There is nothing like getting up early on a Saturday morning and scouting out the neighborhood for garage sales. As the old adage states, "One man's trash is another man's treasure." Often, when seeking to find a bargain, or simply the enjoyment of rummaging through other peoples possessions or sometimes finding a vintage item of great worth, all proves to be a great incentive and exciting way to spend a Saturday morning.

Garage sales offer a number of advantages not only to the shopper, but to the seller as well. One of the advantages of conducting garage sales is the opportunity to get rid of items that have been gathering dust around your home. Another advantage of conducting garage sales is the opportunity to generate income from items that may have been earmarked for the trash or given as a donation to the local not-for-profit thrift store.

In order for garage sales to be profitable it may be useful to incorporate three specific factors. Those factors include the need to advertise, displaying the items properly and being prepared.

Advertise

In order to get buyers to your garage sales, it is important to let them know that you have a garage sale that will be taking place. This advertisement can be accomplished in a number of ways.

One of the most effective ways of advertising your garage sales is by placing an advertisement in the classified section of your local newspaper. The sales representative at the paper will ask you all of the pertinent questions that need to be included. These questions include the date, time, address and a sampling of the items that you will be selling.

Another way to advertise your garage sales are through a weekly newspaper that is specifically designed with classified ads in mind. One other effective way of advertising your garage sales is by placing posters at busy intersections that indicate that a garage sale is in process. Also, on this poster, your address should be included.

One caution should be mentioned in regards to putting up posters or makeshift signs at these intersections. The family having the garage sale should check with local ordinances that may prohibit the posting of such signs.

Display The Items Properly

To meet the needs of those buyers that will be flocking to your garage sales, it is important that you have the items displayed properly. Suggestions of properly displaying your items for sale include the removing of the items from boxes and put them on display. Another suggestion would be to lay down a blanket on the garage floor or out on the driveway and display certain items. These items could include paperbacks, magazines or other such inexpensive items.

If you will be offering clothing as part of your inventory, you can simply string a rope or clothesline from point a to point b. Once securely fastened, just simply hang the clothes on this makeshift clothes rack.

Also, as part of the displaying process, it may be beneficial to tag each item with the price that you are asking. This will save a lot of time and help to minimize your customers from continually asking how much a certain item is.

Be Prepared

In preparation for your garage sales it is highly recommended that you have everything ready to go the night before. If you have ever conducted a garage sale you know from experience that people will begin to start their shopping very early in the day. Therefore, once you open the garage door and start displaying the items, you are not given much time from that point to when your customers first arrive.

Also, it is important to have petty cash available so that you can provide the appropriate change back to your customers. In addition, if selling electrical goods, it is important to have access to electricity so that the potential customer can test out the electrical items you have for sale.