The Gulfport Garage Sale Guru has some tips to make your next garage sale the best one ever.
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Yard sales offer a way for people to find needed items at greatly reduced prices. These popular sales also help the seller clean out and make room in their homes. Participating in Gulfport’s popular semi-annual citywide yard sale on Mar. 19 (rain date Mar. 20) gives you the great advantage of big crowds for your sale. The citywide yard sale does not require a permit. Gulfport also has its annual marine yard sale the same day, and Madeira Beach has its citywide yard sale Mar. 12-13.
No matter where or what you sell, here’s how to make it successful.
• Plan ahead by going throughout your home for items to sell.
• Visit some yard sales ahead of time to see how to price things, or ask friends familiar with yard sale prices for advice. When a buyer sees high prices, they often move on to the next sale.
• Inspect your items to be sure they are in good condition.
• If you don’t think you have enough to sell, consider teaming up with neighbors.
• If you don’t own enough tables to display everything, consider borrowing them.
• Advertise your sale with pictures if possible and a list of items. People searching for something in particular will visit your sale first.
• Arrange like items together.
• Find a way to hang clothes instead of putting them in a pile on a table or the ground on a sheet.
• Some people have the sale inside of their home with a cashier at the exit to collect money.
• Remove yard obstacles for shopper safety.
• Place signs advertising your sale according to city rules. The best time to put signs out is late the night before the sale or early in the morning of the sale. Be sure to pick them up at the end of the day. Get commercial signs at a local hardware stores; you can use them over and over, if you store them well. Homemade cardboard signs work, too!
• Be willing to accept less so you can sell everything.
• Have plenty of change available and keep it safe. A fanny pack is a good idea.
• Secure your home and pets.
• Let people visit early, while you are setting up. Early birds are usually serious buyers who know what they want, but they rarely come back. Don’t miss a sale!
• If you have a large piece of furniture inside your home, have a helper watch your sale while you show the item.
• When your sale is done, if you don’t want to bring anything back into your home, you can post a curb alert on Facebook for people to pick up the leftovers. If it’s a piece of furniture or something big, describe it and indicate that you will take the ad down once it’s picked up to save someone a trip.
Good luck with your sale – and good luck to you shoppers out there!
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