Garage sale season.

7:30 am-set up starts!

On Easter weekend I helped Diana out at her 2^nd annual yard sale. I brought a bunch of stuff along to sell and at 7:30 am we got things moving for our 9am scheduled start!

Getting prepped in the middle of the week.

I love a good garage sale and have been to many but this one was spectacular! It was a week’s worth of prep on Di’s part and it was worth it. A little attention to detail took this sale from good to great! Here are a few of her tips:

our first customer

Di started advertising the sale about 5-6 days beforehand on craigslist, Facebook and Twitter. Social networking sites are a fast way to get the message out. Putting up posters outside neighborhood coffee shops and by parks also brought in lots of people.

grab bags

Remember birthday party grab bags? Di packaged up groupings of items and put them into grab bags, labeled them, priced them for a buck or two and watched them fly off the table.

memories....

My favorite grab bag was filled with the make- up Di used in the show “Cats.” It included a picture of her in her show make-up. It was hilarious and a big hit.

fantasies for a quarter

All the items were priced clearly – cute and fun signs gave a clear place for the bargaining to start.  They came in handy when it got busy!

coffee is on

We set up a coffee stand selling Kicking Horse coffee for a buck. Such a great idea!

pretty picture

We had muffins too, but they got eaten…mmmm muffins. I think I had 2 before 8am.

table set up starts

We set up tables to ensure there was an easy way in, out and around the sale creating a natural flow of traffic.

bright and cheery

Di used lots of old suitcases as displays, which were really eye catching and she had a mirror set up for people trying on clothes.

this rolling rack came in so handy

We kept as many things off the ground as we possibly could so people didn’t have to bend down too much…. just little details.

hats off

We rearranged items as things sold to create easier access for customers.

and it begins...

Hands down the best part of a garage sale was meeting people and listening to their stories.

working the coffee bar

People told me about their kids, why they were buying the items they were buying, told me jokes, reminisced about their childhoods, passed on little bits and pieces of their histories and random bits of advice about parenting.

Di models my favorite item: the whoopee cushion handbag.

I laughed a lot and had some really great conversations.

the free pile

At the end of the day we put out the remainder of items on the lawn…and popped up a “free” sign next to them.

wrapping it up

We had been at it for 8 hours and were pooped. I came back later that night and almost everything was gone. What a treasure to walk by a house with cool stuff in front of it with a “free” sign on it!

Me and the bun: making the big sales.

I can’t wait to start garage sale-ing myself next Saturday! Hey, are you planning a garage sale this year?  Want to share some of your tips?