Do you hold an annual garage sale at your house? I have a love-hate relationship with garage sales. I like the idea, because who doesn’t love purging old crap and making a little cash in the process? But, I always forget how much work they are and every time I do one, I vow it will never happen again. I haven’t had one in at least 5 years, but this summer I bit the bullet and ended up having not one, but TWO.
Crazy, right?
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After I left my job as an event manager in May, I was left with boxes and boxes of event supplies. This was my dining room for 3 months:
And this was my living room:
If you’re curious, you can read about the bizarro circumstances behind that HERE. This explosion of boxes is all the stuff that my former employer wanted me to “prove” I had really donated.
The main floor of my house was packed full of the most random assortment of stuff – Mad Hatter tea party decor, Christmas and Easter, loads of Harry Potter themed items and endless vases. It was making me anxious to have all that clutter in my tiny house and I knew I had to start moving it out…STAT.
Our new business venture, The Listening Room at 443 is located in an urban neighborhood that is undergoing a revival of sorts. They have an annual community garage sale and I thought I would hold our sale in the large parking lot of the event space to take advantage of the additional traffic – plus I didn’t think I could fit everything in our driveway at home.
My first task was to create some signage. My handwriting is atrocious and barely legible, so I decided to have them printed using VistaPrint. Using a coupon code, I got 8 18″x24″ signs for about $12 each, and I figured I could reuse them for future sales. I created the designs using PicMonkey (affil link), drawing on inspiration from Pinterest and my deep love for 90’s R&B music.
Next, I crafted my ad for Craigslist:
I recently left my job as an event planner, so I’m liquidating all kinds of fun and crazy goodies. Plus, I’m a bit of a hoarder and I like to redecorate.
Milk glass vases and bowls, Mad Hatter Tea Party themed items – teapots, teacups, birdcages, clocks and jumbo playing cards. Mexican Fiesta/taco bar decor including serape runners and blankets, jumbo blue glass vases, colorful votives, faux succulents, and sombreros. Handmade “North Pole” sign, large metal A-Frame “Santa is In/Out” sign, Santa’s sack, jumbo teddy bear, rocking horse and 24″ Nutcracker. Assorted animal figurines, perfect for safari or zoo themed centerpieces.
Lots of miscellaneous furniture, 2 twin mattress/box spring sets, 2 twin wicker headboards, vintage metal patio set, leather recliner, ottoman, assorted chairs, lots of home decor items – tons of picture frames, art, candle holders, serving dishes, wine racks and tchotchkes. Vintage dishes, coffee maker, curved hotel style shower rod (new in box), hand painted beverage set, 24 pilsner glasses.
Now aren’t you curious to check out this wacky array of nonsense? Plus, you’ll enjoy live music from the Thrift Store Gypsies while you’re making your thrifty purchases and you’ll get a free piece of candy with every purchase.
We are located at 443 Burnet Ave next door to Bon-Ton Glass. We’ll be holding the sale in the big parking lot Saturday June 9 and Sunday June 10 from 9:30am-2:30pm to coincide with the Hawley Green Community Garage Sale. NO EARLY BIRDS – we will not open the gate before 9:30am. We hope to see you this weekend!
Yep…I had live music at my garage sale!
It wasn’t really in the plan…I invited several friends to participate in the sale because we had so much space in the parking lot. One of them agreed, then asked if I would mind if she set up a pop-up tent and did some busking (playing live music for tips). I loved the idea!
Aside from creative signage, one thing I highly recommend: Be sure the first image you upload for your ad is very eye-catching. I used one of my signs, so when you scanned the list of sales on Craigslist for the day, it looked like this:
I figured that would get some attention, right? This is not a tip I’ve ever seen anywhere else and I discovered it by accident, but I do think it made a big difference.
Next, I worked on borrowing extra folding tables. I own 4 and was able to borrow another 8, which ended up being perfect. I have 2 10×10 pop up tents and a 10×20, so I was able to get all of the tables under cover from the sun and any random sprinkles.
I only had about 10 days to get everything together, so after that it was full speed ahead with the great purge.
I think it’s extra hard for DIY-ers and decorators to let go of stuff, because everything is a potential project, right? But, I was feeling so claustrophobic in my house, I knew it was long overdue. Once I started, I didn’t want to stop – it felt great! I hauled everything out of the attic and basement, cleaned it up and priced it so I could just set everything up on the morning on the sale.
My main goal was to move this merchandise, so I priced everything to sell. Anything I had multiples of was marked “Buy 1 Get 1 Free”.
We had moderate success with the sale. It was a beautiful day, the live music added a festive atmosphere and I got to meet a lot of our neighbors. But – our building is in a mixed-use area with a lot of commercial buildings. While it’s undergoing a revival, it’s not quite there yet and I think that all worked against us. Also, the street gets loads of traffic Monday through Friday, not so much on weekends. I sold all the furniture and a fair amount of the household stuff – a decent amount for a normal sale, but I had so much to begin with that it didn’t make a big enough dent.
At the end of the weekend, we hauled everything inside and I planned to donate it. But, once I recovered from my exhaustion, I decided to give it one more try at my house. I had too much initially to fit in my driveway, but we sold enough at the first sale to fit everything in for Round 2. I live in an urban neighborhood, but it’s all residential and my street is located between 2 busy main roads.
I was able to reuse my signs by using neon green paper to change the address and time.
This time we did the sale on a Friday for one day only. We had steady traffic throughout the day and sold tons of stuff! Thankfully, I even had a visitor who was planning her own Mad Hatter Tea Party and she purchased a lot of the teapots and teacups. I got dozens of compliments on my signage and a lot of people mentioned that they weren’t even out garage sailing, but my signs were quirky and funny and they just had to stop.
The furniture, decor and household items went pretty easily, but I was selling some strange stuff. As it turns out, the average garage sale shopper is not all that interested in Harry Potter themed decorations.
Who knew? 😉
At the end of the sale, the milk glass vases that were still left went to a woman who repurposes funeral flowers and delivers arrangements to senior homes. The craft supplies (fabric, a large roll of colored paper and artificial flowers) went to a recreational day program for individuals with disabilities and everything else went to the Rescue Mission.
Are you thinking about holding a garage sale? Check out my 20 best tips:
20 Best Garage Sale Tips & Tricks
- Get creative with your signage! I had a lot of people tell me they stopped because my funny signs drew them in. Make your signs BIG and COLORFUL.
- Use an eye-catching image for your Craigslist ad. The first image you upload will be the one featured, so make it a good one. Add as many photos of your other items as you can, especially things like furniture.
- See if your community has an online garage sale page where you can list your sale. I found 3 on Facebook for my area and listed the sales on all of them, as well as my personal Facebook page.
- Location is EVERYTHING. Pick a house that does well with yard sale traffic.
- Price everything a bit higher than what you actually want so there is room for negotiation.
- That said – if your goal is truly to get rid of your clutter, price it to move. My “Buy 1 Get 1 FREE” tables were a big hit and I accepted virtually every offer I got.
- Price everything ahead of time so you’re not scrambling the morning of the sale.
- Borrow lots of folding tables. Nobody wants to go through piles of junk on the ground.
- Borrow pop up tents if you can, they are a godsend on a hot sunny day. You can also use a patio umbrella and stand for your check out table.
- Place furniture and other large items near the road to attract shoppers.
- Play music at your sale – it makes it more fun for everyone.
- Organize your merchandise by category to make it easier for people to find what they are looking for.
- Make sure you have a helper or two, or better yet combine forces with a few friends and advertise a “multi-family” sale.
- Make sure you have a cooler for water and other refreshments. My “refreshment” of choice for yard sales is raspberry vodka with pink lemonade and lots of ice. 🙂
- Be sure to have a supply of grocery and other plastic bags. Boxes and old newspaper are a good idea too, especially if you have a lot of breakables.
- Don’t forget to pick up change.
- An apron with pockets is more convenient than a cash drawer and you don’t have to worry about keeping an eye on a box full of money. I use the $.99 nail aprons from Home Depot.
- Give yourself plenty of time to go through your house and collect potential sale items – at least 2-3 weeks.
- Did you know you can accept credit cards at your sale? Check out Square.
- Don’t forget to take your signs down when the sale is over!
