Garage Sale Question - Lenexa,KS

A yard sell is meant to get rid of stuff, not make a lot of $$. At most yard sells I have been to books are .25, maybe .50 for a really nice hard cover. Glassware and vases go fro .25-$1.00(if they are nice). Kids cloths are usually .50 an item if in decent shape.

I participate in a consignment sale twice a year, and I always sell most of my stuff because I price things lower than other sellers. That being said here's my general rule of thumb.

what did I pay for it?
what would it cost new and on clearance? You can find a lot of info online about how companies mark down there clearance.
Then I go down another 10%-25% based on condition and age of item.

Now this is tedious for clothing and smaller items but I still take into account brand as well as condition. Obviously jeans from gap are going to be worth more than ones from walmart. and since they cost about half as much at walmart I will sell them for half as much. Same with tops.

Another tip, don't negotiate, post a sign saying as much, print out info for larger items with the retail price so they know they are getting a good deal, and then the last day, or last half of the day sell everything left at half off just to get rid of it. This will allow you to pull anything you don't want to sell for less that is leftover and if you post a notice people may come back on the last day if they think your prices are to high when they first stop out.

When I do garage sales, I price to sell. On bigger items I would price a little higher than let people bargain down or mark it down towards the end of the sale. On smaller items, I find if they want to bargain...is it really worth keeping it for even a few dollars less.

But then I'm all about getting rid of things at garage sales.

I always go to Craigslist and look there to see what others are charging for the items I'm selling and then aim to come in just under that. I always aim to put the price I want on the item ... I've found people who are on the fence will buy it if it's priced well. It depends, though: If your goal is to make as much money as possible, price higher; if you just want to get rid of the stuff, price to sell. We always just want to get rid of the stuff.

I think it's too time consuming to price every item. I'd make a box of paperback books with a sign "paperback books 50 cents each" and the same for hard covers at $1.00 each. For kids clothes, use laundry baskets with a sign: Boys clothes size 3T $1.00 each. If you have some nicer kids outfits or dresses, you could hang them up and price them individually. Good luck!

Most will negotiate, here in San Diego many shop and yard sales then go accross the border and sale it for more so they want to pay next to nothing, remember if what you are saleing can be bought cheeper at a goodwill store, it probably won't sale, heres the thing re packing everything and having to put things away is a pain in the butt, get rid of it, the last hour of our grage sales we start putting things in grocerie bags 2.00 dollars a bag as is, CLEAN UP AFTER A YARD SALE IS A PAIN. J.

I would agree the most with Julie P. Every yard sale I have had or been to has always had things set together such as book, toys, clothing, ect. I would agree with putting the paper backs at 25 or 50 cents each and then the hard backs at $1 or 1.50. Kids items I would seperate into clothing, shoes, toys, shoes you can normally sell for 25 or 50 cents a pair and if they are nicer you can go to a $1. I guess just do whatever feels right to you. I hope it helps and good luck and your adventure. LOL

My only suggestion is that instead of writing the prices on the items make them with colored dots/stickers then have a sign that says how much each color is worth. As the day goes on you can then just cross off prices on the sign and bring down the price. It also saves time in writing all those numbers!

http://household-tips.thefuntimesguide.com/2007/06/how_to...

They have some good pointers on how to prepare and general idea of what to charge. Good luck!!

You may want to visit a few garage sales in your area to get an idea of what the going price for certain items in area.

In our area
paperback books $.25
hardcover $.50 to $1.00
children's books softcover $.10 to $.25 - hardcover and board books $.50
glassware like mugs, vases, misc glasses $.25
children's clothes - you can price nicer quality namebrand outfits or items $2 to $5 - things like t-shirts, leggings, shorts $.25. I recomend sorting by sizes and keeping nicer items separate from the "play" clothes.
You can also put a bunch of socks, onsies, etc. in a zip lock and just write on the bag $3 for all.

If you have toys with parts, for example the fisher price barn with all the animals and the farmer, but all the parts in a zip lock bag and attach it to the barn, it'll prevent pieces from falling out and hopefully keep kids from playing with them.

It's good to group items and then just make one set price. For example, just one sign for the books. All the play clothes in a bin that says $50 each.

Make sure you have help the day of the sale.