The best time of day to hold a garage sale
So you’re in the process of writing up your signs (and all the other bits of publicity) for your garage sale this Saturday. What time of day will you have your sale going for? Here are a few thoughts:
- Some people will turn up before your set starting time. If you set 8:00 a.m. for the start time, they will start showing up at 7:00, especially if you’re holding an estate sale – the antiques dealers and second hand dealers will turn up to bag the best bits. Factor this in by making your start time an hour later than you really expect to start, or by setting your start time at some ridiculously early hour (e.g. 6:00 a.m.) and be ready for them.
- Don’t stop your sale too early. Some people will be doing the rounds of the garage sales and have a number of sales they’ve planned to visit. If you finish too early, these folk may skip you out and you will miss the chance of a sale. Also, on Saturdays and Sundays, some people have sports or religious commitments first thing in the morning and won’t start coming out to garage sales until midday.
Not many garage sales are held in the evening, with the exception of tag sales and car boot sales at “twilight fairs” for schools and charities. To avoid competing with all the other garage sales, you could try to hold your sale in the late afternoon/evening. On the other hand, most people prefer to do other things on Saturday night (including you!).
How to promote your garage sale
These days, you have a number of options when it comes to publicity for your garage sale. The methods you choose really depend on a number of things.
If you are selling your items as part of an organised boot sale, tag sale or flea market held regularly or as part of a school/church/club fundraiser, a lot of the publicity will be taken care of for you. However, if you’re the person in charge of the publicity (someone has to do it), you’ll have to think about how you’ll go about it. Schools can rely on the old-fashioned method of Taking Home Notes To Parents via “pupil post” as a way of generating initial interest, and most organisations use the letterbox drop method of publicity. However, for a multi-person “garage sale” you can also consider writing up an article for a community newspaper. Small local papers are usually hungry for “copy” and if you come up with an interesting and entertaining article with some good pictures, then the editor is highly likely to run the story, giving you a bit of free publicity. If your tag sale is likely to have other highlights (e.g. buskers, bouncy castles, conjurers, a band, a sausage sizzle, face painting), then mention these in the article.
Another tip for large garage sales run by organisations is to notify local businesses. For a nominal fee, the local businesses can have a “spot” where they can promote their business (note to businesses: sponsoring a school or charity garage sale is a good way of getting your name out there that is good value for money).
Individuals holding the traditional type of yard sale where it’s just one or two families selling off odds and ends probably don’t have the same “audience appeal” as the larger ones, so the options of community newspapers and local businesses won’t work as well. However, these places for promoting your garage sale work well:
If you have a particularly large garage sale (e.g. an estate sale), then it may be worth printing out A5 flyers and dropping these in letterboxes around your neighbourhood. This takes a fair bit of organisation – not to mention paper and printer ink – but does get the news out there.
- Signs on your fence and on lamp-posts. Make sure these are good quality, not just tatty bits of cardboard with marker pen. If you live on a quiet cul-de-sac, then put some of your signs on a main street nearby so you catch the eye of more people.
- Newspaper classified ads often have a section for listing garage sales.
- Some special garage sale websites have places you can list upcoming garage sales
- Networking sites such as Facebook and Bebo – announce your garage sale to the world!
- Word of mouth advertising. You have told all your friends and acquaintances, haven’t you?
- Community noticeboards outside supermarkets, etc. People do read these. Also consider workplace noticeboards, if your workplace policy allows this. Another version of this is the advertisement printed and taped to the window of the local corner store. Ask permission first.
On the day of your garage sale
If you’re holding a garage sale, don’t think for a moment that once the great day dawns that everything will be plain sailing, think again (conversely, if you think that the day of your sale is the hardest part about having a garage sale, you will also need to think again). Well, the day of your garage sale might be plain sailing (garage sailing?) but you will need to Be Prepared, as the Boy Scout motto has it.
Don’t put everything out on the tables the night before, or you’ll run the risk of having them taken away for free. Label everything, yes. But don’t put them out in your yard yet – keep them in the garage.
You can put your signs up the night before – or even the day before.
Set your alarm clock early and start putting the tables and the items to be sold out an hour before your scheduled start time (the one that’s written on your advertisement). You will probably get eager beavers and professional dealers turning up early for the hot finds at your garage sale. It’s up to you how you deal with these people – you can either ask them very politely but firmly to go away, or you can let them choose what they want.
Make sure you’ve got a good cash float for giving change handy and ready to go. It’s best not to put this in an obvious box. Keep the cash float well separate from the sales tables or attached to your person – an old fashioned apron with pockets is ideal. Cargo pants also work a treat.
Make sure you have a reserve person for taking care of the sales. You won’t be able to run your garage sale as a solo effort. You are going to have to use the bathroom at some stage, and you don’t want people coming in and helping themselves while you’re away. Also plan what you are going to do for meals if your garage sale will run through lunchtime – or even breakfast time.
Your garage sale will have lulls rather than constant activity. You will, however, have to stay “on duty” even during the lulls – someone might turn up any minute. Keep a book handy or something of that kind to occupy yourself. But resist the temptation to start reading the old books you’re selling or sorting through your things for sale. There’s a reason you’re having this garage sale, isn’t there? And it’s probably to get rid of old odds and ends. Once it’s on the table with a sales sticker on, that’s it. Resist the temptation and consider it sold (the exception is if you find something particularly beloved that you didn’t realise was about to be sold. Prior planning will avoid this happening).
Consider what you will do if you don’t manage to sell everything within your set time. Your options are either to box the items and have another garage sale at some stage down the track, or to box it up and give it to a charity such as the Salvation Army.
How to go garage sale shopping: a beginner’s guide
Wise people know that canny shopping is the way to make the money stretch further during tough economic times. If you can find what you want at a bargain price, well done! Many people already know that buying second hand is a good way to pick up a bargain – but buying at a garage sale is even better for finding a good deal, as it cuts out the middle-man known as the second hand dealer.
If you’ve never been to a garage sale before, these tips should help you get started.
Don’t wait until Saturday or Sunday to find out where the sales are. Often, garage sales are advertised in local newspapers, on community notice boards or online. Do your homework.
If you are serious about finding a bargain, make a list of what you need. Sometimes, garage sales will list the sorts of items they have for sale, which will give you a clue as to whether you will find what you’re looking for at that particular sale or not. If you’re really lucky, a phone number or other contact details will be provided and you can ask if they’ve got what you want.
Estate sales often have a wider range of items for sale than a regular garage sale, as most of someone’s household will be up for grabs.
Set your alarm clock early on the day. All the really good bargains will get snapped up quickly.
Be prepared to visit more than one garage sale if you’re hunting for a particular item.
Think how you’re going to carry your items – take a bag or three. Garage sales don’t provide shopping trolleys – a simple fact forgotten by many who are used to supermarkets and department stores.
Take a friend or three if you plan on buying a bulkier item such as a sofa. Don’t forget to take a car with a trailer, or at least a pickup truck that’s big enough to take what you want, and also ropes and something to cushion the ropes when you tie the load down. The person holding the garage sale probably won’t have these things on hand and is unlikely to leave their post behind the sales table to help you heave a three-piece suite onto a trailer (but they might if a piano is involved!).
Dress for the weather. Garage sales and yard sales are inevitably held outside. Also be prepared to take a bathroom break before you go – you may be at someone’s house but you probably won’t be able to go inside to use the bathroom.
Bargains are called bargains because… you have to bargain for them, sometimes. Most people are open to reasonable offers, so be prepared to haggle a little. But be realistic – you aren’t going to be able to drop someone from $50 to $5 for an exercise machine. Remember that they are as keen to make extra cash as you are to save it – once you have this idea in mind, you will be able to bargain successfully.