Maximize Your Garage Sale Profits – Sale Presentation

Part one of this series discussed the importance of effective advertising to attract customers to your garage sale. This article will give you great ideas on how to get organized for your sale and how to present your sale items in a way that will make customers want to buy.

Getting organized will help you to know what you have, what you need, and what to do with it. When going through your garage sale goods start sorting them into categories such as household items, sports and recreation, toys and games, etc. This will help you during the presentation part of the sale later. Once you have a good idea of what you have make a list of what you might need for the sale such as tables for display, stickers for pricing, coins and small bills for giving out change, clothes rack and hangers, chairs and a table to sit at, snacks and drinks for your sales people (you and your kids). Having everything you need ahead of time helps to eliminate some stress and the mad dash feeling when customers start showing up and your aren’t ready yet.

The layout of your sale can encourage or deter shoppers. Most will agree that they are more likely to peruse a sale if items are visible, easy to find, and the prices are clearly marked. The same goes for your garage sale customers. Lay similar items near each other on tables if available or in clusters on your lawn and driveway. Do not crowd too many things together. Make use of other sale items to prop things up and make it look nice. If you have clothes to sell, put them on hangers and hang them on a rack. No one likes to paw through a box of messy clothes to find something that might fit or look nice on them. This is a great way to get rid of wire hangers or the old plastic hangers. If you don’t have a clothes rack, you can improvise with a rope or broom tied or propped between two ladders. Arrange the clothes by color or type and size.

Pricing can be done with stickers or signs on tables clearly marking that these items are a certain price. Color-code your stickers so that a particular color sticker represents a particular price and make a sign to illustrate the color pricing. This method saves huge amounts of time, since you do not have to write a price on each individual item. Pricing items is entirely up to you and you will find many people like to barter, so do not worry about setting a price too high. You can always lower the price as the sale goes on throughout the day.

Customer service is part of presentation as well. Greet your customers as they arrive with a friendly smile and hello. Ask if there is something you can help them find and let them know you are available if they have any questions. Play a little upbeat music to set a fun and positive atmosphere. Shoppers in a good mood are more likely to buy.

When you advertise in multiple sources, organize your sale items in a way that is easy for shoppers to find what they are looking for, and present those items in so people can see things they did not know they wanted and you are guaranteed to get the most bang for your buck. Remember, garage sales are a great time to be outdoors with your family and neighbors, so have fun.

About the Author: Ron Maier is the President of Everything Hangers, a leading online distributor of hangers. Check out our new line of plastic hangers at http://www.everythinghangers.com.

Maximize Your Garage Sale Profits – Getting Customers

For a lot of people, summer time marks the start of garage sale season. Everybody likes to find a bargain. If you have a garage full of items like old sports equipment, clothes the kids have grown out of, hangers, dishes, or knick-knacks have a garage sale of your own. This article will discuss the importance of effective advertising to maximize your garage sale profits.

According to a recent survey, most garage sale shoppers locate the sales they are going to peruse in three different ways: newspaper ads, internet ads, and signs. If you do not advertise you will not have very many customers. If you decide to take out a newspaper ad ask a few of your neighbors if they might want to do a garage sale the same weekend that you are planning. A multi-family sale is much more likely to attract interest among those who peruse the classifieds.

Most newspapers offer package deals for garage sale ads that will allow you to run a 4 line ad for 1-3 days for about $20. The best days for garage sales are Saturdays and Sundays. You want the ad to be in the paper the morning of and the day before your sale, so be sure to submit your ad the Monday before your garage sale weekend since this is the deadline most papers have for ads to be included in the weekend paper. You can submit your ad in person, by phone, or online on your local paper’s website.

Advertising on the web in places like Craigslist.com is a great source for free advertising. Follow the easy to use instructions on their website to post your ad. You will want to post your ad on craigslist.com closer to your sale date to be towards the top of the list. Other internet sources for advertising your sale include facebook.com or myspace.com if you already have an account and network base with those sites.

Be sure to place clearly marked signs, so garage sale connoisseurs can easily navigate their way to your driveway. Cardboard works just fine for this, but if you want to get serious purchase a few pieces of brightly colored poster board, a large permanent black marker, and some duct tape. Plan out your signs and their slogans before you start writing them up. Determine how many you will need to make by mapping out where you will be placing them. The best locations are at the major intersections surrounding your sale location and at any right or left turns along the way. At each intersection you will need to have a sign facing both directions of traffic. The intersection signs should have the address, the time the sale begins and ends, as well as the words GARAGE SALE clearly and legibly written. Place a sign with the words “garage sale” and a directional arrow at any left or right turns on the way to your location from the intersections. Utilize smaller pieces of poster board with arrows drawn on them to post below your signs. Put your signs up either the night before or the morning of your sale.

Advertising in the paper, on the internet, and with bright, easy-to-read signs that lead to your sale will significantly increase your customer base. However, getting customers to come is only half the work towards a profitable garage sale. The sequel to this article will talk about how to maximize your garage sale profits through organization and presentation.

About the Author: Ron Maier is the President of Everything Hangers, a leading online provider of plastic hangers. For more information, please visit http://www.everythinghangers.com.