Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Garage Sales Are Serious Business

This past weekend, I went to Fort Worth, Tx to hold a garage sale with my mom and sisters. We had several people give us items to sell. This sale was massive. It took a great deal of our time to go through, price, and organize the items. It took the better part of each morning to set up. We had some hiccups, but all in all it was successful and fun. However, I took a few things away from this sale that will hopefully help me in the future.

1. You will at some point be in a very bad mood.

     Let's get real. Garage sales are exhausting. They take a lot of prep time. They take a lot of physical work.  You most likely will go to bed late doing last minute details. You will have to get up incredibly early to set up. You'll be hot, sweaty, sunburned, hungry, thirsty, busy, ect ect. Tensions will rise and you and your helpers will at some point greatly disagree on things as simple as the price of items, where to place the items, who's turn it is for a break... So just try your best to realize that we're all in the same shoes. We're all tired and at the end of the day when you're counting your cash and enjoying the AC, things will be brighter.

2. People are going to stop and shop as soon as they see your garage door open. Just go with it.

We could not set up fast enough. On Friday, we were not fully set up until noon. We had non stop steady stream of customers until 2 pm when we finally closed out of exhaustion. Most of the customers were understanding. We had to explain to several people we had 100's of items of items yet to be pulled out to the sale and to check back by in an hour or 2. Most of them did. Saturday was much easier to set up because we stashed everything within easy reach.

3. Definitely hold your sale on a Friday!

On Friday we had an average of 10-20 customers shopping at all times between 7am and 12pm. Most people work during the week and open their sales up on Saturday. Those who can open on Friday will get a lot of action. Friday garage salers are serious. They have a plan and know what their doing. They know you are open and will come find you. Saturday you are competing with a lot more people. So, definitely open up on Friday. You will be amazed!

4. You can sell ANYTHING, if the price is right.

Here is a list of random items we sold: old make up, old non valuable jewelry, old clothes, paintings that would make anyone cringe, engineering text books that had been revised about 10 times since, VHS, broken things, old magazines ect. Some lady even wanted to buy the box of gallon size baggies we were using! LOL

5.  When you want stuff gone, be ready to make crazy deals!

We had tables and bins set up for "fill a bag for $1". In it wasn't anything of value, but people went nuts filling those bags. We kept walking around and adding more things to the table as the day went on. We didnt want to haul any books or other media back in the house. So we did another fill a bag for a $1 sale with that Saturday afternoon. That's a quick way to get rid of things you plan to just throw away after the sale.

6. People are Weird!

Some guy bought a Lion King sleeping bag and a painting that, if you held it right, it looks like a butt. Another couple of customers starting fighting over items. We got some interesting characters, but it was great! We'd just laugh and go on to the next person!

7. People will steal.

We knew a few things had gone missing. The best story was a lady stole a pair of shoes. She walked off in our shoes and left behind her janky old flip flops! I honestly just let those instances go. What are you going to do? Run after someone who stole $5 worth of stuff?? Not worth it. Keep anything valuable close to you. Keep an eye on customers and interact with everyone. If they feel you are watching, they'll be more than likely move on to another sale.

8. Be prepared!

 While setting up we got sick of "how much is this??"  Get all signs done, items priced and sorted prior to the sale. You want to set up and be done. Have an extension cord ready for people to plug items in and test. If something doesn't turn on, give it away. We gave away a broken paper shredder. Plugged it in and it didn't work. I told the customer they could have it and see if they could fix it. They gladly took it! Have plenty of change ready. This is important. I was able to give change to everyone who needed it. I even had enough change for a lady who only had a $100. I would not have done it unless I had a million $20's.

9. Have Help

I think our biggest problem was not having enough help. Our sale was massive and we really needed about 2-3 more people Friday. We were completely overwhelmed. Saturday was better, but we still could have used help. If you expect a lot of Spanish speaking customers, it could be helpful to have someone who is able to at least communicate minimally. If all else fails, learn Spanish numbers so you can barter with your Spanish speaking customers. It's really not that hard! Come on "Cinco dollars" is not that hard and they will appreciate your effort.


10. Have Fun

Most people will be fun to talk to. Send someone to grab donuts at breakfast and order pizza at lunch. If you'll be up and moving constantly like we were, get carb rich meals and snacks. Keep gatorade, sodas and water bottles in the fridge. You want to run in and grab and go. Relax when you can. Cut people deals. It's a garage sale after all! They aren't going to pay high prices! Slash prices when you are getting tired. Pack up when they customers slow way down. Order pizza and relax. You've just gotten cash for your junk and made some customers very happy!!!

11. Tamales

If someone is driving around selling tamales out of their van..... buy them. You will not regret it. Home made tamales are amazing.