How to Price Furniture for a Garage Sale
If your extra furniture is overtaking your house or you're simply ready to replace some of the older pieces in your home, perhaps the time has come to host a garage sale. One of the keys to a successful yard sale is careful pricing; list things too high and you may turn away buyers, but list too low and you may not make enough money for the sale to be worthwhile. Price your furniture for a garage sale based on how much you paid when you bought the piece and how well it has held up since then. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Visit other garage sales in your area over a few weeks before hosting your own. Price the various furniture items other people are selling, especially in your neighborhood or near the part of town where you live. Pay attention to the quality and condition of the items as well; the same coffee table in good shape should cost more than one in bad repair, which can account for differences in pricing. Visiting other garage sales will give you an idea for the average price of secondhand furniture in your area. Keep your own price decisions around this ballpark figure, or else you may lose customers.
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Shop at consignment stores, antique or junk shops and flea markets. Find furniture pieces similar to the ones you have to sell, and identify the cost of these items at local re-sale establishments. You should price your furniture slightly below these places in order to remain competitive with them, since they will have a larger selection than you do on an average day.
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Determine the amount you paid for the furniture when you bought it. A general rule of thumb, according to CBSnews.com and the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota Star-Tribune, is to price furniture at 25 percent of the original cost. This figure assumes that the furniture is in an appropriately good condition for its age and only has minor wear and tear or is still like new. If furniture is broken, damaged or scratched, then you should take even more off the price.
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Add approximately 10% of the cost back onto the price. This way, when a customer comes to your garage sale and wants to bargain, you can offer that 10% back to them, and they will not realize you intended to sell it for the lower price to begin with. Be flexible in your pricing, and consider whether you really want to make a certain dollar amount or if your overall goal is to get the furniture out of your house without giving it away for free.
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Tips & Warnings
Clean all of your furniture prior to the sale, and use polish, wood finish, sandpaper or paint to fix up any minor blemished areas. This will help you sell the furniture at a higher rate than if you tried to sell it with obvious damage.
References
- Photo Credit for sale sign image by jcpjr from Fotolia.com
