Antique appraiser Gary Germer joined us to share his expert tips on how to host a great garage sale! For more information about Gary, visit his website, www.garygermer.com.
Great signage. 75% of all your sales are going to go to people who saw your sign; 25% of your money comes from people who read your ad. Signs should be able to be seen from 2 blocks away, and they should be easy to quickly understand. For bigger sales, purchase advertising on sites like estatesalefinder.com, estatesales.org, and estatesales.net; for garage sales, use Craigslist and Nextdoor.
Set up your sale to look like a retail store. Clean things, polish things, and dust it all off. Set everything up to be easy to see. Put all small and valuable things in one place, hopefully in a showcase, and have one person watch them — display is of utmost importance. If you don't think it's worth cleaning, then why would I think it's worth buying? It should look and feel sort of festive and fun. Make sure you have good lighting, good smells (air freshener, baked goods, or potpourri), and some upbeat but not overpowering music in the background.
On security. Never let anyone inside your home. Always have two people minimum running the sale. As the money accumulates, take in the big bills and hide them inside the locked house. No early or late birds.
Bartering. I like to have two-day sales — the first day, no bartering; the second day I'm willing to make some deals. For the last hour of your sale, consider taking all the most valuable things inside and giving away everything else — it's an easy way to clean out your garage. Never have free things until the last hour.
Pricing. Before pricing, consider walking through Goodwill to get an eye-opener on what they sell things for, and follow their lead. Never price anything for less than 50 cents, so if you decide to have a half-price day, it's easy to do the math. Have change — at least $50, and ideally $100 in $10s, $5s, $1s, and quarters. Put a price on everything, and make sure everything is clearly priced. Don't take checks from someone you don't know. If you have expensive art, jewelry, or other things, consider paying a professional to help you price your sale for a flat fee — and never sell to an appraiser. Make it clear ahead of time that you will pay them but not sell to them. Never put anything on hold for more than half an hour.
Give a blessing to everything that sells — you're probably going to make a mistake and sell something too cheap, but bless it anyway and let it go.
Originally aired on AM Northwest, KATU.
