As with most activities, organizing and planning your sale is the key to success. Below are several things to consider before having your sale.

• Community and neighborhood association restrictions. Some communities and neighborhood associations have restrictions on garage sales. There could be restrictions on signs, the time and day sales are allowed, the size of the sale, who is organizing it and the number of times you can have a sale during the year. You should check your community before planning your sale.

• Type of sale. Garage sale, yard sale or moving sale? Does it really matter what you call it? Probably not, but there are advantages to having a multi-family sale. Multi-family sales attract more buyers because of the size of the sale. You also have a larger workforce for conducting the sale as well as more mouths to help promote it. When organizing your sale, contact your neighbors to let them know you are planning a sale and then see if they want to join you in having a sale together.

• Pick a sale date. Pick a date a couple weeks out to give yourself time to prepare for your sale. Also take into consideration a rain date. If the weather gets really bad, when would you be able to reschedule the sale?

Almost all sales are held during the weekend, with Saturday being by far the most popular day. Friday and Sunday are two other common sale days.

Generally, avoid major holidays or "festival" weekends when most people in your area will be occupied. One exception to this is if your house is in a location that a parade or festival might generate a lot of foot traffic for your sale. That's an opportunity you don't want to miss.

Finally, is your community heavily influenced by a few large employers? If so, consider having your sale on a "pay day" weekend.

• Select & prepare items. Some people will decide to sell 10% of their possessions. Others will sell anything that hasn't been used in the past two years. But whatever means you use to decide what items to sell, keep a few things in mind:
  • Make sure you have enough stuff to hold a sale. If you don't think you do, consider joining up with other neighbors or participating in a charity sale.
  • Clean up your items. Wash your dishes and clothes, clean up your children's toys and wipe down the lawn mower you want to sell. The better looking your items, the easier it will be to sell them at the price you want.
  • Fix it if it's broken. How many people will buy your lamp if it doesn't work? A two dollar switch can frequently net you a ten dollar sale. So take the time to get everything working when possible. If you can't fix something but you still feel it has value, make sure it is clearly noted and price the item accordingly.
  • Make sure to include the small, easily lost parts and any instructions that go with an item in a clear, plastic bag attached to the item. The more you have, the more valuable it is. If you are missing parts, make sure it is clearly indicated.
  • Valuable items priced reasonably will sell.
  • If it's junk, it's junk. You are better off to label it as such, put it at the back of your sale and give it away for free. So, how do you tell if it is junk?
    • Is it broken beyond repair?
    • Would it cost more to repair than to buy a new one?
    • Has it been used so much that it no longer works very well or at all?
    • Was it junk when you bought it? If yes, then it's still junk!
    • Are clothes stained or ripped? Is the fabric faded or worn? Does it smell?

If you answer yes to any of these, then it's probably junk. Now, that doesn't mean that there isn't someone out there who might have a use for it, but don't count on it and don't expect to make much if any money from it.

• Inventory list. Generate a written inventory of the items you are selling. This list serves many purposes:
  • Use it to help write your ad here at ColumbusGarageSale.com promoting your sale. (Remember, the more detail in your ad, the better.)
  • Use it to help layout and categorize the items in your sale.
  • As items are bought they should be crossed off your list. This will give you a chance to double check the pricing and make sure that only sale items are sold (and not your child's bicycle that they left in the yard).

• Price items. How much to charge? Consider visiting other neighborhood sales, pawn shops and thrift stores to get an idea for your pricing. Items in great condition that are 1-2 years old might fetch about 50% of the original price. Older items, or items that are in poor condition might only get 10% of what you originally paid. There are many exceptions to these guidelines and you will want to consider the following:
  • Many computers and electronic items depreciate much faster in value than do other items, such as furniture or tools.
  • Consider pricing items individually and as part of groups. For example, a set of eight dinner glasses could sell for $1 dollar each, or buy all eight for $4 dollars. You want to encourage bulk buying. It's easier on you and the last thing you want is to have three of the eight glasses left over at the end of the sale.
  • To make pricing easier, consider creating price categories. As example, maybe all clothing will be priced as either $2, $4, $8 or $12 dollars.
  • Use color labels for pricing large quantities of small items. This will save time in writing prices on everything. For example, all items with a blue sticker are 50 cents, a red sticker 75 cents. Make sure you have at least one chart (consider 2-3) posted explaining the pricing scheme. Also, save white labels for the more expensive items that you will want to price individually.
  • Consider using a box for small items that all have the same price. You might have a 50 cent box, 75 cent box, a dollar box, etc.
  • Don't price in increments smaller than 25 cents or possibly 50 cents. This will make keeping change much easier.
  • Consider taking items that are known to be older than 35 years or to be antiques/collectables to a knowledgeable dealer to get them appraised. If these items have any real value, you are more likely to get a better price from a dealer than what you will from someone shopping a garage sale.
  • Leave room to negotiate. Don't price your stuff so low that you won't be willing to negotiate with buyers. It's always better to start a little higher and go down, because once you post your price you will almost never be able to raise it. Some shoppers are going to negotiate everything. A great pair of jeans for $4 dollars? Not for those shoppers. They will try to get them for $3. But, if you start at $5 dollars, and they negotiate you to $4 dollars, they are happy and willing to pay.

• Plan sale layout. Where to put your stuff? How do you display it? Consider the following:
  • Setup a "cash register" at the back of your sale area so you have a clear view of everything in your sale. The cash register could be a shoe box, cupcake tin, small tackle box or maybe something you carry with you - whatever works. Depending on the size of your sale, expect to have $60 to $100 dollars on hand for giving change. Consider starting with a roll of quarters, twenty ones and the remaining in five dollar bills. You shouldn't need anything larger than that. One final thing, don't forget to have some bags on hand for your shoppers. Plastic grocery bags should work well.
  • Most large, big ticket items should be up front, closest to the road. Then, place the remaining big ticket items back by your cash register. You are using the first group to stop traffic, and the second to get the potential buyers walking through your sale, not just "window shopping".
  • Whenever possible, use tables to display your smaller items. This makes it much easier for buyers to look at things of interest. Also consider free standing shelving units. Just make sure they are stable and that heavy items are kept on the lowest shelves. If you still need more room, spread a sheet out on the grass.
  • Consider arranging your displays so that buyers have to walk around them to get to the cash register area. You don't want to make it a maze, but a little zig-zag is not a bad thing. This will get people to slow down and look at your stuff on their way to the register area.
  • Organize your items by function. All tools in one area, kitchen items in another, etc.
  • Put your clothes on hangers and hang on a clothes line. Once again, sort and label by size, age group, gender, etc.
  • If you have a lot of clothes, you might consider creating a temporary changing area outside your house. A large tent would work well, or maybe hanging some sheets in clean, empty corner of your garage. Don't forget to provide a chair or bench for changing.
  • You will want to have a power cord available to demonstrate that TVs, radios, printers, etc. are working. If you are selling an old computer have it plugged into a power strip ready to turn on, or better yet, leave it on for people to use.

• Weather. Just one more thing that you can't control, but you can plan for it!
  • Keep an eye on the weather in the days ahead and during your sale if you are concerned about storms. Weather.com has radar updates and forcasts.
  • Think of a rain date when planning your sale and mention it in your ad.
  • If it's a sure thing your sale is going to get rained out, you can update or renew your ad for free at ColumbusGarageSale.com.
  • Have tarps, plastic drop clothes or other coverings ready in case of rain showers.
  • Canopy tents are great for sales. Protection from the rain and sun!
  • Don't forget the sun screen. You won't be thinking about it in the morning when it's still chilly out, but by noon it will probably be too late!

• Involving your children. How do you get your children involved with your sale? What about children who refuse to give up any of their toys for the sale? What to do?
  • Think about letting your children share in the profits from their toys that are sold, or...
  • If they are old enough, let your children run their own sale for their stuff. They set it up, they promote it among their friends, they run their sale while you do yours and finally, they keep the money.
  • Another option would be to have them setup a lemon aid stand. Who can refuse children when they are selling lemon aid?
    

• Staffing your sale. The number of people required to work your sale will depend a lot on the size of your sale and how busy you expect it to be. You will want one person working the register area. This person should never leave this area, at least not without the money. Another person should be greeting customers, demonstrating sale items, answering questions and providing "security." If it's a large multi-family sale, you will want one person from each family involved in this task.

Don't forget about taking breaks or working in shifts for sales lasting all day.