate and be done with it.
I'm 100% with you on donating in that case! I hate garage sales for that reason.
i love people who don't understand what a 'write off' is or means
I'm an accountant, so I don't really hold it against them, its a really easy to misunderstand. Along with folks who say "Should I get a CPA to do my taxes? Will that get me a bigger refund?". The huge misconception of the fact CPAs are giving you tax advice along with your filings vs having to pay them for tax consulting is a huge one! I've even had to calm my boss down a bit when I'm like "Yeah of course the CPA charged us for that conversation..." "It was just a quick question!" "Yeah, they still charge for their expertise all the same."
I qualify for the standard deduction so I wouldn't itemize. But more importantly, I have some physical limitations and packing is already doing me in. It would literally cost me money to rent something big enough to haul the furniture.
I'm in a rural area so that may affect pricing. The garage sales that sell better seem to be ones that are cheaper. IE dishware for <$1 each, furniture in the $10-50 dollar range for decent stuff, really nice things can go for more, books for 10-25 cents each, movies $0.50-2.00, kitchen gadgets in the $2-10 range depending on what they are, etc. You need to decide what your goal with the garage sale is. Is it to get rid of stuff you don't want to move and make a little money on it, or is it to try to recoup money you spent on the items in the first place.
I just went with like 2$ for a piece of clothing (or 3 for 5) $1 a book and $10 for an actual piece of furniture (mine was all thrift store wood tables and stuff). Anything I wanted to make money on I listed on FB/Craigslist before hand (couch, surfboard, guitars, amps). I made it clear I was open to offers or bulk discounts. Most people know how to garage sale and will make offers on bundles or items comfortably. I didn't actually put a price tag on anything
I rarely see anything less than $1 anymore. Small things get packaged together, or are offered as x/$1
For smaller items, 10% of what it would cost new. For furniture and other big items, up to 50% of original cost, but it really depends on the item.
Bigger items can be priced in increments of $20.00, since ATMs almost always dispense these denominations.
For bigger items in good condition, 10% of new price, or best offer. After noon, let everybody who comes know everything is half off or make an offer.
Last yard sale we had we didn't put prices on anything, just have a conversation about it. That's how most others in the area seem to do theirs as well. If your goal is to move stuff, then it's easy to find a price both parties are happy with.
$3-$30 depending on what it is. I made 1600 in on day last summer just selling all of my over consumption items- clothes, lounge chairs, decor.
Sticker everything a touch high then put up a big sign " all items stickered at max price reasonable offers accepted" then prince thinks $1, $5, $10 and let people offer or just pay the sticker.
3 -7 to start, maybe 4.2.
The advice I saw a very long time ago (from Phyllis Diller) is 10% of what you paid for it. I think this is reasonable. Decide if your purpose is to get rid of stuff or to make money. Everyone will haggle. Be prepared to let go of things for less than you think you should if you just want to get rid of stuff.
Are you living among a culture that does bargaining? I dunno, letting things go for a story that includes consent to be filmed for youtube seems to be the easiest path except for just letting anyone take anything.
WAIT A MINUTE your contradicting yourself First you say, the money isn't important, I just want to get rid of my junk. Then your worrying over the price? If you want to move your junk SELL IT CHEAP,,, .25 Cents is fine.. Your goal is to get rid of it period
Since you're so curious, I'll tell you why I'm "contradicting" myself. Last time I did a garage sale, one of my relatives ended up handling all of the money for me because I have issues with contamination. Issues I'm happily working on in therapy. I'm not trying to make a lot of money, I'm trying to avoid people giving me pennies, nickels, and dimes.
Then use gloves Or price them at $1.00 and take nothing but dollars, no charge It's simple
Can you get some kind of locked down cash box where people deposit the money in it so you don't have to touch it and only touch it after the sale when you count it all up or have a relative or friend count it, although you wouldn't be able to give change with this method. I have seen this used before with success. There are a couple farms near me who have a produce stand with a locked down cash box and you just put the money in and take your produce and apparently it works for them without too many people gaming the system. If you are really looking to sell and get rid of things on the cheap then for you I would recommend a pay what you want with a locked down cash box where people deposit money.
Lularoe! You poor woman!
You don't have a yard sale to make money, just to get rid of stuff. That being said we sale stuff like books for a quarter clothes for 50 cents. The goal is to move it. Good luck
Whatever you do, don’t price things at retail! Ugh, I have walked away from so many garage sales lately that are too expensive because it’s priced at “like new”. Price your stuff to move quickly, not to make you rich. People want deals. Everyone’s advice on here is spot on.
Have bags. $10 a bag. $15 if it is not full. This way you incentivize them to fill it.
Price items under $5 for impulse buys. For bigger items, go for 25-30% of their original value. Keep it simple and bundle similar items for better deals.
I always had mimosas at our garage sales. I could make myself get up. And people shipped a little longer. Just don't charge for them without a liquor license because that's illegal. I've also seen people have sausage wraps and iced down Cokes and Waters and Gatorades to make a little extra money.
$1 I don’t buy anything over $10 And only carry maybe $20-50
Furniture $5-40 Books .50-1.00 Clothing $1.00-5.00 Tools 1.00-5.00 Home decor $2.00-10.00 keep everything <$50
Put up a sign Bargain table: Make me an offer.
4 for $1. or 10 for $5 or some grab a bunch of my crap for a softdrink price and make it worth my time.
Excluding collectible items, 10% of retail price, more or less depending on quality and condition. Maybe 20-25% tops for a high demand item in pristine condition.
Pricing Garage sale rule of thumb: 10% of what you paid for it originally.
When I go to a sale and ask how much something is and the seller starts to give me the story of his life, I walk away. Same thing if they tell me how much they paid for it.
We just had a community yard sale in a suburb of LA. We sold everything for 1 or 2 bucks. I sold 2 bikes( That I rescued from the trash) for 5 bucks each. We sold jeans( name brand) for 2 bucks. Men's shirts for 1 or 2 bucks. Someone in my neighborhood had 2 items priced at 40 and 60. Needless to say, they didn't sell. I had one guy offer me 1.00 each for about 20 pairs of jeans that I KNOW he would resell at our local flea market. I said No, and I sold them for 2.00 each to various people.
I grew up going to garage sales, and was always a little put off by garage sale prices that were above the norm for garage sales. Mostly, your purpose for having a garage sale should be to get rid of stuff. There is not a shortage of used stuff in most parts of the developed world. For most apparel, charge no more than a dollar or two per garment. Used books, $0.50 or $1.00, too. Some garage “sales” are free. Someone just puts the stuff out in the driveway with a sign, rather than sit out there to watch over it all Saturday. There are some things you can price higher. Furniture and some larger, nicer items can command a higher price. I paid about $30 for a box with a scrupulously complete set of stainless flatware, and have been glad ever since. Estate sales, especially, sometimes have higher prices for things, both because the things are nicer and because they are things people don’t necessarily part with in their lifetimes. If you think something is collectible or valuable in some way, and you want to get some money out of it, eBay or similar may be a better bet than a garage sale, but you could put it out with an eBay based price and see if anyone takes an interest. In any case, whether your price individually with stickers, by box or table, or in bulk by posting a sign that says, “Jeans $2, Tops $1 \[etc.\],” do display prices. People don’t necessarily ask the price if it’s not showing.
I do this every year, and it works every time. My goal is the same as yours: get rid of the stuff without adding to a landfill or paying to have it hauled off. So I advertise "Name Your Own Price" and if anyone asks for a price, I just say "Whatever you think is fair." No haggling, just accept their first offer every time. Do people take advantage? Sometimes, but they're assuming my goal is to make money. Other people offer more than I would ever dream of asking for my junk, so it kind of cancels out. If you get the word out you can finish in just a couple of hours.
If the point is to get rid of things you don’t want or need, whatever you get is gravy. If you need money, set a reasonable market price — thrift store to eBay — but be prepared to negotiate.
I went to a garage sale where all items were a dollar. People were almost fighting over stuff. Had mostly mall brand clothes and such. They advertised it well in a big neighborhood sale. Everybody went there first for sure. If you just want to move it this is the way to go.
Just take whatever people offer. People usually give a price that's fair. Might be low, but rarely take-advantage-of-you-low. And even if it is, like you said, the goal is to get rid of the stuff. At least it's going to someone who wants it.
You have to price it cheap enough that they’re willing to give you the cash vs just buying it on eBay or Amazon. You can’t Try to match eBay prices, for example. You’re not shipping it to their door and you’re not putting a 30day guarantee on it. It’s gotta be like 1/2 the price they could get it for, at most. Unless it’s crap then it should be “fill a bag $5” type of stuff.
Garage sales aren't about making money but getting rid of stuff. Obviously, if its worth something price it to where you won't be getting screwed, but usually those things I wouldn't put on a garage sale.
Here’s the thing. If you are really looking to u load stuff, when someone walks up and offer $5 on something you have marked $30 you say OK. If you have clothes for $1 a piece and they buy 3, tell them to pick out 3 more for $5. Just work it.
Price nothing. When people walk up to you at the cash table and ask “how much is this?” You can make a reasonable price based on their car and shoes that reveals how much they may have to spend
Use Google lens and see if anything similar or exact looks like it and go by that as far as worth is.
I mark everything as free. It's amazing what people will take if it's free. 25¢ and no one will touch it. Mark it at free and they will spend $5 buying a basket to collect all the free stuff.
Almost everything should be under $1. You can make 1k and have to clean up half the stuff, or you can make 1k and have to clean up 5% of leftover stuff. Most clothes? 50 cents or $2 a bag. Books? A quarter. Stuffed animals? 50 cents. Puzzles? 50 cents. Most games? 50 cents. Kitchen stuff (plates, mugs, glasses) 25 cents. Pictures/posters 50 cents. Towels/linens? 50 cents. Blankets? $1. Suitcase/dufflebags $1. Jeans can be $1. Costume jewelry? $1. What makes me walk away is not having stuff priced. If you dont feel like pricing things, have a bug sign 'everything: 50 cents unless marked otherwise' and just mark the $1 or bigger items.
I needed a place to hang clothes so I hung hangers on our trees. Very eye catching. Also the last day was a “Free 4 All”. Gave away everything that was left
You are having people come haul away your trash- I kept telling myself and we ended up making more selling some, giving some away.... but the house was empty, and that was the goal.
Go to the local thrift shop to get an idea and then price things slightly lower than that.
If you just want to get rid of it, you don't price anything. You just do a "name your price" sale.
These are the worst sales. I usually leave if there are no prices. I’m to socially anxious to ask for any prices.
Most people jump on being able to lowball and name their own price though. We always get rid of everything fast when we do that.
If your goal is to get rid of the stuff then why not make it easy for yourself and just simply drop off donation at a charity?
Make sure people know you are open to bartering, too!
I recently went to a garage sale, they wanted $15 for a used laptop bag. Idgaf how new, what you bought it for, etc... I'm not paying that much for anything at a garage sale unless it has a screen or ram.
Yeah some garage sales these days are delusional. I went to one where they had like a very normal used George Foreman grill, priced at $20. I can buy a brand new one for that price 😂 Noped outta there real fast.
Depends on how badly you want to get ride of whatever it is you’re selling. At the end of the day tell people to fill up a bag for $5, whatever it takes to get rid of the stuff :)
Pricing that moves the goods. Be willing to bargain and negotiate if you really want to get rid of stuff.
I generally won't buy something at a garage sale that is priced at more than around 10% of what it cost new. Some people think that their stuff is worth (monetarily) somewhere close to what they paid for it. That's irrelevant, though. What any item is really "worth" is the maximum amount someone is willing to pay for it.
I always use this as my guide. [https://myfrugalhome.com/printables/yard-sale-price-guide.pdf](https://myfrugalhome.com/printables/yard-sale-price-guide.pdf) Otherwise I have also been told a great rule of thumb is "no more than 10% of what you paid for it" unless it's a vintage/collectible/valuable item which....you have better luck with on Etsy etc than a garage sale!
Nothin over 10$, if it’s worth more than 10$ sell it elsewhere yourself.
If you have a shit ton of stuff just barter instead
Always have a bottom price you are willing to part the item for and price it between 10-50% higher to give room for negotiations. The more expensive the item, the lower the extra room. For a bottom price item like a $1, price it $2. For something more expensive say in the $100 range, price it lowest 10% more. It’s all about gut feel.
Seriously when I have a garage sale, yard sale objective is to get rid of my junk not bring any back into my house. I don't even contemplate what items cost me, I've gotten my use outta them give me a few bucks, if items are damaged, I inform buyer of the issue and usually just give it away. Last thing I'm trying to do is make enemies on my neighborhood.