Garage Sale Mobile Tips

The golden rule for garage sales is not to be over-optimistic and unrealistic. People visit garage sales to get bargain prices, so you can’t expect them to cough up the same amount as they would in a shop. 

1. You expose your items for sale to a much wider audience – even today, not everyone has a computer or access to the internet. And not everyone who does have internet access goes on Ebay.
2. You don’t have to take umpteen pictures of whatever you want to sell.
3. You can alter prices, offer discounts and special deals without any hassle or penalty.
4. You are less likely to have timewasters who are just nosey and end up putting your items onto a watchlist. Anyone who has a look at what you’ve got on offer is more likely to actually buy when you can see them face to face – nosey timewasters are likely to be embarrassed if they don’t buy.
5. You don’t have to compete with half a dozen similar or identical items listed in the same category.
6. No shipping hassles!
7. Both the buyer and seller are protected. They hand over the cash; you hand over the cake mixer. If they don’t hand over the cash, you keep the item. Simple as that. What’s more, buyers can see any flaws, etc. straight away (or they may not notice them, whereas you’d have to mention these flaws if you were being scrupulously honest on Ebay)
8. You don’t have the bad experience of someone making a time to view your whatever-it-is only to not show up after you’ve taken half an afternoon off to be there for them.
9. You get face to face interaction – a very important part of building community and being in touch with your neighbours.
10. People who come in to have a look at, say, a sofa, may also be attracted by some of the other items that catch their eyes.

We're all finding things a bit tight at the moment with the recession, which means that now is the perfect time to hold a garage sale. You might think that seeing as there's a recession on and everyone's feeling the pinch that nobody's going to turn up and buy your old odds and ends – who's got spare cash to spend on quirky curios?

Well, you're half right and half wrong. Yes, the recession may put off some of the people who treat garage sales as a form of entertainment – retail therapy on the cheap, so to speak. These people may decide that they need to rein in their spending a bit. But other types of folk will still come along – or start coming along.

The first type of folk are the professional second hand dealers. These people are always hot on the trail of any garage sale to pick up the hidden treasures, and the recession won't put them off. If anything, they may be hotter on the hunt than before.

The second type are those who are feeling the pinch and are looking for furniture, clothes, books and gadgets at a cheaper price than bought new items, or what they can find in second hand shops (you should be able to figure out why things at second hand shops cost more if you look at the previous paragraph). These folk will start hitting the garage sale trail in the hopes of a bargain – yours included.

So what are you waiting for? Drag out your old treasures from the attic or basement and off you go!