How to Organize and Plan a Successful Rummage Sale

Items you no longer need can bring in cash at a rummage sale.

Rummage sales are a summer staple across the country. If you have a number of decent items to sell at reasonable prices, you should be able to make good money in just a few days. You can organize and plan a successful rummage sale, a term prevalent in the Midwest that is synonymous with garage or yard sale.

Things You'll Need

• Labels for price tags

Instructions

1. Begin the process weeks or even months ahead of time. Go through every room in your home, one by one. Clean out drawers and closets. Set aside a pile of the things you intend on selling at your rummage sale.

2. Go through the pile of things you set aside to sell piece by piece. Mark each item with a sticker with the price you intend to sell it.

3. Separate the items by category, such as kitchen stuff, furniture, clothes and so forth. Store the items in a safe place, such as your basement, garage or spare room.

4. Pick any weekend to have your rummage sale. Advertise for a week before your rummage sale. Getting the word out about your rummage sale is key to its success. Put up signs at the end of your street, fliers at the local grocery store or an ad in the paper. Many localities also offer free Internet listings for rummage sales.

5. Set out your priced, categorized items in your yard or garage on the day of the sale and wait for people to come.

References

• University of Florida IFAS Extension: Garage Sales
• New Mexico State University Cooperative Extension Service: Garage Sales: Cash Not Trash
• University of Milwaukee Madison Linguistics: Dialect Survey: Rummage Sale