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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Help! Garage Sale Looming Ahead

Hey there! Well, I must say, I really missed linking up to Lindsay for WIWW this week. Still soo bummed my camera bit the dust {or should I say the water?}. I'm sure some of you are thinking, just take a pic with your phone. Well, because I'm still in the dark ages with a flip phone {insert horror scream here}. Maybe that'll change soon...

Anyway, the real reason for this post. I've organized a community garage sale in two weeks. Why I took on that task I'm not really sure. I've only had one garage sale in my life, and we practically gave everything away. So, this round, we'd like to make a little cash.

I know many of you are avid garage sale hoppers. So, will you guys share some tips on how to price items? They'll not only benefit me, but I thought about sending them out to the neighbors as well. So far, personally, we've got:

  • old clothes
  • nice clothes that just don't fit anymore (including suits)
  • super cute black bridesmaid dress that could be a prom dress
  • shoes (some nice!)
  • old brass light fixtures
  • an old gas grill that still works but looks like crap
  • books
  • old DVD player that may or may not work

What do you guys think?? Feel free to copy & paste the list into the comments section and share your pricing expertise, or share how much you'd pay for some of the items. Thanks so much!

5 comments:

Santa's Gift Shoppe and Ideas said...

Hi Katie
Thanks for stopping by Santa's Gift Shoppe & for you nice comments! I popped over to take a look & see your having a Garage Sale..Alot of work..girlfriend..I'm sure you know..
I have 1 every yr (Fri/Sat 8-1pm on the weekend before Labor Day. It's still pretty hot here but stopping @ 1 works great & have always done very well. I also have found no matter what you price stuff be prepared to go back & forth with people (they tell me that's half the fun..I'm not sure for who tho.)
A few tips I've learned...Price anything @ 1/4 the original price (unless it seems too extreme) go with your gut..
What I do not sell I itemize on a list with how many @ what price & if it's over $500.oo IRS needs it itemized. I beleive the law is that you charge 25% of retail price. We can usually get quite a big deduction from that.
We advertise in the Paper (they say to advertise 1 day ahead of the sale because people are fanatics about going to garage sales early & want to plan their day.
Also lots of bright pink or colored signs draw attention.
Music is a good draw. Make people feel comfortable & they will stay longer...If you sell cookies or food they probably will stay longer & buy more stuff. Sorry I got carried away..Hope it helps & Good Luck!
I also noticed that I am a follower of your blog already..but I don't think you are of mine..I'd sure love you to be..We have great giveaways, recipes, Christmas Home Tours...Take Care..Barb

Design It Chic said...

I am now following you thanks to New Friends Friday and it would be nice if you could share the love back on my blog!
Also today we have the coolest blog hop there is... no rules just fun and would love you to join in with us at Boost My Blog Friday :)
Plus, don't forget, if you need any help increasing your blog's traffic or easy HTML tutorials, you know where to come! Happy Friday!

Katie said...

@ Barb ~ Thanks SO much for the great tips!! I would have never thought about playing music or even selling cookies. With the weather still hot, might not be a bad idea to sell bottled water too!

@ Design Chic ~ Thanks for stopping by and letting me know about the awesome blog hop! Will check it out.

@ Carrie ~ Thanks for following!! Looking forward to checking out your blog too!

Santa's Gift Shoppe and Ideas said...

Thanks for the follow..Good luck with your sale...Also people draw people so if you don;t have customers have family go out & look at stuff or reorganize it throughout the day. I bet cupcakes, brownies, cookies, would be good sellers..If you have kids a lemonade stand..all that kind of stuff works together for a good day.
Also furniture the bigger priced items go close to the street where it can grab the attention of prospective buyers.
Barb
Do you have an email address?

Katie said...

Will keep those tips in mind, too, thanks!!! All I have is a work email at the moment ... guess I should set one up for this blog, huh? :)

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