Over 100 Tips to Have the Best Garage/Yard Sale Ever

Garage Sale Kit on Amazon

We can’t tell you how much we loved all your tips and ideas you provided when we asked you to give us your best garage sale tip on our last giveaway!  You gave us so many awesome tips that we are going to break this into two posts – this post to give you some awesome tips for selling your items in a garage sale and then the next post to give you some awesome ideas on preparing for the big day!  Also, make sure to check out our list of Over 100 Ways to Earn Extra Income for other ideas if a garage sale isn’t your style. 🙂

Here’s some extra tips from us – you didn’t leave us many tips to add! 🙂

• Consider selling certain items on different outlets instead of in your garage sale.  In other words, prior to selling quality items at a garage sale, consider selling your items back to Amazon, selling in your local classifieds (etc. furniture, name-brand items, higher quality).  In general, selling your items at a garage will give you the least return so if you can find other venues to sell at first you’ll probably earn more for those items.
• Be intentional on where you place your items.  For example, position a box or table with a sign clearly showing “FREE Items” visibile from a distance/road to lure in indecisive customers.  Along the same lines, place a couple of high-quality or larger items near the road for the same reason.
• Park cars in front of your house and have friends and family walking around your tables during the dead times.  Once a garage sale is in that dead-time it can be difficult to attract new customers.
• Know your plan prior to the day of the sale on how you will dispose of leftover items.  Here’s some possible ideas:
• Towards the end of the sale you can deeply discount your items
• If you really want to get rid of the items mark items as FREE
• Make everything “Name Your Price”
• Consider having someone take it all of your hands for a set price (we had this happen at a garage sale years ago when a re-seller asked for everything at the end of the garage sale).  In the end we made a little extra cash and saved ourselves a trip to the second-hand store
• Donate everything remaining.  Often, donation centers will give you a tax-deductible form so you can also claim it on your taxes
• We know a few of you mentioned selling refreshments, but we thought we would give you a resource how to do it for less and even some additional items you might not otherwise consider.
• Consider donating items instead of hosting a garage sale.  Why?  Just as we mentioned in our tips on advertising your business, sometimes you need to calculate your Return on Investment (ROI) meaning asking yourself if you’re going to make enough money to justify your time and expense to even have the garage sale or whether donating the items, getting the possible tax deduction and getting your life back is worth more to you.  Where we live, our experience has been that garage sales aren’t very profitable.  In the end, we continue asking whether its worth our while.  Sometimes though, just the fun of it makes it worth it. 🙂

And now for your tips!  Please feel free to share any missing tips in the comments below!

When to have your sale

• Try to keep yardsales in Fall and Spring. People are less likely to stop and browse when the weather is uncomfortable. Extreme heat (or cold) makes everyone grumpy. – Thanks Julie R
• Pick a day with nice weather. – Thanks Mandi K
• Have the first of the month when everyone gets paid – Thanks Sylvia
• Have your garage sale the same time as other neighbors. My neighbors just had there’s and they asked other neighbors to participate. Saving money on newspaper advertisements. Now that works. – Thanks Monika B
• We only do Friday-Saturday. Sunday is always dead here. – Thanks DOUG W

Advertising Tips

• Good signage so that people can find you. And it helps if others in the neighborhood are having sales that day too. More traffic, means more chance of selling stuff! – Thanks angela a
• I try to put up lots and lots of signs. – Thanks Amanda S
• Make good signs that people can read and easily follow to your sale. Mark things reasonably priced, but still high enough that you can make some money from it. When shopping at a garage sale don’t be afraid to ask less for something, that person might just want to get rid of it. If you don’t need it, don’t buy it. It’s a waste of money if you don’t need it! – Thanks Angela P
• Plan in advance, and advertising is sooo important. Signs(make sure they are big, bright and legiable), flyers, networking, paper, and clearly marked house. – Thanks Brandi
• Make a nice big sign and use your computer to print out a sign to print out a really nice notice of the sale. People will see it and also want to visit. – Thanks Marguerite B
• colorful signs with arrows – Thanks Bonnie R
• Best tip: Advertise and do 50% off everything for last day of sale or last 2 hours of sale for one-day only sales. They will flock in. – Thanks Brenda H
• Hang a lot of signs on busy corners, use large letters and arrows to direct people to where you are. – Thanks Carol W
• Signage, signage and visibility. Signs on the nearest main street(s) directing traffic to your location and anything at your location to draw immediate attention from the street – balloons, streamers of flags tied across front yard, etc. Also, put the largest items (furniture, lamps, large plastic toys) out at the front of the sale area. – Thanks Cindy L
• Create bright colored yard sale signs and use a big black sharpie to write the details with,but be sure to write your letters BIG so that it is easy to read while driving,this way you will get everyone’s attention easily.I hate it when you can’t read someone’s yard sale sign because the letters are too small and they are faded from the sun.I get a lot of customers by making big bright signs that are simple to read. – Thanks Trisha B
• Lots of signs and advertise and have some refreshments. – Thanks mary c
• So many signs are too small and often illegible. My best tip is to use a colored poster (orange or yellow are good) and write LARGE with a thick marker. Note times and date. And don’t forget to take the sign down after the sale is over! – Thanks Terri P
• My biggest garage sale tip is advertising, advertising, advertising!!! LOL The more places you get the word out about your sale, the better crowd you’ll get! – Thanks Tammy A
• Advertise $1 any item to draw the crowd to your garage sale. – Thanks Chanda F
• Take advantage of free advertising for your garage sale on radio stations and in community newspapers. – Thanks Pauline M
• My best garage sale tip would be to tell your family and friends. Then they would tell other people and the news would spread. Also, putting little circle stickers on the items would be helpful so you wouldnt have a bunch of people asking what price what was 🙂 – Thanks Julia Y
• advertise on craigslist and in your local newspaper to get more traffic – Thanks Elena I
• Advertise! whether it is on Craigslist, in your newspaper or flyers around town. People are not going to come unless they know about it. – Thanks Jessica S
• Join your local Facebook Yard Sale group… We have one locally with over 4,000 members! I started earlier this month, and have already sold one item I’ve been trying to get rid of for over six months. And I’ve at least had a few leads on a couple other items I posted! 🙂 – Thanks Kara M
• signs….make sure your signs can be read when someone is driving….small signs are pointless – Thanks Tina H
• Good, consistent signage! Your signs have to be visible from far away and be clear about address, day, etc. and should all be the same color. – Thanks Lyndi A
• Always advertise the sale on craigslist – Thanks marla b
• Put up good signs so people can find you – Thanks Marilyn
• After you put your signs up, drive past them and see if you can read them easily, because if you can’t, nobody else can either. Don’t try to cram too many words on the signs. All that’s really needed on signs are words: yard sale (or garage sale), the date of sale, street name and a bold arrow pointing the way. – Thanks Monique B
• Make alot of signs and post them up a couple of days ahead of time! – Thanks Jessica T
• Advertise on Craigslist and with plenty of signage. Make sure to be set up mostly the night before and “open” early! – Thanks Renee D
• Put signs with your address at a Flea Market if it’s close by to your house. – Thanks Robert G
• SELLERS: List garage sale area/times on Craigslist, clearly label prices (as a hesitant garage saler I’m more likely to “pass” than “ask”), have kids sell water and lemonade in the summer, hot chocolate in the winter (almost anyone will stop for a drink when the kids are selling) – Thanks Rebecca N
• Advertise, mark items clearly and pray for good weather…. – Thanks sue c
• Put baloons on your sign to draw attention. – Thanks Susan

How to Organize Your Sale

• I sorted all my kids clothes by gender and size and put them all in their own laundry baskets/large bins and had big signs on the front like, boys 3T or girls 9 months. People that drove by that weren’t planning on stopping, saw the size that interested them and stopped to look. Also, have an empty laundry basket on hand so as people sort through the baskets/bins, they have something to put the rejects into. – Thanks Tiffany B
• Offer a little off if customers are interested in several items, as this is a great way to encourage them to buy more 🙂 – Thanks marla b
• hang up clothes! (use a rod of some sort between 2 ladders if you have nothing else!) – Thanks Jill B
• When your having a garage sale & you have electronics, children’s toys or anything that may require batteries, make sure that you’ve given the items a nice cleaning & test them to see if they work. If they do work, make sure to have fresh batteries installed so the items will be up to all the tests they will be given by your treasure hunters! This enables you to ask a bit more for the item! – Thanks Christy P
• We always have a FREE box full of the little bitty stuff that I couldn’t bear to ask a nickel for, broken but reusable things, stained clothing, game pieces, etc. There is always a crafty person who will clear out the box (mostly) and near the end of the day I start tossing more into it as they sit untouched on the sale tables. I write “FREE STUFF” really large on the box and position it at the edge of the sale area and make it highly visible from the street, so people can dig through without my gaze making them uncomfortable. This brings in a lot of the creeping, drive-by, looky-loos. I only had one yard sale where someone didn’t just take the box and all of it’s contents at the end of the day. – Thanks Carolyne B
• To drum up the best traffic, post your garage sale information on Craigslist a few days ahead of the actual sale. Include a summary of items being sold.
  Set up EARLY! It seems the hardcore garage salers are out at the crack dawn, and if you’re not set up when they show up, you’ve missed out on some enthusiastic customers. If you really want to sell items, price them to GO. – Thanks Michelle M
• Group items according to categories and price them. – Thanks Lynda D
• I like to fill baggies with smaller,similar items that coordinate by theme and/or color,such as jewelry and kids items.This helps keep tables from too much clutter and it is a fun way to draw attention to your customers,plus things seem to sell a little bit faster this way.I have done this every time I have a garage sale and these packages sell like hotcakes,seriously! – Thanks Trisha B
• Offer deals like 4 for $1 on clothing to make customers interested in buying plus you get rid of these items faster. – Thanks Trisha B
• To save money from buying price tags, you can have items that cost the same amount on 1 table together and just put one sign with the price for those items on the table. – Thanks Trisha B
• Giving your customers bags when they get there. They tend to fill them up even more while shopping! – Thanks Cindy T
• Have a or best offer sign.. to make deals. – Thanks Gianna
• If more than one family is selling use different color price tags so that there is no confusion who the item belongs to. Advertise alot to attract lots of buyers. – Thanks Crystal B
• Be prepared for early birds! And neon signs are always a success 🙂 – Thanks Cynthia T
• Have everything cleaned & clearly marked. Don`t overcrowd stuff on tables so that everything is easily seen. – Thanks Lori T
• Some of my best garage sale tips are to stage your items, as you were a store. People like organization. Place the more expensive pieces near the front and less expensive to the sides. Have things spaced out, so your buyers can see each item. And a free box. This a box of items that you can’t sell. Giveaways are always a hit! – Thanks Cynthia H
• Organize as much as you can. Clean your items to look newer (they sell for more if clean and fresh). Advertise!!! Newspapers, online, call a radio station. Let people know where you are and what you have that they have to come view for themselves. Couch, TV, whatever. 🙂 – Thanks Shayla B
• Keep a box/area of your house or garage (depending on how big your stash is 🙂 )set aside for sell items specifically. Every so often (once a month) go through and put prices on the items you’ve accumulated. That way, when you’re ready for the sale, you have one less thing to do. – Thanks Lindsay F
• start collecting items throughout the year and keep in a centralized location to make set-up much quicker! – Thanks Gina M
• Have a box set aside where you add things throughout the year. This way don’t have to go through everything right before planning a sale. Also, when setting them aside price them. This saves a lot of time. – Thanks Grace S
• always clean up your items and organize them by “category” if they think things are coming from a clean home they are willing to pay for it. – Thanks christie
• Keep your items organized in theme buckets/tables – Thanks Holly G
• Price EVERYTHING! There is nothing more annoying than going to a garage sale and having to ask the price for something. Most of the times I just walk away and they don’t make the sale.
  Be cheap too. People shopping at garage sales don’t want to pay much, and I certainly walk away from over priced sales.
  Make sure to have a lot of items to look through. I won’t stop at garage sales that look wimpy from the street. It’s not worth my time. The more stuff, the more people will stop. – Thanks Angie W
• Have power sources on-hand to demonstrate that electronic products work. If the power source is batteries, though, take them out before you sell the item. Batteries eat into your profits in a hurry! Turn on that radio to something peppy and prop a sign against it that says, “See, I work! Take me home for $5.00!” – Thanks Kelly L
• When having your own garage sale take the time to label sizes on all the clothes and then organize by sizes. If I go to a garage sale and the clothes are thrown in a big pile, I won’t even look at it. – Thanks Kara W
• organize your garage sale so that people can find things easier–kind of like shopping in a store – Thanks Karen
• Make sure that the area you are having the sale in is clean. A nicer lawn seems to be more successful than one that is half dead. – Thanks Kiz L
• organization – Thanks Melissa A
• Group like clothes together, priced cheaply and clearly. On the second day (or whenever you want) put the clothes out for $2 to $3 a grocery bag full. – Thanks Marisa M
• Label EVERY item – it makes people more likely to shop ANDremember you’re trying to get RID OF IT when you have it up for sale — so take what you can get for an item! – Thanks Mary K
• put the real good stuff in back,that way they have to look at everything to find the good things!! – Thanks dale m
• Organization and have enough change for your customers – Thanks Carmee R
• PLAN AHEAD OF TIME! SORT EVERYTHING OUT! HAVE ALOT OF TABLES AND SIGNS AND A BOOK TO READ DURING DOWN TIMES> – Thanks Megan O
• Have $.25 bins ready to dump stuff in later in the day. – Thanks Meghan
• When having a garage sale, be sure to group clothes according to size/gender. Nobody wants to go through a mountain full of clothes. We usually have boxes with clothes presorted. For example, a box labeled Men’s Large, a box labeled Boys 2T-3T. Makes shopping so much more enticing. – Thanks Monica T
• Have lots of tables. Make them if you don’t have any with chairs, saw horses, etc. and boards. – Thanks Lisa
• pre-print lots of stickers with all your commonly used prices, the keep them with you as you set things out and/or pull things out for the sale. That way it is marked as you go and you don’t have to think about it so much. Also, set up rods on latters and chains and hang all your clothes after you have laundered them. Everything looks nicer, gets a higher price and people don’t trash your clothes tables every 20 minutes! – Thanks Patty A
• Ok, so I haven’t done a ton of garage sales but my biggest and best tip is as follows: give yourself more time to get ready than what you think you will need!! I cannot stress this enough. It really sneaks up on you and if you say you will start your sale at 7 on Saturday, you will have people show up at 6 to see if they can be the first ones to get all the good stuff. If you’re not ready, you lose those people and they probably were ready to buy!! Other than that, happy garage sale days:) – Thanks Beth T
• organize, organize, organize. children’s clothing is a HUGE seller, so i sort them by size in different bins for buyers to easily look through what they want. – Thanks kari j
• organization!!! make sure you make you a check list go overit the night before, set up your tables the night before, have everything priced! have plenty of change everyone seems to wantto come to a garage sale with $20’s or greater!! keep a ledger of your sells so youu can look back and see what sold and for how much for the next yard sell you will be able to compare some items. – Thanks Amanda W
• For clothes make sure you have them sorted by sizes and are not all in one big pile. MAke it so people do not have to dig thrugh piles to find one item. Also put prices a little higher than what you are asking that way when someone haggles with you, you end up with what you were originally wanting. – Thanks rativs3@aol.com
• When selling clothing, separate everything by the size. As a shopper, I’m much more likely to buy more if I can find sizes easily. – Thanks Debbie P
• I am considered the “Queen” of garage sales cause I want to make at least $1000 or it isn’t worth my time! I always make sure my items are well cleaned up and clearly marked. I also put things on tables with like items. Toys in a section, books, crafts, electronics etc. Around here everyone wants you to take less so I do start maybe $1.00 higher than I really want and go from there. If a person looks really hard at an item but starts to leave w/o getting it, I always try to make a better price before they leave and 99% of the time, they will take it! Have a good calculator and bags to put their stuff in. I actually have a cash register I got on sale for only $50 and use it at all my sales. GOOD LUCK – Thanks Cindy B
• Be organized. Have a plan. – Thanks Julie
• organize, organize, put like items together, make a little room like atmosphere w/ like items, take everything, have plenty of change – Thanks sandy w
• Rent clothes racks! Then customers can see your goods rather than a big mess on a table. – Thanks Jan S
• put your big seller items towards the end of the driveway to lure people in – Thanks sara g
• Make sure to set up in as much shade as possible during the summer months. Make sure to remeber that it’s a yard sale so if you have over priced items to put those on Craigslist or list them somewhere that you will possibly get what you really want. – Thanks Shari A
• Make sure the items you sell are clean. Who would want to purchase a crockpot full of crusty food stuck in it? A little elbow grease will go a long way! – Thanks Shaila S
• be clean and group things together…. – Thanks Judy W
• Organize your children’s cloting into bins by size – Thanks Sue

Pricing Your Items

• I had my first garage sale a couple weeks ago and my tip is: to know if you are looking to make tons of money or if you just want to get rid of stuff. Puts things in perspective for me. – Thanks Lydia J
• Put prices on all items. You’ll still get hagglers, but you can also get a fair price and if you see an interested buyer and they put the item down, that gives you the chance to lower the price. – Thanks Flo R
• Don’t price stuff too low because most people will try and talk you down anyways – Thanks Holly H
• Whenever I have a bunch of little kids toys or books, I bundle little packets together for $1.00. I do the same with paperbacks, at 5 for $1.00. – Thanks Rose D
• Put prices on all items. Put up lots of signs to make it easy for people to find your sale. Put a few of your high-priced items on Craig’s List the night before or the morning of the sale (to get on top of list). – Thanks Sue C
• Have your items priced, people are more likely to buy or atleast make an offer if they what price you have in mind! – Thanks Kelsey C
• Price items as low as possible to sell them quickly.Nobody wants to drag items back in after a long day outside. – Thanks Trisha B
• Make sure your prices are reasonable! – Thanks Mary C
• Another tip is, don’t overprice! Don’t just give things away either though. Price your sale as if you need to get rid of stuff, not as if you need to make money. If you price to make money, you will overprice every time. – Thanks Tammy A
• First don’t try and put a price tag on everything you want to sell..neatly and thoughtfully place like items in a groups and display 1 price…and when the sale is over…make a big sign and that says FREE,COME AND GET IT!!..or [call charity to come get the rest…BUT DON’T TAKE IT BACK INTO THE HOUSE!! – Thanks james
• put prices on everything – Thanks Debra P
• I have a garage sale once a year after I do my spring cleaning and organize all of my closets. I always price each item with labels from a dollar store ranging from .25 to $4.00. Nothing higher. I like to set everything on tables that are waist level so no one has to bend over to see an item. Everything is neat and clean and priced to sell. I also set up a box for freebies and if see someone that doesn’t have enough money to pay for what they want …I give them the items for free. I do not want to repack these items and take them back into my house. I donate anything left over to a nearby thrift store. – Thanks Dueley L
• I PUT A PRICE ON EVERYTHING AND THEN WHAT EVER THEY OFFER IN REASONABLE PRICING I LET GO SO I NO LONGER HAVE TO HOLD ON TO IT. THEN I DONATE THE REST. – Thanks DONNA
• Have your stuff clearly priced. Everyone knows you can bargan at garage sales but you need to have a starting point! – Thanks Jennifer F
• Price everything you can. People are more likely to buy something if it is priced and less likely to even ask how much if it is not priced. – Thanks Jessica S
• Make sure to price your items at a yard sale because your customers do not want to ask the price! – Thanks Julie W
• Sell low and try to display your items as appealing as possible. – Thanks Lisa B
• Put items cheaper than you think–clothing for 25 cents apiece really adds up! – Thanks Kristin K
• Price things CHEAP! – Thanks Lauren W
• Make your prices negotiable when you’re holding a garage sale, and negotiate the price when you’re shopping garage sales. I’ve gotten people to take less money then they’re originally asking for just by offering them another price. For example, I got a bookshelf for my son’s room that they wanted $20 for for $7 just by asking. It’s well worth negotiating! – Thanks Melissa G
• Let buyers make their own price- usually you will earn more than if you set the price. Of course only accept reasonable offers. When you are wanting to get rid of everything on the last day- offer bags and a set price per bag- CHEAP… like fill a bag for $1, $3, or $5. It will save the headache of having to get rid of loads of stuff! – Thanks Megan
• Always have some items that are reallllllly cheap or free – Thanks marla b
• Do not be afraid to start high on items that are in good shape, expensive, even new – you can always go lower your prices – Thanks marla b
• Price your items and advertise. – Thanks kathy f
• Mark prices clearly…and price EVERYTHING! – Thanks Monica S
• I price items cheap! I never price anything higher tan I would pay for it. We use half of our proceeds for charity and half for a family day 🙂 – Thanks nicole m
• Have prices clearly marked! – Thanks Rachel F
• Keep pricing simple. – Thanks Rachel D
• price to sell! – Thanks Katie K
• From a buyers perspective…Be sure everything is marked with the price. I love to go to garage sales and it is very frustrating when things are not marked. I tend to not look as much. – Thanks Susan T
• Instead of marking everything with individual prices, I used colored stickers. For example, everything with a pink sticker is $1, everything with a yellow sticker is $5. That way, you can quickly label everything the night before or the day of. Saves tons of time!! – Thanks Stacey
• never go lower than you can afford. or sell anything you may want to keep. – Thanks Stefanie G
• Price high so if they haggle you can still make out in the deal. – Thanks ellen c
• price the item with sticker before starting the sale. – Thanks Jessie C
• mark everything!!! – Thanks Tara J
• Price your items well so that you don’t have too much left over after the sale. – Thanks Tara S
• To not think your stuff is wroth as much as you paid for you have used it and it is older if you want full price then return stuff to store instead of yard sales. – Thanks Tammy T
• Price every item – Thanks CAMILLA W

Tips to Help You Organize Your Money

• Keep as much change on hand as possible,you never know if you will need it or not. – Thanks Trisha B
• have plenty of change and small bills on hand – Thanks Cheryl A
• I use the block with my phone to let people pay with ATM – if that counts. – Thanks Gabriela M
• Use a tool belt or restaurant apron to hold money and jewelry that is for sale – Thanks Amy L
• be sure you have lots of dollar bills and small change to use for change! Also, carry a fanny pack to put money in, in case you have to step away from your money. – Thanks lizzy
• No early birds and lots of small bills for change. – Thanks Wendi P
• LOTS of 1 dollar bills. People go to the ATM before heading out to shop, they rarely have change and will give you a $20! (grr, lol) – Thanks Jen A

Tips to Earn Extra at Your Garage Sale

• I’ve found that on a hot day selling waters or cold drinks a garage/yard sale brings in a little extra cash. As a kids at a garage sale it wasn’t too much fun but when we got to sell drinks or homemade cupcakes/cookies it made it fun. – Thanks Ashley
• If it is really hot, having ice cold water and fresh chocolate chip cookies for sale. – Thanks Ann B
• Sign up for all sorts of samples and freebies even if you do not necessarily need them. They make great stuff to sell at garage sales and to donate to charity. – Thanks Suzanne D
• Make a little extra money selling bottled water – Thanks Jana B
• A cooler full of canned/bottled cold drinks at 0.50-1.00 each and a few extra chairs for resting were appreciated by the people visiting the many, many sales at my mother’s neighborhood’s annual sale weekend. People heard we had drinks and came by for that reason, but they had to walk past all our items for sale to get to the drinks and the chairs! – Thanks Kelly L
• Buy cheap bottled water and sell ice-cold water along with your other items. We always make a ton of money with this on hot days! – Thanks Laura
• Make extra money by selling cold drinks – Thanks Tami s

Negotiating with the customer

• Be prepared for bargain shoppers! – Thanks Cortney M
• Be willing to negotiate on your prices but within reason. – Thanks Pam D
• Host multi-family sales with family and friends and share the advertising costs – Thanks Ray T
• Being open to decent offers. – Thanks Sarah
• Be very willing to negotiate. – Thanks Ursula

Miscellaneous Tips

• tried to be nice and offer good deals – Thanks ada b
• Have free Dixie cups of water for your customers during the summer. They will appreciate the gesture and stay to browse a little bit longer. – Thanks Bre T
• Be friendly:-) – Thanks Christal B
• I like to have sweet treats available for my shoppers. If I give them candy/bottled water on a hot day or brownies, I’m more likely to get full price! – Thanks Stephanie B
• Don’t try to sell junk! Things that are broken, clothing that is stained, things like that. You don’t want to get the reputation of having “junk sales”! There are women out there that garage sale every weekend, and they let their friends know where the “honey holes” are! Those women are repeat customers if you consistently have good sales. – Thanks Tammy A
• When selecting Items to sell, choose EVERYTHING you haven’t used or worn in 3+ years. Chances are that if you haven’t used it in that time, you won’t. It would be better to have money in your pocket than ugly pants in your closet! – Thanks Eliza L
• Dont keep it longer than a year – Thanks Elizabeth S
• Be outgoing! – Thanks jocelyne a
• Host with other families- the more families, the bettere the draw and more likely you are to get more shoppers! – Thanks Jenny J
• be prepared for bargain shoppers! – Thanks Cortney M
• Don’t stress! – Thanks Joanne S
• Sell cold cans of pop or juice boxes. Let the kids do this as their money-making part. They/You could also make home-made cookies to sell with the pop, juice, or lemonade. My daughters best friend sold fresh cinnamon rolls every year at her garage sale and sold out every year. My best tip: donate everything to the nearest Mission Organization or Goodwill and relax – I HATE HAVING GARAGE SALES MYSELF !!!! 😉 – Thanks Judith M
• When I have a garage sale, I put a sign up that says everything half price after 12:00. Then. . .I don’t bargain with people before that. So, I make some money. Then, when I am just ready to get rid of stuff, many of them come back and haul off alot of my junk and I still make some money. – Thanks Katie
• Hubby is more people-friendly than I am. He’s good at the negotiating, and I’m uncomfortable with it. He handles the “sales floor” and I handle the money. When we are the buyers, he finds out what I’m interested in and I just stand there and look interested while he negotiates and pays. – Thanks Kelly L
• We always have freebies for the kids whether their parents buy anything or not. Many times, though, a parent who is about to walk away will find “something” to buy so they don’t feel bad about their child accepting a freebie. – Thanks Kelly L
• Sell fast and cheap on the first day.:) – Thanks Anna L
• RELAX and enjoy, get help from friends. Make it a fun day. – Thanks peggy
• If you are the one holding it, try to keep an eye on everything. I was selling some BN makeup last fall and it was all stolen when I wasn’t paying attention 🙁 – Thanks Mandy K
• Enjoy the feeling of releasing the clutter in your life so you can enjoy your family more! – Thanks marla b
• Provide a nice refreshment like-lemonade – Thanks Miriam T
• Host multi-family sales with family and friends and share the advertising costs – Thanks Ray T
• Be very friendly and talk to everybody – Thanks Robbie W
• I always throw in something free – Thanks Robbie W
• Make sure that you have small bills AND change. Hard to negotiate down when you are flashing a BIG BILL$. (buyer) Sucks to lose money on a sale because you don’t have change and then have to include FREEBIES to close the sale–or even worse, lose a sale completely because you don’t have enough change for a buyer. (seller) – Thanks Rick S
• Let your kids earn money by selling their own stuff. They are much more willing to sell some stuff if they get the profits and you get it out of your house! – Thanks Lisa G
• Always look for new ideas – Thanks Vickie B

And finally, a huge thank you to everyone who shared your best tips!  Don’t forget to let us know if any of us missed any tips or whether you have anything else to add in the comments below!

Photo Credit: Real Peek , Mike Dancy, Be Happy in Life, HGTV, Kids on the Grand