Increase Your Personal Profit Margin: Tips for Making Bank at Your Next Garage Sale [Infographic]

Step into your role as Yard Sale CEO and start building your business plan for this money-making endeavor. Exercise your savvy strategizing skills with a few simple tips and take pleasure in watching your capital increase.

Garage Sale Facts & Figures

The following estimates are based on polled averages taken in the U.S.

• 165,000 – Garage sales held per week
• 690,000 – People making purchases per week
• 4,967,500 – Items purchased per week
• $4,222,375 – Total revenue per week
• $0.85 – Average price per item
• Saturday – Best day to hold a garage sale
• 7:00am – Best time to start a garage sale

6 Steps to Increase Your Yard Sale Revenue

1. Neighborhood Networking Coordinate with neighbors to: Have multiple sales at once

• The increased commotion wil attract more customers to your neighborhood

Use their yard for increased visibility

• Helpful if your house is tucked away in the back of a cul-de-sac

Donate stuff to your sale

• Offer to take unwanted junk off their hands for free

2. Impressive Inventory Have some hot-item inventory to sell at a higher price point, but keep in mind that it’s a garage sale—don’t get too hot.

• Typical stuff: clothes, toys, appliances, glassware
• Hot items: furniture, electronics, collectables
• Too hot: diamond earrings, brand new laptops, cars

3. Strategic Marketing Create a theme based on items that you have a lot of, and market to your target audience.

• Theme Example One: Timeless Antiques
  • Old books
  • Vintage jewelry
  • Classic records
  • Rustic furniture
  • Dainty decorations

• Theme Example Two: Exercise Junky
  • Exercise equipment
  • Instructional workout videos
  • Fitness apparel
  • Workout accessories
  • Nutrition books

Helpful Hint: You can sell items that are outside of the theme by displaying them in a miscellaneous section. 4. Powerful Advertising The classic poster method of advertising yard sales is great to attract passersby. Consider reaching a wider audience by using social media, garage sale websites, and print media.

• Posters:
  • Keep ‘em simple and legible
  • Use quality paper that won’t blow away or wrinkle
  • Make it one bright color

• Social Media:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

• Garage Sale Websites:
  • www.salenook.com
  • www.yardsales.net
  • www.yardsalesearch.com
  • www.craigslist.com

• Print:
  • Newspaper ad
  • Penny Saver ad

Helpful Hint: Be sure to include date, time, location, theme, and photos in your advertising. 5. Compelling Visual Merchandising Creating a clean, presentable, and organized space will make customers want to stick around a little longer. Here are some tips for achieving a visually pleasing space: Hang, fold, or place items so they can be easily viewed

• Do not throw items in boxes for customers to sift through
  • Group items by type or according to themes so people can see everything they are interested in at once
  • Leave space between sections or tables to allow people to walk, stop, and browse

Helpful Hint: Provide bags or boxes for customers to use as makeshift shopping carts, giving them something to fill up. 6. Effective Price Planning One Method: Don’t Price Anything

• Negotiate prices but make the customer choose the starting point.
• People are often willing to pay more for something than you would think to price it as.
• If you have friends or family members helping you sell then create a sheet with the minimum price that you would take for each item.
  • This way you avoid having your sweet little niece sell your precious items for $.05 each.

Another Method: Price Items

• Identify an item’s worth; often 10-25% of its initial cost
• Sell items in a bundle at a lower cost than they would be per piece.
• Have a $1.00, $3.00, or $5.00 table with plenty of smaller items.
• As the sale is coming to an end and you are running out of inventory, make everything ½ off!

Additional Tips to Ensure This Garage Sale Is Worth Your While

• Don’t let people in your home, and lock the doors
• Keep all the money on you in a pouch or apron
• Have plenty of small change to complete the initial transactions
• Be leery of $100 bills
• Check with residential rules and obtain appropriate permits if required

Brought to you by StorageFront | storagefront.com Resources: http://www.today.com/home/how-make-more-money-garage-sale-1D79976211 http://twocents.lifehacker.com/make-more-money-at-garage-sales-by-not-pricing-items-1623075149 http://www.wikihow.com/Hold-a-Garage-Sale http://www.statisticbrain.com/garage-sale-statistics/