Setting Your Prices Right to Enjoy Garage Sale Success

The success of garage sales depends on a number of factors. Naturally, one of the most obvious factors used to gauge the success of garage sales is the kinds of products that are on sale. If youre not selling anything of value or appealing, theres no way that your garage sale is going to become lucrative or profitable.

One sadly underestimated factor is the garage sale owners ability to set the right prices for his items. Attaching the right price tag to the right product is one of the safest paths to take if you wish to enjoy financial success from your garage sale.

The following tips will teach you how to set the right prices for all the items in your garage sale.

The Importance of Motivating Your Employees Properly
If you dont have enough time to supervise your garage sale personally, youll no doubt hire several people to provide sales support. Be sure to hire people who have adequate sales experience because garage sales can be especially chaotic. With customers hurriedly trying to best each other in finding bargain items, a novice salesperson can easily panic and lose control of the whole situation.

Explain to your sales crew that one of the reasons you can place relative high prices on your products is your ability to provide customer satisfaction. If you cant address your customers needs satisfactorily, there is no way that the customers will come back no matter how great your products are!

Categorizing Items under Appropriate Departments
Another way of ensuring shopping peace and comfort in your garage sale is categorizing your items clearly and in a system that your customers wont have any difficulties understanding. Divide the products according to specific departments. Lastly, label the products neatly and logically so that your customers will know that baby mittens are under CLOTHING and not SMALL MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

Not All Advice is Good Advice
Beware of websites and books that autocratically tell you how to price your products. Sales experts teach not by commanding their students but rather by letting their students explore their options and discovering for themselves what works best in which situations. Experience is still the best teacher any individual can have and having garage sales is no exception to the rule.

Making Benchmark Studies
Benchmarking is a comparison technique that big and small corporations alike use in order to find out how theyre performing vis a vis their competitors. This tool can also be used to determine the best prices for the items in your garage sale. Check the quality of the products theyre selling and how much theyre selling it for. Afterwards, compare it to what youre selling to know if youre overpricing or underpricing your products.
Relating Product Conditions with Prices
Make sure that your prices are also based on the product condition. Avoid attaching expensive tags to items that have been used for years, excessively flawed, exposed to wear and tear and are generally in bad condition. Likewise, don’t place a lower price tag on items that are in good to excellent condition.

For brand new products or items that have never been used, be sure to ask for 75% of their original prices. As for other products that are slightly used, be sure to ask for at least 50% of their original value.

How to Successfully Price Books
Books are tricky items to sell in garage sales because most customers expect them to be sold at exceedingly low prices. The right knowledge on books will however help you set the right price for the right book.

Paperbacks sold in garage sales are dimes in a dozen but works of famous authors allow garage sale owners to price them higher than usual. If youre not familiar with the books that youre selling, ask for second opinions to gauge its bestselling status.

Its Always Okay to Negotiate
Lastly, the success of your garage sale depends on your ability to negotiate. Not allowing the customers to haggle is the best way to lose profit. Garage sales are for haggling and theres no way to change that. The only thing you can do is mentally set the lowest price youre willing to accept for each item youre selling. Allow your clients to haggle as much as they wish but be sure not to allow them to pay for any item for something less than what youre mentally set on.

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Labeling the items for a garage sale

After organizing your garage, basement or attic, and figuring out which items should be thrown and which should be kept, you can now conduct a garage sale.

In order for your garage sale to be a success, you must plan it as early as you can. Look at your calendar and decide on a date that you are available to supervise it and also consider possible buyers availability.

Avoid holidays and special events because this will mean less people because they probably will go out of town or head out on trips.

If you can, check if there are other garage sales that may be conducted the same day as yours. In doing so, it will be easier for everybody to gather in one section of the neighborhood, attract more customers, thus generating more money.

You can earn more by boosting up your items by having a joint-garage sale with relatives and friends.

When you clean your garage, attic or basement, there might find hidden treasures. Also, you may uncover mostly junk but always remember that what may be trash for you may still be used by other people.

Items that sell very well are old chairs, tables, desks, vases, picture frames, kitchen utensils, and baby clothes to name a few.

That is why you have to label your items. Go to your local bookstore and purchase those labeling stickers.

Sift through the items that you will be selling. Try to group them and lay them out altogether. Next step, a garage seller must do is to price these items. Label your products in relation to how much they normally sell for in stores. Since these are second-hand, you must rate them at a lower price.

Place the tags either on top or on the front of each item. If you want, before you conduct your garage sale, look at other garage sales held in your neighborhood then compare the prices. Remember its easy to go down on the price, rather than raising it.

For appeal, put signs like, All CDs .90 cents each. You could also provide a goody bag containing freebies such as dish towels. In doing so, your customers will think that they are getting more for their money.

For documentation purposes, have a log book and jot down each sale that you make. Along with the log book, there should also be an inventory sheet.

When it comes to pricing your items, dont be afraid to bargain with the customers. Naturally, theyll want a lower price because these are second-hand items. However, its up to you whether you cave or not. If you feel that the price they are suggesting, be it lower, is still reasonable then accept it.

In labeling, you must indicate whats for sale and whats not for sale. There are times a buyer may be confused about what is available and whats not.
Also, before hosting a garage sale, clean the garage and make sure it looks clean and inviting for your customers.

Labeling is appealing to people because it assists them in finding what they are searching for. Make sure theres enough space in between one set of grouped items to another.

If you still have the box of the item youre selling, put it back in it. The item will be purchased quicker if it is in the original box.

As for the jewelry and more expensive items, keep them close to where you are stationed so you can monitor them. The hustle and bustle of a garage sale can also invite those whod like to get stuff for free.

After arranging your garage sale, its time that you advertise it. Attract more buyers by giving them a preview of what they can get if they drop by. Have some posters and flyers to inform other people that there will be a garage sale.

For everybodys convenience, have grocery bags ready by your side so you can bag the sold items for the customers. Have a calculator beside you too. To make it easier for you, ask a friend or relative to help you wait on customers, collect the money and keep an eye on your merchandise.

A garage sale is treating your garage like a store for a day.

Tips on Handling the Money to Gain Garage Sale Success

The chaos that you can find in garage sales is sometimes the reason as well why having them can be so much fun. This doesn’t mean however that you should allow chaos to cost you money. No matter how fun garage sales can be, theyre still above all things business ventures. Your top priority should still be to make money and not lose it!

KEEP IT UNDER LOCK AND KEY
It doesnt matter what type of container you use to keep the money. It can be an old metal box that your grandfather used to keep his fish bait, your former lunch box or the drawer of a cash registry. The important thing is that the container is safe and secured by a lock. You should be the only one to have the key to the money container. If there are duplicates, make sure that you only allow people whom you trust to hold them in their possession.

Secondly, be sure to keep a human guard on the money container as well. Besides a mental lock, use a human lock as well to ensure that your money is kept safe 24/7.

AVOID TRANSPARENT CONTAINERS
Why subject people to temptation if theres no need? Avoid using transparent containers to keep your money at all costs. Transparent containers will naturally let people see just how much money youre earning and this presents two disadvantages:

If youre earning a lot, theres sure to be an abundant amount of money in the container. If its transparent, your customers and employees will naturally see whats inside. The sight of so much money may prove to be too much temptation for even the most innocent of individuals. Desperate straits, after all, can push an individual to commit crimes spontaneously, no matter what the consequences are if they get caught.

If youre earning too little, this is bad for your business again. Customers, upon seeing, the amount of money or what little there is at present inside your container, would draw the obvious conclusion that your garage sale isn’t a financial success. Theyll then ask themselves why your garage sale isn’t profitable and conclusively decide that its because youre not selling anything valuable.

KEEP IT WITH YOU IF YOURE WORKING ALONE
If youre supervising the entire garage sale alone or youre the only one in charge of handling the money, you should keep the money with you at all times. Theres no possible way for you to be in two places at one time so you cant guard the cash box while entertaining customers. To solve this dilemma, just make use of a fanny pack or a belt bag that you can wear on your body at all times.

AVOIDING CONFUSION IN THE CASHOUT TABLE
There are certain instances when customers will complain that they gave you more cash than youve counted. Their complaints may or may not be genuine. To avoid confusion, make use of a paperweight or a heavy rock to keep any money you receive from customers within sight. That way, while youre taking care of other things, there is no way that your customer will point out negligence or insufficient attention as the cause for miscounting the money they gave.

Besides making use of the paperweight to hold the money in place, be sure that you count the money a customer hands you at least twice. Count it carefully and clearly and ask for confirmation from the customer after counting.

BEWARE OF HELPFUL CUSTOMERS
Be on the lookout for customers who generously suggest counting the items in advance and computing for their total because it can be just a ploy to pay less than they should. If you encounter this type of customer, gently but firmly refuse their suggestion and thank them nicely for their offer. If they proceed to act huffy and offended, apologize and use the excuse of store policies for refusing their request.

ALWAYS HAVE MORE THAN ENOUGH CHANGE READY
This will ensure that no matter how much a customers bill will total to, you will still have enough money to give them the right amount of change. It will also lessen the amount of time wasted in searching for people who can exchange your large bills for smaller denominations.

Getting ready for a garage sale

Most people have a tendency to accumulate things that they don’t really need. Some have remained unused and good as new while some have remained idle in stock rooms. People who have plenty of things which have remained unused for a long time should think about disposing of them to make room for more important things.

There are several choices available for those who would like to get rid of unused things in their homes. Unused clothes, toys, shoes and books can be donated to charity or they can be thrown away in the garbage. However, there is a better option which can earn the owner additional cash in a short time.

Most Americans are going gaga over garage sales as a venue for alternative shopping. Professional buyers even look out for garage sales to make sure they will be the first ones to look for worthwhile and valuable things that are considered trash by some people. A garage sale can also be a money making venue for people who have accumulated stuff and items which they no longer see as essential parts of their lives.

A garage sale may look like a simple and uncomplicated way of selling things that a person no longer wants but it is actually hard work. People who want to hold a garage sale should prepare for the sale in terms of getting the items they want to get rid of and then sorting them out and pricing them.

Before holding a garage sale, make sure that you have enough items to stir the interest of your neighbors and the prospective buyers. A garage sale with only a few items won’t attract customers. Garage sale patrons will expect a garage sale to carry diverse items from clothing wares, kitchen wares, shoes, curios and any other item under the sun. So if you have very few items then it is best to wait another year or talk to friends and neighbors who may want to join your garage sale so you can present more items.

However, if the whole neighborhood has scheduled a garage sale then you can go on with your own garage sale. A community garage sale will be more attractive to buyers and they will be scouting the whole neighborhood for interesting stuff.

Advertising is an important part of every garage sale because it is one way of telling your buyers that you intend to hold a garage sale at a specific time. You can make your own signs or get the services of a signage professional. Make the sign as attractive as possible to make sure it attracts the attention of potential buyers. Also make sure to have the exact date, time and place of the garage sale printed on the signage.

You can also promote your garage sale by printing some leaflets and distributing them in the neighborhood. Post bond papers in visible areas announcing your garage sale. Also try to experiment with teasers like posting signs a day before the sale to make sure that potential buyers don’t miss your garage sale.

It would be more attractive to buyers if you put out long tables or shelves where you can display specific items. Don’t put different items together as this will only confuse you and your buyers on the price tags. Remember that buyers don’t have the time to rummage over piles of clothing ware and shoes lumped together.

Make sure you arrange the clothes in such a way to give the buyers an idea of the sizes or the price of the items. It would be best to hang the clothes so the buyers can see them easily. Shoes can be arranged on shelves or on top of the table.

While a garage sale is understood to be a sale of unwanted items, make sure that the items on display are cleaned ahead of time so they will look attractive to the buyers.

If you have plenty of items of every kind like shorts, t-shirts or jackets, place them on individual tables and place a general price tag on the table so customers will easily know how much those items are at first glance. Also avoid giving different prices for the same items because may turn off the buyers.