After a multiple week run it’s time to retire the Saving Tons of Money Series and it’s now officially time to begin the Saving Little Bits of Money Series. The last series ended off with a post on planning for the major stuff. We learned various tips and strategies for how we can save tons of cash in our 20s.
Now it’s time for us to tackle the minor issues that can creep up on us. For our next series we’re going to look at some minor savings that can lead to serious results.
What’s the first way that we can save a little bit of cash? By throwing a yard sale.
What’s the proper way to host a yard sale? How can you make some money in the near future with a sale of your own? Let’s jump into some practical tips that I recently picked up by throwing my first sale of this type…
Get the word out in advance.
I once heard an excellent line on the idea of marketing. The author mentioned that it doesn’t who’s coming where or what’s going on when because if people don’t know about it they won’t come. Simply put, you always need to promote every event. When it comes to a yard sale you really need to get the word out since there’s a whole group of people out there that go yard sale hunting every Saturday morning.
How can you promote a yard sale? Here are a few practical tips:
- Put up huge signs around your community.
- Advertise at the local community centre.
- Look into free newspaper classified ads.
- Tell your neighbors.
- Try to turn it into a street sale.
Any of these tips can guide you towards a successful yard sale. This will get onlookers to at least check out what you have to offer. You now need to find a way to make some money.
Setup early in the morning.
You don’t want to miss anything with your sale. You also don’t want to miss the early birds that start off at 6am looking for deals and hot items. This is why I suggest that you get up bright and early with a cup of coffee and start getting things ready. This will allow you to put your things out while you start to slowly sell stuff.
Offer a diversity of products.
What I noticed with a yard sale is that you get a diverse group of customers. You have the old ladies just looking for a bargain. You got the house wives looking for specifics. You also get the drifters that just happen to stop by. This is why you to offer a diversity of products with your yard sale. We had everything from clothes to electronics to tools. We got to get a rid of a bunch of stuff that we didn’t really need or care for all that much.
Don’t be afraid to let go of your crap.
You’ll find that a lot of garage sale shoppers are looking to low-ball you. Don’t get offended by this. They’re looking for a deal and you’re looking to get rid of stuff. I figured that if I didn’t sell this stuff, I would just throw it out. As a result I didn’t get offended when offered a low price. I was much happier with low prices than holding on to crap that I don’t need any longer.
Make it fun.
My little brother and I ended up lots of fun with the early morning yard sale. We each invited a few friends, played some music, and enjoyed what could be the last warm weekend of the summer. It ended up being a fun way to spend a Saturday morning. I recommend that you all give it a try sometime.
Sure you won’t make a fortune with a garage sale. You can have an interesting morning where you free up clutter from your home and pocket some money. We could all use some extra beer money (or money for books).
Have you guys every held your own garage sale? Did you make any money? Do you have any tips for us?
(photo credit: jon_a_ross)
