It is important to first check to see if your city requires a permit. You will want to make sure you check because permits generally cost less than $20. If you do not file for a permit, depending on the city you could be charged a substantial fine.
It is important to select a Saturday around the first or the 15th of the month when most people are paid their salaries. Also, keep in mind that savvy buyers can be resellers and generally speaking show up at the earliest hours to check out your sale items. From experience, you will find these buyers will be at your house before the crack of dawn and they will show up before the time you post for the sale. You should start your sale somewhere between 7 am and 9 am.
As you plan your garage sale you must first decide what you want to sell. Keep in mind that shoppers are interested in deals and what you think might not sell might be someone’s idea of a great buy. Some of your big ticket items might sell better at a consignment store; however, most consignment stores take a large percentage of the sale proceeds so you might want to price the better items keeping this in mind and if they don’t sell at the garage sale you can send them to consignment or try to sell them online.
Another way to make the most of your sale is to ask your neighbors if they want to team up and make it an even bigger garage sale. You might get double the traffic from your combined efforts.
In order to promote your sale don’t rely only on garage sale signs in your neighborhood. About a week before your sale see what free listing opportunities are available to you on Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist, YardsSaleSearch.com, and NextDoor.com.
If you can, add photos to these listings with phrases like “Excellent Condition”, “Like New”, “Never Used”, and “Smoke Free” to items when you can.