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The most wonderful time of year is nearly upon us! No, not that wonderful time, I’m talking about Garage Sale Season. What’s better than getting up early on a Saturday morning, loading up the car, and getting out to look at other people’s stuff.
The elation of finding a great bargain to take home is what you’re after. You dream of showing off your newest treasure to all your friends, who will surely be in awe of your tremendous and unmatched taste.
The only problem with Garage Sale season is that people in your life may insist that you hold one of your own. No accounting for taste, but those people might feel that you should declutter your living space and focus on the quality of your possessions, rather than the quantity.
Clearly, they are unaware of the great and inexpensive storage options available through MoveBuddy. If even after explaining those options, you are still getting pressured to hold a Garage Sale of your own, it’s important to make sure it’s as unsuccessful* as possible.
If you follow these simple suggestions, you can be assured of selling as little of your treasures as possible and will convince those around you of the folly of ever holding one again.
*I suppose if you did the opposite, the Garage Sale might be successful, but why would you want to do that???
We cannot stress this enough. If your goal is to have a bad Garage Sale, you must make sure that as few people as possible are aware of it. Slap a couple of poorly drawn signs up in the immediate area around your home and be done with it.
Let fate take control. Unfortunately, some people will still find you, but far less than if you made the effort to list the Garage Sale on online classified pages like Craig’s List or Kijiji. People like to plan their routes when Garage Sale hunting, so you definitely do not want to be included in those pre-planned adventures.
Additionally, you most certainly should not look to entice shoppers with well-crafted photos on Social Media sites like Twitter, Facebook and, especially, Instagram. The Stories option on Instagram is far too effective at promoting a Garage Sale. You don’t want to risk having high traffic, so stay away from that!
Foot traffic will always be a big part of a yard sale, particularly if you are in a bigger city. People like to combine their treasure hunting with getting some exercise. They will wander without a significant plan in place and instead look for homemade signs that will point them to the location of a sale.
Since you can’t completely get away with no promotion at all, you will need to put a few signs up around your house. Otherwise, your sabotage efforts might get found out.
The key here is to design signs that blend into their surroundings. No bright colors, or unique presentations. Additionally, make sure you place the signs around many other signs so that they kind of blend in with all of them.
It’s a bad idea to place the signs near other Garage Sales that are happening nearby because people tend to look for their next sale when leaving another one.
In terms of what you put on the sign, make sure it’s the bare minimum. Don’t put detailed instructions on the sign that would make it easy to find you. The address is fine.
When it comes time to organize the sale itself, you want to make sure that it’s as disorganized and as sloppy as possible. Ideally, you want people to take one glance at your sale and turn away, having seen nothing of interest.
You can accomplish this in several ways.
First, make sure that there isn’t any rhyme or reason to where things are placed. Books beside toys beside records, all hidden on an old dresser (that may or may not be for sale. It’s hard to tell). Don’t segment your Garage Sale into identifiable sections. Also, you should make sure that your best items are hidden at the back of sale. You don’t want them catching the eye of people driving past.
Lastly, don’t consider the flow of shoppers. Make sure browsing your items is as uncomfortable as possible, which will get them in and on to their next sale as quickly as possible.
Pricing is vital to a successful Garage Sale. People are out looking for deals and many enjoy the back and forth of haggling with the seller as well. So, if your plan is to have a bad sale then you want to make sure you price things as unreasonably as possible.
That old jacket with the ripped pockets you haven’t worn in years? Nah, it’s a well-loved, vintage coat that you would not consider letting go of for a dime less than $50. Not that the potential buyer would know that since it’s a mistake to put price tag on that coat. That would make it too easy for the shopper.
You want them to have to hunt you down and ask what things cost. And, when they do, you need to be as inflexible as possible. We’re not telling you to be rude, but you don’t have to give the impression you are open to negotiation either.
If you follow the above suggestions, you will almost certainly meet your goals of having the least successful garage sale possible. That will leave you with plenty of items that need to be stored after the event is over.
Above all else, remember that MoveBuddy is here to help!
Again - You could do the exact opposite of the suggestions above and have a successful garage sale!
