Sell it: Don't Pay to Move it

Is it time to part with some things you may have already paid to have moved in the past and still haven’t used it or worn it since then? Why continue, it is time to sell or give away and, in some cases, it may not be worthy of either so throw it away.

eBay, craigslist is one option, and another would be a garage sale or a moving sale. Again, you can refer back to eBay and craigslist to determine a good price, a sellable price for your goods, whether it be an online sale or garage and or moving sale. The most important tip is not to overprice. Your goal is to get rid of your things before your move. You want to sell at a reasonable price and whatever you don’t sell at your moving sale we suggest are donated. Keep in mind that you are selling things of yours that you don’t want to pack or carry along and pay for when you know deep down it has to go so price it to sell. Be mindful of the fact that people will not likely be carrying around change, so try to keep items priced at whole dollar values. Price collective items at the same price.

Scheduling and advertising your moving sale/garage sale carefully is critical to how much success it will have. Typically, Saturday and Sunday are the best days to hold a moving sale since most people have the whole day off work to spend leisurely. Parents can also bring their children along to your garage sale on the weekends which can drive more sales. Once you’ve picked out your dates, it’s time to let everyone know about your moving sale! If you don’t raise awareness, people won’t show up. Advertising doesn’t have to be complicated and doesn’t have to cost you much or anything at all! Spread the word on social media and let people know through Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. If your county, township city whatever allows signs, put them up at all important corner intersections and streets leading to you. Again, find out first about the town's ordinances, they do give fines in some places for such things.

Nobody wants to spend their day digging through a large pile of junk hoping to find what they want. Organizing your moving sale will be beneficial in selling more items. Separate the things you are selling as a department store would. Create categories of items for organization. Kitchenware could all go together, but also separate out silverware, plates, cooking utensils, pots and pans, and so on. Toys, books, electronics, and shoes can all be separated by table or bins. When organizing clothes, you can create distinct piles of women’s, men’s, girls and boys. Make sure when putting furniture out to sell, they are not in the middle of your layout but placed on the perimeters out of the way of heavy foot-traffic. When displaying your merchandise to sell, you want to make sure you are doing so in a way that will catch your customers’ eyes. Laying down some decorative or colorful tablecloth, hanging up your best items of clothing in racks, laying out toys for kids to play around with are just some ideas you could try out.

When closing a purchase, you don’t want to take too long fumbling around for cash or running back and forth to grab change for a customer. A cash drawer or money tin might be a good idea if you have a trusted friend or family-member managing it at all times throughout the day. A better idea might be to have each seller walking around with either an apron with pockets or a fanny pack holding enough change in various bills. You may need to visit the bank prior to moving sale day to ensure you have plenty of ones and fives to make a change. Nowadays, with everything being done electronically, you may even want to consider getting a mobile credit card reader or swiper. These devices plug right into your phone for easy access and convenient use. You can make more sales this way from customers stopping by your garage sale with no cash.

A good way to keep customers sticking around and lingering a bit longer is by offering small amenities and refreshments for their comfort. If it’s a nice, hot summer day, have a table with bottled water, soda, lemonade and snacks available to sell for cheap. Another idea is to put up a tent or canopy to offer customers some relief from the heat as they browse around. As customers finally make their purchases, make sure you have newspaper or gift wrap available for fragile items such as dishware or picture frames, as well as paper or plastic grocery bags so that customers have something to carry all their newfound treasures in. The last thing you can offer your customers is a friendly thank you and a smile, and they might just come back the next day.