07 Sep 6 Tips on Planning a Garage Sale before You Move

Moving to another city or state requires sorting and packing the belongings you have accumulated throughout your stay in your current home. If you have amassed quite a collection, you will spend a lot of time and energy packing everything into multiple boxes.

Even if you are hiring moving services to help you pack, you can expect to your moving expenses to be substantial. If you want to reduce the items you’ll transport and make a little extra cash, organizing a garage sale before moving is a great option. To help you get started, here are some things you need to consider when planning a moving-out sale.

Ask Help from Friends

A successful yard sale will take a lot of hard work, and you might not be able to handle everything on your own. Just think about the number of items you will be selling and the people coming on the day of the sale, so It’s a good idea to ask friends, family, or your neighbors for help. If one of them has experience in organizing a garage sale, they can help you better prepare for it. This is especially true if you are planning for a long distance move soon.

Spread the Word about Your Yard Sale

You need to get the word out about your upcoming garage sale if you want people to come and buy your stuff. You can do so by making signs about the sale and posting them around your neighborhood. Remember to include details like your exact address, date, and hours. You can also place a general list of items you will be selling on the poster. Since people will have an idea of what items are on sale, it can help lure more potential buyers. To reach more people, you can post online details about the garage sale. You can publish the announcement on community message boards or social media. Make sure to ask your friends to share your post in their network too.

Ready All Your Supplies

Before the day of the sale, gather all the supplies you will need, including tables and chairs to display your goods, a garment rack to hang clothes, or some tags or stickers to label the items on sale. Make sure you have smaller bills and coins for change and a calculator so you can easily compute sales made. Also, prepare plastic or paper bags you can give to people who purchased several items. It will help them carry all the merchandise when they leave. You can also check out piano moving services available so you won’t have to worry about how to bring them.

Expect People to Haggle

Be ready to meet people who will want to bargain for a better price. This is part of the charm of a yard sale, so don’t get all worked up when customers start negotiating to lower the price. It might be better to accept it than to deal with the unsold merchandise later on. If you have a specific price in mind for nicer items, you can add 10 or 20 percent to give you room when people haggle.

Make Plans for Unsold Items

The ideal outcome is to be able to sell all your things at the garage sale, but there is still a possibility you will be left with some items. It’s best to prepare for such an instance and look for a local charity where you can donate all the merchandise you weren’t able to sell. You can also donate items to a local church that might be hosting a rummage sale, or you can even donate slightly-used clothing items to a local shelter.

Having a garage sale is a good way to get rid of items you won’t need in your new home while earning some extra cash. When hosting the sale, do it a couple of months before your moving date to ensure its success. Also, it will help you get a head start on sorting and packing your personal belongings.