How to Set Up a Garage Sale

Adam Bender | Aug 20, 2021

Do you love the idea of decluttering your home? How about finally getting your garage organized? What about earning some extra cash? A garage sale can help you accomplish all of the above. There’s just one problem — it takes some work to pull it off successfully.

Fortunately, setting up a garage sale doesn’t have to be a painful experience. The entire process can be fun, gratifying, and lucrative if you get organized and follow a few important steps:

Start preparing for the sale early.
Completely empty the garage.
Market and schedule your sale wisely.
Set your sale up for success.
Plan out what you’ll do with items that don’t sell.

Keep reading to see all the details you need to know for holding a successful garage sale, from planning to post-sale clean-up.

Start Preparing Early

If you’re going to go to all the trouble of setting up a garage sale, advertising, and burning a weekend haggling with neighbors, make it worthwhile. Start the planning process early, weeks or even months in advance, by going through your entire home to collect any items you no longer use or wear. Angi’s List recommends placing these items into categories:

Books
Clothing
Collectibles
Furniture
Home Decor
Linens
Sporting Goods
Tools
Toys

At the garage sale itself, you’ll want to keep these items in similar categories, so why not start now? Label empty boxes with these categories and put items in their appropriate spots while you’re going through your home. This will dramatically streamline the setup process. The sooner you start preparing, the more successful your garage sale will turn out.

Empty Your Garage

Unless you empty out your garage, it’s hard to evaluate everything you own. You’ll be pulling out items to sell from around your entire home, but those seldom-used tools and neglected sporting goods collecting dust in your garage are common items that you may want to part with. Plus, you’ll probably discover items that you lost or forgot you owned if your garage is particularly messy.

Emptying your garage will also prepare you for when the sale is over. An empty garage will let you find out how much room you actually have to store items. You’ll be able to measure your space and even plan out garage storage solutions that can free up even more room while keeping your items safe and organized:

Cabinets
Slatwall Storage Systems
Workbench
Overhead Storage Racks
Wall-Mounted Tool Racks

If you’re like many homeowners, you’ll discover many items that never should have been stored in your garage to begin with. An empty garage also offers the opportunity to perform the deep cleaning it probably needs.

Market and Schedule Your Sale Wisely

Profitable garage sales that make you extra cash and clear out lots of excess items don’t just happen. You need to get the word out. This Old House offers several valuable suggestions:

Pick the best days: Friday, of all days, is actually considered a prime garage sale day because more retirees are able to attend.

Tell the world: Once you settle on a date, invest some time in attracting shoppers by posting ads in your local paper, on social media, and at local community centers.

Distribute free items:

Whether your advertisement mentions some free items or you’re willing to offer "buy-one-get-one deals," freebies can help you both attract shoppers and get them to open their wallets wider.

Follow all local rules and regulations:

Check all of your town’s rules and regulations to ensure you don’t run afoul of the law. You may need permits, have limits on the number of sales you can hold each year, and face restrictions regarding the types of items you can sell.

Lead the way:

On the day of the event, place signs out directing shoppers with the sale date, time, and arrows pointing the way. Once your sale’s over, be considerate and take down those signs.

Piggyback off of other sales:

Catch wind of a few other neighbors setting up garage sales for the same weekend? How about a big community sale nearby? Take advantage of the increased shopper traffic and schedule your sale for the same day. You can also take the initiative to coordinate a community sale with your neighbors.

Set Up Your Sale Right

You’ve invested a lot of time and effort into putting on a great garage sale. Now that the big day’s arrived, Ramsey Solutions offers some valuable tips to attract passing motorists and get top dollar for your trinkets:

Place big or interesting items upfront so passing cars can see.
Add some popular music to up the atmosphere and keep shoppers around longer.
Put price tags on every item or post a price list for each item type.
"Price your items so they'll sell," but be willing to haggle some more.
Arrange similar items together.
Ensure all the items you put out are clean and ready to be used (inflate sports balls and bicycle tires, dust off furniture, wash clothing, etc.).
Have batteries and accessible outlets for showing shoppers that electronic items operate.
Set up items on tables so shoppers don’t have to continually stoop down to look at every piece of merchandise.
Make it clear which items in your garage are not for sale, and consider moving those items to the back.
As you sell items, continually rearrange and organize to avoid that picked-over look that turns off shoppers.

Have a Plan for Anything That Goes Unsold

If the clock is ticking down on your garage sale, the last thing you want to see is half your items still lying around. Instead of committing to all the work of dragging it to a donation location (or worse yet, bringing it back inside your home), why not offer some steep discounts to help it move?

As shopper traffic dwindles, HGTV recommends making everything 50 percent off, or offer up BOGO deals. You can even start shuffling unsold items to the “free” box you have out front. If the day ends, you can always leave that free box out front for passing motorists to stop and take a look at. You can also go digital by posting a Craigslist “curb alert” ad notifying locals that there’s free stuff sitting on the sidewalk. A brief description is usually all that’s needed. Anything that’s left in front of your home after a few days can either go to a donation center or into the trash.

Conclusion

Hosting a garage sale entails a lot of work, but it’s also worth it. In addition to freeing up space in your home and making a little extra cash, you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing you’re giving your old items a second life with another family.

Plus, freeing up garage space gives you the chance to turn your attention to this oft-neglected area of your home. As one of the most important spots in your house that stores some of your most expensive items (vehicles, power tools, etc.), it’s important to get a handle on the clutter. A garage sale offers the perfect opportunity to downsize unnecessary items, tame the clutter and streamline your life.