Posts Tagged ‘seller’

Pricing is one of many factors that can affect the outcome of your garage sale, so make sure to give it some thought ahead of time.

There are many factors that affect prices: season, region, condition, age, current retail price, and competition.

Season:

Selling items in the off-season makes them a little harder to move; most folks just aren’t looking for Christmas decorations in May, so keep the seasonality of items in mind when pricing. Ditto for gardening tools. Not much of a market for them in September (unless you’re selling a leaf blower!), but they are in high demand in spring. Sweaters and jackets will bring more in an early autumn sale.

Region:

The part of the country you’re selling in plays a big part of what you can hope to get paid for your goods. Garage sales tend to be more prevalent in the suburbs and rural areas, whereas flea markets are more common in urban areas. The general cost of living in your area will also have an effect on prices. If you are in an area hard-hit by the recession, folks just don’t have as much money to spend, so your prices will have to be low enough to move your inventory.

Condition:

Is the item like new? Slightly used? Does it come with its original packaging and/or instructions? Are all the parts included? Or has it obviously been collecting dust in your attic for several years? Dirty stuff is harder to sell, so take the time to clean stuff up.

Age:

Some things are timeless, and some things are even more valuable because they’re older, but just because something is old, doesn’t make it a collectible or antique. Anything you plan on marketing this way will need to be researched. Ebay is probably your best source for current prices (be sure to check the COMPLETED auctions for actual price data). Clothing usually continues to go down in price the older it gets. Other items that get “dated” particularly fast are home dec items. Remember those acrylic bunches of grapes everyone had in the 60s? Not a big market for them now. Ditto for avocado green Tupperware, etc.

Current Retail Price:

It doesn’t really matter what you paid for an item several years ago; today’s prices are all that matter. So, that computer that you paid $1200 for 5 years ago, is likely not even going to get you 10% of it’s original price. This is particular true with technology items: the costs have dropped so dramatically in the past several years that there’s really no good secondary market. That goes for kitchen appliances, DVD players, etc. (In 1986 a new full-size microwave would set you back over $300, now you can get one for less than half that price.)

Competition:

Where else can shoppers find the items you are selling used? Is everyone else in the neighborhood having a sale? Are there many second-hand shops in your area? How unique is your item? Is it something people buy and use forever, or is everyone else also selling the same “as seen on TV” widget.

Oh, and finally, how bad do you want to be rid of the item? (I actually had a guy offer to pay me to take his exercise bike away last year!).

I recommend heading to a few second-hand stores in your area to get an idea of prices, then charge about 70% of what they do. If you have things that you feel may be valuable, check eBay for prices. If you don’t sell these items at your sale, you can always sell them online.

Some of these prices seem shockingly low, so you may want to consider whether donating the items to charity will net you more money as a tax deductible donation. Many popular income tax software packages, such as Turbo Tax, include features to automatically calculate the value of charitable donations using IRS-approved values. At the very least, make sure you take inventory (a digital photo for support is a good idea) of items before donating them to charity.

7 Garage Sale Tips You Must Have For Success
By Marilyn Bohn

My daughter and her family are moving to a different state and they have several items they don’t want to take with them so they are having a garage sale. I just organized a two car garage and my client found so many duplicate, good, and unwanted items that she is having a garage sale. The reasons for a sale are many and varied. No matter why you are having a garage sale here are some tips for a successful sale:

1·Gather Your Inventory
Once you have decided on what you will sale be tough with yourself. Store your yard sale inventory in black plastic garbage bags or boxes with lids. No peeking! There is no appeal, no mercy and no second chance. The things in the bags or boxes are no longer junk or stuff, its inventory!

2·Set The Date
Choose your day, and plan a one-day sale. Have a strategy for sale’s end. Many charities will pick up all unsold items. Or set a time and after that time give everything away free, or charge a dime for everything. My daughter got a beautiful, in excellent condition queen size bed free at a garage sale. She didn’t even know after 3:00 everything was free, but they stuck to their decision and she benefited. Whatever you do, don’t let the survivors back in the house! If you can’t sell this stuff at a garage sale, why would you want it to clutter your home?

3·Advertise
You’ve sorted your stuff and scoped out the field. Now it’s time to play retailer. First rule: advertise, advertise, and advertise. Put an ad on Craig’s List or other local advertizing places.

The secret to a successful yard sale is foot traffic. The more folks who walk through your sale, the more you’ll sell. Lots of cars parked on your street tell yard-sale cruisers where to find you. If business is brisk, buyers won’t leave your premises without that lighted beer sign, for fear that someone else will snatch it right up. The more, the merrier; your muffin-tin change sorter will overflow.

Depending where in the country you live put an ad in the newspaper. Many local papers offer special garage sale rates or free signs to yard sale advertisers. Watch your wording. Mention furniture, baby items, garden tools or other desirable items you have to offer, but don’t waste your money on “miscellaneous”.

If you want to keep pre-dawn bargain hunters from banging on your door at 5 a.m., include the phrase “No early birds!” in your ad. A creative use of “Early birds pay double” will discourage all but the most fanatic; make them pay for the privilege.

Use your computer (or your kids) to make signs, lots of signs. Use neon poster board and deep-black markers. Make the directions BIG. If you can’t see your signs from a block away, neither can your customers. If you live tucked deep in a twisted spiral of subdivision streets, place sign at each and every corner between your house and the nearest main road. Make it easy for buyers to find you.

4·Preparation and Price
Assess your inventory. Does it look garage-sale drab? A little elbow grease can yield big bucks. Run dusty dishes and filmy glassware through the dishwasher. A quick spritz with automotive vinyl protectant makes small appliances and plastic items shine like new. Clean, fresh-smelling clothing hung on hangers commands a higher price than stained and rumpled items tossed into boxes.

Pay attention to packaging. Plastic food storage bags group children’s game pieces, display jewelry, and hold hardware bits and pieces.

Price every item. Yes, haggling is part of the yard sale scene, but for those with shyer natures, a price sticker saves a lot of energy. Buyers are more apt to buy when they know the price is in their ballpark. Use masking tape or small adhesive stickers to label your wares.

Bundling is an old retailer’s trick, and one well suited to the yard-sale seller. Abide by your area’s yard sale price guidelines. Yard sales have their own economy. The goal is to get rid of stuff. Your shoppers know the going prices as well as you do.

5·Set Up Shop
Make sure your site can be seen from the road, and plan to haul a few big items out front, for good measure. It’s best to work from a stripped site, so remove everything that’s not for sale from the driveway, garage or carport. If you can’t, drape the not-for-sale items with sheets or tarps.

Set out your wares. Tables, even a slab of plywood board resting on sawhorse, make it easy to browse. Hang clothing from ropes or chains attached to the ceiling. Display books, spines up, in shallow boxes for easy shopping. When possible, use signs to identify merchandise: full-size sheets, infants’ clothing. Lay a heavy-duty extension cord to operate radios and television, and test electrical appliances.

Remove anything that can be tripped over, including the dog, who should live elsewhere for the duration of the sale. Check the garage floor and driveway for slippery spots or hidden hazards. Tape down extension cords or cables.

Are you ready to make change? A muffin tin makes a good change holder. Be prepared with at least $20 in small bills and change. Or a big pocket apron works too or an old tackle box.

6·Ready, Set, Sell
Don’t sit there like a lump in a lawn chair! Get up and talk to people. Be excited and enthusiastic. Be bubbly and vivacious and share lots of information about that wonderful set of bed linens that you love and adore but no longer match your color scheme. Put your best foot forward.

Plan for at least two staffers for every yard sale, and more is better. One person acts as “background”, shuffling cash, keeping an active eye on everything. A cashier sits at the front with muffin tin or cash box. Leave the selling to the most enthusiastic salesperson.

Offer free lemonade or some drink, and give your children a taste of private enterprise, entrusting them with a donut concession. If people are eating, they’re staying–and if they’re staying, they’re buying. That’s the point!

7·When The Sale Is Over
Wrap up your sale when you said you would. A yard sale is a lot of work, and you’re still not finished. Dispose of the leftovers, either to the charity pick-up or by boxing and delivering the items yourself. Be considerate of your neighbors and next week’s yard sale enthusiasts. Remove all signs, and return your sale site to normal.

Then go count your proceeds–and take the family out to dinner. You’ve earned it!