How to Have a Garage Sale?

[teenymom]

Sorry, I really have no idea where to post this. I've never had a garage sale before, but after my insane nesting rampage this week, I have a million things to get rid of. How do you go about having a garage sale? Do you have to get a permit? Put an ad in the paper? Sorry if those are dumb questions, but I've never hosted one, and really never been to one that wasn't a friend's or in my neighborhood or something...

[msskitty]

Great questions - I was planning on posting about this topic too! Hope you don't mind if I add a few more questions... I read that clothing sells better if its hanging but where do you get all those hangers and are there any inexpensive things to use as something to hang the clothes on? I don't have a portable closet or anything like that. How much change does one need? I am guessing that lots of ones will be needed. Thank you!!

[coffeezen]

Not dumb questions!

You don't need a permit, unless you plan on doing it once a week.

You don't need an ad in the paper unless you want to advertise. Some folks are serious about garage sailing and they WILL check the newspaper or craigslist for sales, but you don't have to. I never do.

Just gather up your stuff, put some price tags on them, and put it in your yard! It helps to put out as many signs in the neighborhood as you can directing people to your sale. And make sure you go to the bank so that you can have cash on hand to make change. Decide ahead of time whether or not you will take checks from people. And I always like to have pop in a cooler for sale, just for fun!

Have fun, let us know how it goes!

[mums]

Check your city's regulations on garage sales. If not in a "city", call county to see what regulations they have. This way you have yourself covered. Remember to write down the person's name that you talked with or the "fine" will cost you.

Next, check with the KC Star, they once had a KIT for garage sales. Thought that was cool for them to do.

Do you live on a busy street or very low traffic? Busy? One sign will be enough. Low traffic, you may need several signs to point the way to your sale. Helium filled balloons are an attention-getter, but they cost $$. Sale flags that can be stretched between things in the front yard help the most. You don't have to have these, but if you want to sell out, it helps.

Tag, tag, tag. You can't tag enough. They'll still ask you the price, but it will help the day go better if you have tagged everything with a price. Make the prices even: 10 cents, 20, 30, etc. No 15 cents or 25. Makes a mess with change. Yep, even the good ol quarter, can glitch making change.

You'll need about $60. in cash to start. Three rolls of dimes, three rolls of quarter, lots of ones. I personally never found use for the $5 or $10 bills. You got a lot of those from customers.

Have things all set up and ready for customers by (it's an ungoodly hour, but DO IT) 5 a..m. Start at 4 a.m. to be finished by the five o'clock a.m. hour. Even if you advert. at 8 a.m., they'll be all over your stuff and inside your house if you don't do it that early!! I speak from experience!

If you don't have the change for a customer, hold the item for them while THEY go get change. YOU cannot leave and YOU will need a second set of hands and legs, a brain with the hands and legs would be of great benefit.

Be dressed in layers. What's comfortable of a morning, won't be by afternoon. Have a rain plan just in case of rain or high winds. And if you want it ALL GONE at the end of the sale, hold an all you can carry sale for $whatever and they'll haul it away for you and pay you for the fun.

NO, sorry, you bathroom is out of order, you're waiting for the plumber to arrive any minute, isn't that always the way it is when you plan one thing and then the toilet erupts that very morning. No, sorry, no phone, not even a cell phone. You meant to get yours out of your husband's/sister's/friend's car early this morning, but got too busy and forgot. No, you can't put anything on the lay-a-way plan, don't have room for it. No, sorry you can't cut the price down until after 2 or 3 p.m. You're trying to raise money for a mission trip to Iceland and will need to have money to buy things for the needy people there. No, I don't want to sell it to you for a quarter when I have it priced at $10.00. If it's still here after 2 or 3 p.m. or tomorrow, then I'll consider reduding the price, but at (this) price. Teenymom - You'll need to practice the above answers as you are pricing items. Believe me, you'll need them

Hangers can be purchased or found at the dry cleaners.

[teenymom]

Mskitty, I am going to use a clothes line to hang any big clothes I have, although most of them are little baby things that are too small to be worth hanging up. I will probably just cannibalize hangers from my house, since I won't be selling them with the clothes.

[mamalackey]

If you live where there is a home owners association you need to see what the rules are about garage sales. In mine we are only allowed two a year and they are on designated days in the by-laws.

[mythreesons]

Check on permits. I live in Wyandotte County and we have to have permits. They are $5.00 and cover a three-day period.

I just had a garage sale last weekend. I used the color code system. I purchased little dot stickers (at Wal-Mart) and the green stickers were $1.00, red stickers were $2.00, and blue stickers were $3.00. The yellow stickers were for items that did not fall in those price categories. I then made three or four signs that had the prices on them. I didn't spend all day answering questions about prices.

I did group sizes together, that seemed to help people find what they were looking for.

[momonnet]

Great questions - I was planning on posting about this topic too! Hope you don't mind if I add a few more questions... I read that clothing sells better if its hanging but where do you get all those hangers and are there any inexpensive things to use as something to hang the clothes on? I don't have a portable closet or anything like that. How much change does one need? I am guessing that lots of ones will be needed. Thank you!!

hangers--- use what is in your closet --- just don't let the people take them so you can hang your own clothes back up

Ladders work well -- to hang stuff on

I have tied a rope from tree to tree and hung stuff on that before

- your garage door grooves that go across the top of the garage work very well -- to hang stuff on

CHANGE --- I do 50$ in dollars/fives and 5 $ in quarters

[coffeezen]

I just had a garage sale last weekend. I used the color code system. I purchased little dot stickers (at Wal-Mart) and the green stickers were $1.00, red stickers were $2.00, and blue stickers were $3.00. The yellow stickers were for items that did not fall in those price categories. I then made three or four signs that had the prices on them. I didn't spend all day answering questions about prices.

Wow, that's organized! I just wrote on little pieces of masking tape and put stuff out on a table.

If you live where there is a home owners association you need to see what the rules are about garage sales. In mine we are only allowed two a year and they are on designated days in the by-laws.

This is why I will never live where there is a home owners association. You should have seen the hassle my mama-in-law went through just to have a satellite dish. Seriously.

As for hanging stuff up, we just used our own hangers. I had a little trick where I would use one hanger to hang from the gutter (it's low-hanging) and then another hanger that had the actual item on it. It seemed to work, kind of like a chain. I've also seen people set chairs out and then use the back of the chairs to hang stuff on, and the seat of the chairs to put other items on.

[mums]

If you can separate the kids clothes from the adult clothes where they are hung up (garage door area is good) that will help, too.

I will ALWAYS live in a neighborhood with a homeowner's association, because if people are allowed to do just everything they want, the neighborhood can go downhill very quickly. We had NO problem with a satellite dish whatsoever. It probably depends on the HA. We're allowed to have garage sales as we wish, limited to three per year. Which is plenty if you do it right.

Another way to do kids clothes is to stack them inside a couple of large storage tubs. Moms will have an easier time going through tubs than through hangers. And you won't be trying to put things back on hangers all day long.