How to Set Prices for a Garage Sale

Garage sales can be a fun and profitable way to clear away excess “stuff”. The best offer items in good condition for the low prices. Here is a great way to get the most out of your garage sale.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• The desire to clean out your house
• Price tags or blue painters tape
• Marker
• Signs

1. Keep collectibles separate Start early. Clean out your attic, basement, closets, etc. and have one spot in your house to put anything you want to get rid of, but aren’t willing to throw away. Make sure everything is clean and in good repair. Separate collectibles from other items, as these should be researched before pricing.
2. Price everything to sell. Remember – the purpose of a garage sale is to get rid of everything. General clothing can go for $.50 - $1 with designer or more substantial items (such as winter coats or fancy dresses) going for $10-$20; small toys and stuffed animals for $.50 - $5; DVDs and Videos for $1-$5; paperback books for $.25, etc. Price the items just above what you will actually take for them. This allows for a little haggling room. You’ll be more likely to sell your item, and your customer will be happy because they talked you down from what you wanted.
3. Furniture advertisment to show value Large ticket items. Items you want to get the most money for, but you definitely want to get rid of, should be priced to sell. It helps to put a sales advertisement near the price tag to show how much it's worth. Remembering that you want to price slightly high to allow for negotiating, the best rule of thumb is to consider about 10% -20% of the actual purchase price if the item's condition warrants it. For example, if you have a dining room table and 4 chairs you wish to sell, find a sales flyer from your local store that shows how much it would cost new. If you paid $500 for the set, put a $70 price tag on it, then prepare to haggle. Don’t use this on every item, just the few that will have the most impact.
4. Teddy Bear signed by Olympic Medal Winner Sara Hughes Pricing collectibles & antiques. Whatever you do don’t put out a sign that says “Best offer” or “Make me an offer”. Even though this is the easiest for you, it practically guarantees that no one will buy that item. Research the collectibles and antiques you are going to put out. Have some idea of their worth, and price just below. This allows you to get what you think the item is worth while a savvy customer gets a bargain. Be aware, antique dealers and collectors tend to frequent garage sales looking for bargains. Do your research, it's worth it. Some great places to start include MyThings.com, The Garage Sale Pricing Guide(link below), collector sites and ebay listings.
5. Make sure everything you are going to sell is ticketed. You can use either premade price stickers and tags, or blue painters masking tape. The stickers should be removable or placed in such away as not to take away from the value of an item. There is nothing worse than buying a book and not being able to get the price tag off without ripping the cover. Group like items together, and make a sign highlighting them. For example, place all the adult women’s clothes together, and make a sign saying “Ladies clothes $.50 - $2.00”. This will attract attention to the area.
6. If sales aren’t going well – consider having a ½ price sale. This can be done either all at one time, or for highlighted items. Similar to a “Blue Light Special”, have everything on the kitchen / appliance table ½ price from 12:00 – 1:00, then move your “blue light” to another table, marking those things at ½ price. This should generate excitement, as your customers won’t know what’s going on sale next. It also keeps your customers looking, and hopefully shopping, which will generate more traffic to your sale.

Tips & Warnings

• Mark any damaged item or anything that you think works but aren’t sure about with an “as is” tag and a low price.
• Donate anything not sold to a charity like Goodwill or Salvation Army, being sure to remove the price tag labels before having a pickup made. This allows you to still keep your house cleaned out, while contributing to a worthwhile cause.
• Keep any unsold collectibles or antiques for sale on Ebay.