Pricing and Location Guide to a Successful Garage Sale

Are you looking to prepare for a garage sale? To get your stuff sold and maybe even raise a little money, follow these garage sale or yard sale pricing guidelines.

Garage Sale Tips: Pricing and Location Guide to a Successful Garage Sale

During the spring and summer months, residents in communities across the country have garage sales when the weather is warmer.

It can be a nice experience to spend the day searching for garage sales, and a way to find all sorts of great items for far less than retail.

When you are holding a yard sale, pricing your products right is important. Your stuff will not sell if you set the prices too high. You lose the money you should have earned if the rates are too low.

To make the process a little easier, here are a few dos and don’ts of garage sale pricing.

Garage Sale Guides

  • Price everything before the sale begins.
  • Pricing each item individually. The only exceptions are groups of related items that, like books, are all priced the same. Place all of these together on a table. With large lettering that says “Books $1 each” or whatever price you’ve set, make a simple sign. On the front of the table, or on the wall behind it, hang your sign.
  • Using a fine-point marker or use pre-printed stickers to write the prices on simple stickers. Particularly for shoppers who lose their reading glasses, it is easier to read than a ballpoint pen.
  • Price your merchandise with neon-colored stickers, except for paper pieces that may be damaged by the adhesive. It makes it easy to find the price and it’s easier than cutting through squares with masking tape.
  • Opt for (if you can find them) low-tack stickers. Porcelain, paper, wood, and glass make them easier to remove.
  • To get a feel for local prices on various types of items, visit some area yard sales. When most sellers price hardbound books at 50 cents to $1, yours will not sell at $3 each. If in your area, name-brand blue jeans usually sell for $2, labeling yours at 25 cents per pair is excessively low.
  • Research items that might be valuable. Check a price guide and do a search on eBay for a completed item. You can print the listing and stick it to your product to show value if you find an identical item, but do not expect to get that price at a yard sale.
  • Mark the price tags on pricey pieces as “Firm” if you’re not willing to haggle at all.
  • Use color-coded stickers or mark the price tags with the sellers’ initials if you’re having a multi-family sale. As shoppers pay, peel off the stickers and stick them on a notebook page. Tally the results later. It takes too long to keep a written log as you go and your customers have other stops on their yard sale routes.

Location Guide for Garage Sale

  1. Garage Sale Locator Find a garage sale in your local area by city or state.
  2. Garage Sale Tracker Use this easy guide to enter in search criteria to find a garage sale near your neighborhood.
  3. iPhone Garage Sale Locator This application for your iPhone can be downloaded and used while mobile to help you find garage sales near you.
  4. Garage Sales Across the Country A very simple to use site that lets users put in their state and/or zip code to find garage sales.
  5. Garage Mama A place where people can post their own garage sales, or search for ones in their area.
  6. National Garage Sale Locator Don’t spend your day wandering around aimlessly looking for garage sales. Use this easy locator to find one nearby.
  7. Yard Hopper This fun website has a list of yard sales, garage sales, moving sales, and more.

Garage Sale Pricing Guide

These are general prices that these items typically sell for. Depending on your area and the condition of each object, feel free to change yours.

  • Dishes and glasses: $5 to $30 for an eight-piece set
  • Shoes: $5 to $10
  • T-shirts: two for $1
  • Mainstream brand-name clothing: $5 to $15
  • Dining chairs: $25 to $150 each
  • Kitchen gadgets: $1 to $5
  • Lamps: $5 to $30
  • Hardcover books: $1 (paperbacks, two for $1)
  • Mirrors and artwork: $1 to $10 (small); $30 to $100 (large)
  • DVDs and Blu-Ray Discs: $1 for older films or shows, $2 for newer ones
  • Coffee tables: $50 to $100
  • Costume jewelry: $1 (or $5 for a few items)
  • IKEA furniture: 30 to 50 percent of the original price
  • Tech (smart home devices, TVs, speakers, video game systems, computer screens, etc.): $50 to $100, depending on the original price of the items
  • China: $1 to $10 a plate
  • CDs: Two for $1
  • Board games: $1 to $5
  • Sofas: $150 to $300

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