How Much Change Should You Have For A Garage Sale

I do a lot of shopping at garage sales. I've probably been to hundreds of them over the years, and I've learned to size them upwardly quickly to tell if a particular sale is a good one or lame one before I go sorting through everything. And to me, one of the biggest red flags is looking effectually a sale and seeing no cost tags on whatsoever of the merchandise.

A lack of price tags tells me the seller hasn't made much effort. The appurtenances will probably be poorly organized, and even if I manage to discover something worth buying, I'll take to hunt downward the seller simply to discover out what it costs. And since they patently oasis't given much thought to pricing, it's likely to be as well expensive to carp with anyway.

Y'all tin can't accept a successful garage sale if yous're driving customers away with high or unclear prices. To avert this trouble, yous need to make all your prices clear upfront — and those prices should exist attractive enough to persuade buyers to open up their wallets.

How to Price Trade at Your Garage Auction

Every shopper loves a bargain, and that's doubly true for garage sale shoppers. Information technology's why they're willing to spend hours of their weekend driving for miles to have in a promising auction or scouring their local neighborhood on human foot for the best deals.

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So while in that location are many ways to make your garage sale more appealing — from proper signage to ample parking — the price tag will accept the about significant impact on your bodily sales. Pricing your goods clearly while likewise leaving room for haggling can mean the divergence betwixt turning your ataxia into cash and having to haul it all back to the attic.

1. Know Your Goal

Before deciding how to toll your trade, think about the purpose of your yard sale. Which is more of import to y'all: clearing out clutter or maximizing your profits?

If you're trying to declutter your abode — for instance, considering you're preparing to motility or making space for a new family member — then your goal is to clear out as much stuff as possible. Y'all can attain this goal about hands by pricing your wares dirt cheap — non just well below retail prices, but below austerity shop and flea marketplace prices as well.

Yet, if your main goal is to earn extra cash, and then pricing your goods is a piddling trickier. You desire to charge the maximum shoppers are willing to pay, but at the same fourth dimension, you have to avoid chasing buyers off with too-high prices. To walk this fine line, you lot need to research typical garage sale pricing in your expanse.

2. Check Prices Online

When setting prices for your yard sale wares, don't make the fault of thinking nigh what they mean to you. Thou sale shoppers don't care that you originally paid $200 for that designer outfit or that those people's republic of china teacups were a wedding souvenir from your Neat Aunt Louise. All they care about is whether the cost is a good deal for them.

To find the prices buyers are willing to pay, do some research. For high-value items like vintage article of clothing or furniture, cheque listings on sites like Craigslist and eBay to see what prices like goods are fetching. If you accept actually pricey merchandise, such every bit antiques or jewelry, it might be worth paying to accept them appraised before setting a price.

However, don't assume you can sell your valuables for their market place toll at a garage sale, where anybody is looking for a bargain. Instead, consider printing out the record of an eBay listing for something similar and taping it to your lower-priced merchandise to bear witness buyers they're getting a skillful bargain.

If you have a piece that'south worth a significant amount of money, hold it dorsum from the sale and try to sell information technology online. You lot stand a better risk of getting a fair price that way than at a yard sale, where shoppers expect stone-bottom prices.

iii. Cheque Local Sale Prices

According to guides published by Real Simple and The Spruce, m auction pricing varies widely past region. If yous aren't accepted to shopping at garage sales yourself, a little scouting trip can assistance yous figure out what prices yard sale shoppers in your area are used to.

First, check out websites like Yard Sale Search and Yard Auction Treasure Map to find local sales. Then stop by a couple to see what they're charging for products similar to those yous have to sell. Visiting a couple of local thrift stores can provide valuable intel likewise.

If you lot can't find some of the merchandise you're selling at local sales, a skilful rule of pollex is to charge no more one-quarter to one-3rd of what a similar product would cost to purchase new. However, this dominion varies depending on what you're selling.

According to the garage auction pricing guides from Real Unproblematic, The Bandbox, and Angi (formerly Angie's List), some criterion prices for specific goods are:

Habiliment: Adult clothes typically sell for $3 to $5 per piece. However, brand-new garments with tags can sell for more than. Winter coats and jackets are pricier at $five to $15 each, with heavy winter coats and designer jackets priced toward the high terminate. Baby clothes can fetch $ane to $3 per piece if gently used or $0.25 to $0.l each if they're worn.
Accessories: Adult shoes can sell for anywhere from $3 to $x per pair, depending on the brand and their condition. Baby and toddler shoes probably aren't worth more than than $1 or $2. Costume jewelry typically sells for $0.50 to $2 per piece.
Books: Hardcover books usually sell for around $1 — perhaps $two for heavier tomes. Paperbacks are cheaper, at $0.25 to $0.50 each. However, you tin can accuse more for large coffee table books or rare books that would appeal to collectors.
Records: Vinyl records, one time considered passe, are now condign collectors' items once more. You lot can price them at around $ii each or more than for records that are rare and in excellent condition. You can also try battle upwardly records and selling them every bit a lot, especially if they're older types like 45s.
Other Media: CDs and DVDs, which still count as mod technology, tin sell for $one to $5 each. Cassette tapes and VHS tapes, which are basically obsolete, probably can't sell for more than $1 each.
Electronics: Electronics and computer equipment typically follow the i-3rd rule. Even so, new gadgets in their original packaging can sell for as much as half their retail price.
Furniture: Low-quality pieces, such every bit dilapidated hand-me-downs or Ikea piece of furniture, tin go for anywhere from $5 to $30, depending on size and condition. Sturdy, ready-to-use article of furniture will probably fetch one-3rd of its retail price. That could be $150 to $300 for a sofa, $50 to $100 for a coffee tabular array, or $25 to $150 for a dining chair.
Home Decor: Pocket-sized decorative pieces, such as pillows and vases, tend to sell for between $ii and $7, depending on the size and condition. Wall art and mirrors can exist worth more than: upwardly to $10 for small ones and as much equally $100 for large ones. Working lamps in skillful condition should exist worth $5 to $10.
Tableware: Plain dishes sell for around $one to $3 per piece. Cathay is worth more, at $one to $x per dish. If you sell your dishes in sets, an eight-slice set up can fetch $5 to $thirty. A complete set of silverware is worth $3 to $5, but individual pieces are worth only around $0.25.
Antiques: Antiques of any kind — furniture, housewares, tableware — are a special case. Different most secondhand wares, antiques can sell at m sales for their full market value, which is often $100 or more than. It'southward worth having your antiques appraised alee of time. At the very least, cheque their value on eBay to figure out how to price them.
Kitchen Gadgets: Kitchen appliances, such every bit blenders and food processors, can sell for up to a 3rd of their retail price. Smaller kitchen tools, such as lemon squeezers or whisks, can go for $1 to $5, with lower prices for more obscure gadgets that fewer buyers will desire.
Toys and Games: Kids toys are typically cheap at yard sales — between $1 and $3, depending on their condition. Every bit for games, it depends on the type. Erstwhile standbys similar checkers or Monopoly probably aren't worth more than $1 each. All the same, electronic games and high-end board games such as Gloomhaven and Scythe, which can cost upwardly of $80 new, can go for $five or more. And truly vintage games, which could be considered collectibles, tin go for much more than based on their eBay selling prices.

4. Price Merchandise Conspicuously

To brand prices clear for your customers, characterization each item individually with a tag that clearly shows the price. Putting labels on every product at your sale may seem like a lot of piece of work, only it will save you trouble on the day of the sale itself. Without articulate labels, you'll spend most of the day dealing with queries from shoppers about what things price.

For the same reason, resist the urge to utilise color-coded stickers to indicate the price. Information technology seems similar it would save a lot of time to just use bluish stickers for $0.25, green for $0.50, yellow for $i, and so on. You tin so make a nautical chart to show what each color stands for rather than writing all the prices by hand.

The problem is you lot volition have to field repeated questions from buyers near what the labels mean. Fifty-fifty if you post a chart, most customers won't exist able to keep it in their heads and will simply come up back to you lot repeatedly to inquire nigh prices. In the long run, it's less piece of work to price everything individually.

Place each price tag in a spot where it'south easy to see. Some garage sale experts recommend bright-colored price stickers that catch the eye, while others adopt plain masking tape because it costs less. I similar to compromise by using blue painter's tape, which is cheaper than individual stickers and still piece of cake to spot. It also has the advantage of being easy to remove cleanly.

If you lot take a lot of similar items you want to sell for the same price, you can group them on a tabular array with a single sign saying, "Books: $1 each." This type of pricing works best for small objects that are easy to identify, such every bit books, CDs, shoes, teacups, or baby clothes. Y'all tin can even encourage shoppers to purchase more past offering bulk pricing, such equally six books for $v.

However, if you expect buyers to purchase products individually, it's best to cost them that style. Information technology's tempting to relieve yourself work by grouping unrelated merchandise on a table with a characterization that says, "$v each," just this strategy can backfire. Things tend to migrate throughout the 24-hour interval, and a $5 detail could stop up on the $10 tabular array, where no one volition consider it.

Or your $5 item could terminate upwardly on the $1 table. Fifty-fifty if y'all remember information technology was originally supposed to be $5, shoppers who idea they were getting an incredible deal are likely to be annoyed when you reveal the real price.

Worse yet, sneaky shoppers could deliberately move things from the $10 table to the $1 table in hopes of getting them for less than they're worth. Taking the time to place private price stickers on everything avoids the problem.

v. Factor in Flaws

If anything yous're planning to sell has flaws that won't come off with a good cleaning, such equally a crack or bit in the paint, don't endeavor to conceal them. Garage-sale shoppers are a savvy lot, and if they discover yous're trying to play tricks them, it could put them off your auction completely.

Instead, put a characterization on the object acknowledging the flaw, such as "lamp does not work," and price it accordingly. Buyers will appreciate your honesty, and a few minor flaws (or even major ones) won't deter the hardcore DIY crowd.

6. Be Flexible on Prices

The toll you put on the tag isn't necessarily the price you lot should wait buyers to pay. Garage sale shoppers are people who dear a bargain, and they're non shy about trying to negotiate for a lower cost.

You can account for this tendency to haggle past setting the initial prices just a petty on the loftier side. Yet, this approach tin can backfire if you have information technology likewise far. Not all buyers like to bargain, and some will simply walk away from something that looks overpriced.

According to The Spruce, a skilful compromise is to price things fifteen% to 20% above the minimum you'd have. That's depression plenty to avoid scaring buyers away but high enough to give them a chance to haggle. If y'all cost something at $6 when you lot'd accept $5, buyers who offer y'all $5 will feel similar they've scored a bargain, and you'll yet go the price y'all want.

However, in that location may be a few goods on which you adopt to land a business firm toll rather than leave room for haggling. For example, if you have a rare record you know could fetch $20 on eBay, you might exist unwilling to have less. In these cases, add the word "firm" to the label, every bit in "$xx firm," then buyers don't waste product their time and yours trying to negotiate.

As the day wears on, you lot're probable to come across the initial flood of shoppers tedious to a trickle. When this happens, consider dropping your prices — not merely past accepting lower offers but on the toll tags — to make your merchandise more appealing. Getting $5 for a set of dishes obviously isn't as skillful as getting $x, but it'due south better than getting nothing.

7. Have a Costless Box

If y'all have a agglomeration of small goods y'all know won't bring in much money, why not just give them away? Pile it all into 1 box, and label it "free" in large, bold messages.

Only seeing the give-and-take "free" attracts people'due south attention. It tin can draw in shoppers who would typically pass by a sale without stopping. Once they've stopped, in that location's a amend hazard they'll check out your other merchandise too, and these additional sales tin can more than than make up for the handful of nickels and dimes y'all might accept managed to go for your free stuff.

Small toys, such as those that come up with fast-nutrient meals, are excellent candidates for the free box. They're not worth much anyway, and they attract the attention of children who don't have any money to spend. When they run across their kids making a beeline for the toys in the free box, the parents will exist more inclined to terminate and cheque out the rest of the sale.

Special Tips for Shared Garage Sales

Holding a garage auction is a lot of piece of work. Information technology takes hours to articulate out closets, advertise your sale, toll your appurtenances, fix them out on tables, and clean up subsequently.

If you don't have that many things to sell or many high-value items, your auction probably won't bring in enough money to make it worth the trouble. For example, if you spend 15 hours preparing for a 1000 auction and just make $15 in total, all your work earns you simply $one per hr. That's far less than minimum wage.

Nonetheless, there's a way to change that equation. If a friend or neighbour also lacks enough stuff to make a auction worthwhile, you tin can team up and agree a unmarried sale. Past sharing both the work and the money, you can bring your hourly earnings upwards to a respectable level.

The Benefits of Holding a Joint Sale

Other advantages of having a joint garage auction are:

A More Substantial Auction. Past pooling your goods, you tin can have a more extensive sale that'due south more than likely to attract shoppers. It volition expect more enticing from the road, and yous'll have more trade to tempt buyers with in your advertisements.
Tag-Teaming. By working together, you can take turns watching the auction. That allows each of yous to take breaks without worrying someone will make off with the wares.
Combining Your Skills. If you're not dandy at negotiating, but your friend is, let them accept over all the haggling duties. You can oversee other tasks, such as making change.
Company. Running a garage sale can get kind of deadening. Yous have to sit outside all mean solar day monitoring the sale, fifty-fifty during dry spells when there are no customers to chat with. When yous hold a sale with a friend, y'all tin can continue each other company throughout the twenty-four hours, and the time seems to laissez passer faster.

Pricing for a Shared Sale

However, property a articulation auction also makes pricing more complicated. You need to go along runway of which appurtenances are whose and then the money they bring in goes to the correct person.

The easiest way to do that is to use color-coded price stickers. For instance, y'all can put blue stickers on all your stuff and red stickers on your friend's. Whenever yous sell something, peel off the cost sticker and stick information technology on a slice of paper. At the end of the sale, you can tally up the full value of the bluish and red stickers and divvy up your earnings accordingly.

Sometimes, a friend or relative can't help you with your sale but still wants to contribute to it. That's fine since the additional trade beefs upwardly your sale and increases its curb appeal.

However, if yous're in this situation, brand sure you get prices for everything they contributed. A buyer who asks for a price doesn't desire to stand at that place and expect while y'all try aimlessly to get your friend on the phone. Ask your friend for both a suggested price and the minimum toll they'll accept and then you'll know what to say to buyers who want to haggle.

Final Word

Even if your garage sale is a roaring success, it's doubtful every single item on your tables will sell. If you don't want to drag the leftovers back inside and store them until your side by side auction, you need some other program for disposing of them.

If you lot take loftier-value appurtenances that didn't find a buyer, y'all tin can try selling them online. Still, if you lot just want this junk out of your firm, donating it is easier. Many charities, such equally Goodwill and the Vietnam Veterans of America, accept donations of used clothing and secondhand furniture. Other things tin observe a new home through your local Freecycle group.

A garage auction can help you lot turn unwanted junk into welcome cash. By pricing your merchandise right and presenting it appealingly, you tin end the day with more of the latter and less of the former.