Don’t have a GPS? No problem, there are printable maps with directions available on the website as well.

It’s time to hit the road and get shopping, there are few hundred just in the Hampton Roads area.

This week I created the button for the whole state of Virginia, instead of just the Tidewater sales, to my one-click button for automatic TomTom installation this week.

Have fun shopping!

Hampton Roads
United States

Don’t have a TomTom? Most other brands of GPS devices can import a CSV file. Look for the button just above the listings on our garage sale map.

• Chesapeake Garage Sales
  
  • $5
  • PDF Form available online
• Norfolk Garage Sales
  
  • $5
  • PDF Form available online
• Portsmouth Garage Sales
  • Permits required, but there is no information on their site except a phone number that nobody seems to answer at the Commissioner of Revenue office (757) 393-8771
• Virginia Beach Garage Sales
  • No permit required
  • Up to 2 sales per year, no more than 3 days long
    (info via the online 311 help desk, since it’s not on the site, but apparently *is* in the municipal code)
• Suffolk Garage Sales
  • No information on the city web site

Is it in style?

Make sure that the item you are purchasing is still in style, especially for older children. You don’t want to buy gently used pants that were in style back in the ’90s for your child now, no matter how great the price it. Keep your children in mind because if they wont wear it them it really doesn’t matter if you only paid 50¢ for it.

Choosing classic styles is a great way to avoid a wardrobe that looks “dated”.

Inspect every item

Never purchase any clothing before looking it over closely. Check for missing buttons, zippers that don’t work, tears and stains. If the area that the clothing is displayed in is dark, don’t be afraid to step into a better lit area to look over the clothing. You don’t to get an item home only to find it has a stain on it that you overlooked.

Check Sizes

Many people do their laundry differently, which can cause used clothing to vary in sizes. Ideally, if you are on the hunt for jeans for your daughter carry a pair of her jeans that fit nicely with you. Make sure that the garage sale owner knows you brought them with you before you start shopping. By having an item with you that fits well you can then hold up items you are considering purchasing to the item to get an idea on whether the new item will fit correctly. Likewise, a measuring tape can come in handy for verifying waist and inseam measurements.

Getting a Bargain

If you find several items that you want to purchase, don’t be shy about negotiation with the seller. Many sellers will give you a discount on a large purchase just to get the items out of the way. So if you find 5 pairs of jeans for $2 each ask the seller if they will take $8 (or less!) for all 5. This makes a better deal for you and it also makes them money.

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Ah, the song said it so well. Whether you call it a yard sale or a garage sale is largely dependent on your region. Around here it bounces back and forth between garage sale and yard sale. But if you’ve ever watched Martha Stewart, up in Connecticut they call them tag sales.

Then of course in the mid-west they are sometimes called rummage sales, and churches frequently call them white elephant sales.

There are some definite advantages to actually holding your sale in a garage: you are sheltered from the effects of mother nature and if you’re having the sale inside you don’t have to worry about rain, which can be a problem in hurricane country! Plus you can set up ahead of time, and not have to worry about getting up at the crack of dawn to set out your merchandise. So a “garage” sale will keep you from singing the title line in that song, “Let’s call the whole thing off.”

Of course, one of the benefits to the shorter words like “Yard Sale” or “Tag Sale” is that they fit better on signs. And readable signs are important! So important that we have two articles about how to make good garage sale signs.

So whether you’re searching for maps to yard sales, garage sales, or tag sales, or if you want to advertise your yard sale for free, you’ve come to the right place!

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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!