Garage Sale Articles

The Little Things That Count In Garage Sale

Some people often concentrate too much on the bigger picture and they forget the fact that at times, it’s the little things that make the greatest impression. Don’t make the same mistake while running your garage sale. While it’s certainly alright to focus on the bigger picture once in a while, concentrating on how to set prices, invite customers to check out your garage sale and haggling with them, you shouldn’t forget that there are other but smaller things that need your attention as well.

DELEGATING RESPONSIBILITIES
It’s hard to run a one-man-show. It’s possible to do so, of course, but it’s not something you should set out to do in the first place. Remember that two brains work better than one and there’s a better chance your garage sale will become more organized and profitable if there’s more than one person overseeing it.

Therefore, try inviting as many friends and relatives as you can to help you out with your garage sale. Most of them will probably help without hesitation – and pay – while some may ask for a small form of compensation. Since you know your loved ones best, we’ll leave it to you to determine your working arrangement with them.

Now that you have a group of responsible people under your supervision, delegate as much responsibilities as you can but save those tasks which you feel only you can handle. Ask two persons at least to handle advertising since marketing is the first step to garage sale success. Authorize two more to handle the cashbox – make sure that you remind them to stay focused on their jobs at all times. Then, have one friend take care of welcoming customers, another to handle questions one group of products and so forth.

TAKING CARE OF BREAKABLES
Accidents can always happen at garage sales because most customers are in a rush to find bargain items before anyone else. It’s therefore easy for a customer to accidentally collide with a table containing breakables and cause them to topple off.

Make sure that breakable items are placed in fabric covered or plastic containers that won't cause them to break into tiny pieces when somebody accidentally rattles the table. Wrap them as well in old newspapers upon purchasing so that they won’t break on the journey to their new home.

MAKING USE OF OLD SHOPPING BAGS
Just like any business, your garage sale will stand to make more profit if it’s able to enjoy lower costs and expenses. In this case, instead of buying several packs of paper or plastic bags for customer purchases, you can first try making do with all the used paper and plastic bags you’ve collected over the years. Ask your friends and relatives as well if they have other plastic and paper bags to donate.

NEATNESS IS A MUST
Nobody likes shopping in a dirty place – no matter how great the products are. Sure, they might try to brave it out for a day but they’ll certainly never come back. And since garage sales are only temporary business ventures, no garage sale owner can afford to lose business that way.

It’s important to ensure that the surroundings are kept clean during business hours. Make use of as many trash cans as you can so that customers won’t be tempted to throw their garbage anywhere. Stick small posters in all corners of your garage sale that requests patrons to throw their garbage in the appropriate place. Make sure that someone empties the trash regularly.

Assign one or two people to be on the lookout for slippery and sticky floors. For each day of the sale, closing hours must be spent cleaning the whole area and reorganizing tables and items.

OFFER WEATHER APPROPRIATE REFRESHMENTS
If you’re holding your garage sale in autumn, it’s best to sell drinks like coffee and hot tea because people are beginning to feel cold during this season. For spring and summer, cold drinks are no doubt preferable. If you’re planning to sell food, make sure that you don’t sell anything difficult to eat while standing or that would cause sticky fingers. Chips are great but any non-sticky finger food would do as well.

And lastly, don’t forget to smile. A smile can brighten people’s day and you definitely want your shoppers in a good mood when they enter your garage sale.