3 Things to Consider Before You Hold a Garage Sale

It’s that time again”¦you’ve amassed a lot of possessions and you’re running out of room. Is a garage sale in your future? Preparing for a great garage sale requires a big investment of time and effort. If you’re thinking about holding one, here are a few things you should keep top of mind before you move forward.

Garage sales take time and preparation

A garage sale requires months of preparation to careful curate which items you want to sell. Start early to gather your sale items. Then, be sure you really want to sell them by putting everything in boxes and storing in out-of-way places. If you find yourself digging through a box to retrieve something, you really don’t want to sell it.

Take extra time to look for original boxes, instructions manuals, accessories, etc. Also, you’ll want to make your merchandise as attractive as possible. Inflate inflatables. Put batteries in battery-operated electronics and make your items look appealing to shoppers.

You’ll have to advertise”¦a lot

If you decide to hold a garage sale, you’ll need to make sure potential shoppers know about your sale. However, getting the word out about your sale can take a great deal of time and effort. There are many ways to promote and experts say use all of them, including fliers, local messaging boards and community sale websites, as well as social media. To make your advertising stand out from the crowd, you’ll need to take pictures of your best items and put up legible signs around your neighborhood, which can become a hassle.

Remember, you’re competing with a lot of other garages

To have the best chance of beating the competition to the buyers, you’ll have to spend time presenting an attractive package. You’re likely to see a lot of drive-by’s if your ” store” isn’t merchandised properly.

Wash all clothes and sort by gender and size. Hang all clothes by size for easy finding. Borrow or rent tables and racks–shoppers do not want to crouch to look at items. Organize items by category and put small pieces in baskets. Then, you’ll need to price everything.

Even doing all these best practices doesn’t guarantee money in your pocket. If you feel your time might be put to better use, consider donating your gently used items to Ohio Valley Goodwill and save the hassle of holding a garage sale!

Why Goodwill?

When you donate to Ohio Valley Goodwill, you can feel confident that your contribution will make a significant impact in the lives of people in your community. Thanks to your generous donations, Ohio Valley Goodwill is able to continue providing vocational training and job support services for individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment.

And, it only takes minutes”¦not hours and hours”¦to donate! Skip the garage sale this year and donate to Ohio Valley Goodwill instead. Find a list of our retail stores and donation centers here. For a complete list of items we accept, click here.