Donate the Stuff That Doesn’t Sell

Perhaps the most important secret to garage-sale success is to avoid reintegrating anything you marked for sale into your home after it ends. Think about it: You were ready to let those things go because they were no longer of any use to you; the fact that they didn’t sell at a low price doesn’t make them any more useful. Do yourself a favor: Before you make your first dollar, #schedule a #free #donation #pickup at ClothingDonations.org for the days after the #garage, #yard or #tag #sale. A truck will whisk that extra #stuff away, and the #clutter will be gone from your life for good. #GarageSaleSuccess

Pick the Best Day for Your Garage Sale

The day or days you choose to hold a #garage or #tag sale can impact its success. Friday, Saturday and Sunday mornings are considered to be the best times to hold a sale, and the first weekend of the month is often when people have the most money to spend, according to personal finance specialists Ramsey Solutions. Get an early start if you expect hot weather, and try to avoid rainy days. Make sure you have plenty of small bills and coins to make change, or consider accepting digital payments via smartphone by downloading an app such as Venmo, Zelle or PayPal. Just be sure your Wi-Fi signal is strong! #GarageSaleSuccess

Pricing for Garage-Sale Success

Pricing is an important aspect of a successful and lucrative #garage, #yard or #tag sale. A rule of thumb is that garage-sale items should be priced at no more than 10% of their original cost. But don’t make pricing decisions the night before the sale, says Better Homes & Gardens; price items as you set them aside for the sale, even if it’s months in advance. Think like a customer: They stopped to look for a bargain; give them one and you can get rid of that extra #stuff for good. For “volume” items such as clothing, you can post a sheet listing prices, and it’s also a good practice to have a free box for little odds and ends that aren’t worth haggling over. #GarageSaleSuccess

Keep Your Garage Sale Classy

Summer is a great time to have a #garage sale; you can get rid of a few extra things and make a few bucks. For maximum garage-sale success, sell only those things that still have some of their original value left. If things are in worn, dirty or otherwise shoddy condition, neighbors aren’t going to want them, either. “First impressions matter,” says Homes.com. “Shoppers may see one dingy item in your garage sale and get turned off from shopping.” Also sort, organize and price everything you have for sale — even clothing — to remove another barrier from the casual browser’s purchase decision. #GarageSaleSuccess

Garage Sale, Giveaway or Garbage

As peak #garage #sale season begins, it’s time to start thinking about the many things in your home that you don’t really need. Some of those items may be worth money to your neighbors — money you that could spend on an experience such as a #summer #vacation.

Before you decide to host a garage sale, you’ll want to revisit the tried-and-true “Keep, Donate, Trash” strategy for #decluttering, which dictates that you sort your #stuff into three piles and act accordingly.

Once you figure out what you definitely want to keep and put it away neatly, however, The Organizing Blog suggests you try a new strategy that our expert researchers have developed expressly in preparation for a #yard or #tag sale: Garage Sale, Giveaway or Garbage.

This strategy separates the wheat from the chaff, so to speak, to ensure that any sale you stage doesn’t showcase a lot of #junk that nobody wants. You’ve probably been to yard sales like this — ones where almost everything on offer is cheap, dirty and/or broken.

A successful garage sale has multiple useable items that #thrifty shoppers want, whatever the variety of tchotchkes, household goods, sports equipment, yard tools and clothing is on display. You will sort these items into the Garage Sale pile.

The things you absolutely want to get rid of but just aren’t worth pricing should go into the Giveaway pile. You can attempt to sell them in bulk (used kids’ clothing, 5 pieces/$1, for example) or offer them as freebies to attract attention to your sale.

The Garbage category will include things that are too broken, well-used or incomplete to be of much use to anyone. Appliances that don’t work, chipped dinnerware, stained/worn clothing and puzzles with pieces missing are just a few examples. Don’t even make a pile for these items — put them directly into the bin.

Once you have everything sorted, price the #stuff you’re selling and put up signs directing people to your sale. The Organizing Blog’s Garage Sale, Giveaway or Garbage system will ensure that more of the merchandise you put out actually sells.

Few garage sales sell out of everything, of course, so schedule a free #donation #pickup from ClothingDonations.org for whatever’s left. We’ll make sure that you never have to deal with that stuff again and #donate the proceeds to #veterans.