I see them everywhere, especially during the spring and early summer months.  Garage sales are fun to go to, but how do you have a successful one of your own?

One thing that helps is to put out a lot of signs where you are most likely to snag the most traffic.  The signs must be visible from the street, and even give the address of your sale.  It even helps to give the time and dates of your sale.

The next thing you need to do is to make your merchandise accessible.  The items that are not in the sale need to be either covered with a sheet or tucked away somewhere else if possible.  Dust or clean the things going into the sale.  A clean, well-organized sale does so much better.

Do not overprice your items.  We have all gone to sales where the garage sale prices were higher than the original sticker price—and we have left shaking our heads in disbelief.

For your own safety, do not allow strangers to enter your home to use the bathroom or the phone.  They just might be casing your house to see what you have for the possibility of a robbery.

Be willing to entertain a good offer (not 50 cents for a 50-dollar item).  If the offer is a little low, you can always give a counteroffer.

Be friendly with the people that come by—but do not sit and stare at your customers.  In a way, they are your guests.  But at the same time, do not allow bad manners (it’s your sale after all). If you are willing to do this, your garage sale will be a hit. You might even just sell out of everything!

I see them everywhere, especially during the spring and early summer months.  Garage sales are absolutely fun to go to, but how do you have a successful one of your own?

One thing that helps is to put out a lot of signs where you’re most likely to snag the most traffic.  The signs must be visible from the street, and even give the address of your sale.  It even helps to give the time and dates of your sale.

The next thing you need to do is to make your merchandise accessible.  The items that are not in the sale need to be either covered with a sheet or tucked away somewhere else if possible.  Dust or clean the things going into the sale.  A clean, well-organized sale does so much better.

Don’t overprice your items.  We’ve all gone to sales where the garage sale prices were higher than the original sticker price—and we have left shaking our heads in disbelief.

For your own safety, don’t allow strangers to enter your home to use the bathroom or the phone.  They just might be casing your house to see what you have for the possibility of a robbery.

Be willing to entertain a good offer (not 50 cents for a 50 dollar item).  If the offer is a little low, you can always give a counteroffer.

Be friendly with the people that come by—but don’t sit and stare at your customers.  In a way, they are your guests.  But at the same time, don’t allow bad manners (it’s your sale after all).

If you’re willing to do this, your garage sale will be a hit.  You might even just sell out of everything!