Awhile back, Kristy brought in a book that many seemed to be interested in.. I read and adore that blogger so.. that was an awesome moment for me *wipes away tear of pride*
ANYhow, the book has apprently been on 1/2 price for awhile but I just saw it.. and deal ends tonight. http://www.livingonadime.com/books/doddesc.htm
She had a great blog post this week about holding a garage sale.. I haven't tested her theories personally, but passing along the info.
Living On A Dime Newsletter - How To Have a Garage Sale
March 30, 2010
Hi Everyone!
After last week's "garage sale" newsletter, lots of readers asked
for a newsletter about how to host your own garage sale. Here at
Living On A Dime, we aim to please, so today's newsletter includes
tips to having your own garage sale. If you can time it for a
pretty day, this is a great time of year to hold a garage sale,
since so many bargain hunters who have been stuck indoors all
winter are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to get out there and
grab some great garage sale finds!
Check out the Easter articles including inspiration on inexpensive
Easter Baskets, Egg Decorating and Leftovers at
http://www.livingonadime.com
Have a great week!
-Tawra
www.LivingOnADime.com
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How To Have a Garage Sale
Make Money and Organize - Have a Garage Sale!If you want to have a
garage sale, your objective is to make money while getting rid of
stuff in your house. The spring is the best time to have a garage
sale. After a long winter people are ready to get out and find some
good deals. Here are some tips to make the most of your garage sale:
1. Have as many signs as possible. Put one on every major corner,
including the corner nearest the house and any needed in between.
If it is more than 1/2 mile from the corner to your house, put some
signs in between so people don't get confused. You really can't
make enough signs.
* Make your signs large!!- At least 12 inches but 18-24 is much
better.
* Use contrasting colors. Black and white are best but other
colors such as light colored paper with black ink will work
well. A black permanent marker works best.
* Be sure to put your address AND an arrow pointing the way to
your house.
* Make all your signs out of the same material. For example,
make all of them out of cardboard with white painting. That
way people will know it's your garage sale and know which
signs to follow.
* Check with your city or town and find out if they have any
particular rules for garage sales. Our city requires a permit
that costs $1.50 per day. When we purchase the permit, they
give us a list of rules telling us things like not to nail
signs on telephone poles.
2. Check to see if any of your local papers or thrifty papers have
free garage sale ads. Put one in if they do.
3. Clean out everything you can so you can have as large as sale as
possible.
* If you don't have enough stuff to make a big enough sale,
then ask friends, family or neighbors to have one with you.
* Give all of your neighbors a flyer telling them when you are
having a sale and ask if they would like to have one also.
The more sales that there are in one area, the more people
will come to your sale.
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*******************************
4. Price you stuff LOW. There is nothing more frustrating than
going to a garage sale and finding items for prices equal to or
higher than the same items brand new on clearance, even if it is
"Baby Gap". Name brands can let you get by with a little higher
prices.
I recommend pricing really nice kids clothes no higher than $1 each
and clothes that have stains or are not name brand at .50 or less.
Socks and underwear shouldn't be higher than .10 each.
You may think that these prices are too low but please remember
than you are getting rid of stuff!! You don't want to bring it back
into the house and store it for a few more years. If you are not
selling to get rid of things, you will keep most of what you put
out. You will also get a lot more sales if your prices are
reasonable which means more in the long run. If you sell fifteen $1
items or you sell 200 at .25 each ($50 total) you will make much
more if you sell the less expensive items. A good rule of thumb is
to price items a maximum of 10% of the retail price.
By the way, people who go to yard sales really don't care if it's
brand new in the box and you paid $80 for it so you "must" get $50
for it. It has been sitting in your house for who knows how long so
you aren't getting your money's worth anyway. Price it for $5 and
get rid of it!
5. Expect people to ask you to come down on the price. If you feel
your prices are very reasonable then don't come down, but remember
you are trying to get rid of stuff so don't put too high a value on
it. If someone asks you to come down on a price and you aren't
ready to come down at that point, ask for their name and number.
Tell them you will call them later if it hasn't sold and you are
ready to sell it to them at that price.
Using these tips, you should have a great garage sale experience.
Last week, we included the story "Ten Garage Sale Shortcuts" about
how to shop at a garage sale in the newsletter. If you missed it,
you can find it here.
Here is an additional reader tip about shopping at garage sales:
Great Garage Sale Tip!
Lisa in Tennessee sent this and I thought it was a wonderful idea!
I am going to use it this summer with the my kids. TJ
We go regularly and the kids almost always go with us. People who
are trying to get rid of things will usually just give each child
something. In fact, I have to limit the amount of things they get
for free or we'd come home with all kinds of trash.
Here is a suggestion I have for taking kids along (I had to learn
the hard way): I have taught mine that sometimes people's prices
are too high and you can tell right off the bat if they're willing
to come down. If one of them asks me if they can purchase an item
and I don't agree with the price, I have a key phrase that I tell
them. It's something like, "I don't think we need to get that
today." Then they know NOT to ask and beg over and over. They just
put the item back and we go on to the next place. Every time this
has happened they always have found a better and cheaper item at
another sale.
Yard-saleing (as we call it) is a form of entertainment for us. We
always pack snacks and water (as you suggested), the kids have
their own money, and we drive around for a few hours and see what
we can find. People give away the most amazing things. We spend
much less than our peers and we have all the modern necessities!
Also, thanks for what you said in the other article about pricing
your items low enough when having your own sale. I have been to
some places that try to get way too much out of their things! It's
quite irksome. Also, some of the best finds for us have been at the
yucky looking places that look like they just have a bunch of old
junk. Often we find a buried treasure at these places!
Keep up the good work, Lisa in Tennessee
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From A Reader:
"I love all the info and have your cookbooks and have given them to
family for birthdays. I cook out of it at least once a week. We are
trying to pay off our credit cards & your cookbooks and newsletter
are a big help!"
"Keep up the good work!!"
~Karen
Learn more about Dining On A Dime at
http://www.livingonadime.com/books/doddesc.htm
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The Living On A Dime Newsletter Is Published By:
Kellam Media and Publishing, Inc.
PO Box 844, Andover, KS 67002
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