19 Responses

1. pril

   July 9th, 2007 at 8:03 am

   1

   Great break down I think i’m going to copy and do the same !
   I have a yard sale coming up in a couple weeks!
   and i have Movie posters inplace of your books!
   i will be catologing the posters and posting them up on e-bay and at the yard sale!
   Thanks for this break down I hope i do better then yours did! lol cuz you didn’t even touch min wage!
   lol

2. Chris

   July 9th, 2007 at 8:18 am

   2

   Heck, you might do better just donating the used cloths to goodwill. Use software like It’s Deductible from Intuit (comes with Turbotax) or the one H&R Block has and you could end up with tax deductions (if you itemize) greater than you could sell the cloths for even on e-bay. For my family all of the still serviceable cloths the kids outgrew in 2006 came to about $4,000 in deductions, which depending on your tax bracket would knock 600-1200 off your taxes. I doubt I could have sold the used cloths on e-bay for that much and certainly the pennies on the dollar you get from a garage sale are nowhere near a good.

3. Marco Polo

   July 9th, 2007 at 8:37 am

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   The other (obvious) point is that with a garage sale, you can only sell to whoever shows up to your garage. With eBay or other online auctions, you can reach out to more people. Sure, what you have may be all junk, but someone, somewhere wants your junk! Online, that customer stands a better chance of finding you.

4. KimBoo York

   July 9th, 2007 at 10:05 am

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   Interesting, very. I learned a long time ago with a lot less math that garage sales are poor investments of time; generally I take anything I’m trying to unload to Goodwill. If I wanted to work that hard for that little, I’d just ask if you want fries with that. lol!

   Steve, I do have books I don’t want anymore. I never thought about eBay (I don’t use it much, myself, to buy). Can you point your readers to a good site/book/whatever on how to start a business on eBay? Have you written any guides? I’d sure rather work from home than keep up this temp job corporate nightmare (both my husband an I are in college right now as we redirect our lives to doing what we want to do…one step at a time. Check out my website on that :). Thanks as always for your advice!

5. Jonathan Robson

   July 9th, 2007 at 10:48 am

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   Isn’t the “opportunity” here to get rid of junk you no longer want or need? That’s not to say there aren’t more efficient ways of doing it than a garage sale. Giving stuff to charity will give you a tax write-off, and freecycle.org is great if you’re not worried about getting any cash in return.

6. Christine

   July 9th, 2007 at 12:32 pm

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   Chris - I’ve thought about the It’s Deductible from Intuit but I haven’t looked into it much. I usually donate several bags of adult clothing and misc. knick-knacks each year but I never keep track of how much it’s worth. I thought you couldn’t deduct it for more than you would sell it at a second hand store or garage sale?

   KimBoo - If you just have some miscellaneous books you want to sell the best way is Amazon or eBay. Amazon is quick and easy to list but prices are low. eBay is more time consuming and if you do auctions and they don’t sell it can be expensive. The best way to see what that going prices is to plug the ISBN into Amazon’s search box. Anyone can sell books on there using their Amazon Marketplace. The best place to learn about selling on eBay is eBay itself. Their community boards are great. Seller Central is probably the best one, you can ask questions and get tons of great answers within minutes.

7. Nneka

   July 9th, 2007 at 1:54 pm

   7

   Hi Christine, you are so right about the dollar/time expense with garage sales, but have you factored in the cost of bonding with your neighbors? It may not be $3K +/hr, but there are some hidden benefits in a multi-family garage sale.

   Just to play devil’s advocate.

   In Spirit,
   Nneka

8. Kelvin

   July 9th, 2007 at 6:04 pm

   8

   When I started reading this entry, I was thinking “Steve sells book now? I thought that’s what Christine does” and then I read the “Steve warned me… again” part.

   I believe selling online is a lot more efficient. Garage sales aren’t economical, but if garage sales have any real value, it’s more about networking with your neighbors.

9. Christine

   July 9th, 2007 at 6:14 pm

   9

   Nneka,
   Funny you should mention that… I used the neighbor bonding thing as an excuse to Steve when I told him it would be different this time but when it came down to it, the first two days was 8+ straight hours of one on one with the neighbors in 95 degree heat. I learned a lot about them but I also learned that 8 straight hours with just about anyone is too much for me :)

10. Ed

    July 9th, 2007 at 8:57 pm

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    You are so right. With more people having access to the internet, it’s much better to sell those things in eBay than to have a garage sale.

11. Mark Silver

    July 10th, 2007 at 10:43 am

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    I think one of the reasons garage sales don’t work for folks, is they don’t know how to make them work. The art of haggling is a lost art, and the art of marketing is something few people know.

    The last time we had a garage sale, it’s true that we spent time before hand sorting through things- maybe two hours or so. And then we had two days of the garage sale, and sold $1200 worth of stuff.

    Total hours: about 20/ $1200= $60/hour. Obviously, far less than my business makes me, but well above the $5.80 you listed- which is painful!

    On the other hand, I would grieve to lose the yard sale as a social form. It’s just fun to drive through town, or bicycle, and come across yard sales. It’s like a treasure hunt.

    And, when we did it, we had fun at it- hanging out in the yard, chatting with people who came by, including friends. When we’ve gone through neighborhoods where several yard sales are in the same block, it’s clear that many of them are having a great time, sipping ice tea, hanging out while the kids play.

    As a financial opportunity, it’s just eh. But, as a social ritual, and a way to keep the secret economy of junk circulating, it’s quite fun. :)

12. Josh Bickford

    July 10th, 2007 at 4:45 pm

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    This is great! When I grew up my dad would go on and on about the benefits of garage sales.

    I grew up calling them garbage sales. I donate my stuff to goodwill and take the deduction.

    Good read though–put a smile on my face and reminded me of the good ol days growing up!

13. Helen

    July 10th, 2007 at 7:10 pm

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    I agree. It may work out with some, but it doesn’t necessarily means that it’s the best choice. They just probably had a lucky moment wherein the customers found what they were looking for.

14. Nneka

    July 12th, 2007 at 8:57 am

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    Christine, that would be way to much for me too. I’m thinking 4 hours tops once a year. LOL!

15. JM

    July 13th, 2007 at 9:54 am

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    I see you sell used books on line. I bet you buy them at yard sales.

    With out yard sales or garage sales you would have no supply of cheep used books to sell.

    Yard sales have made me quite a bit of extra cash. It amazes me what some people will pay for stuff I have little use for.

    I am happy with seeing things recycled. Stuff I don’t want is being used by others who do want it, and want it enough to pay me for it. Most of the stuff that goes to goodwill gets trashed.

    You need to know your market and how yard sales work in your town. That includes an advertisment in the news paper. (A cost you did not list so I assume that you forgot that inportant move.) People travel quite a way for a good sale. If you are in a good nabourhood the dealers will be lined up outside two deep when you open your doors.

    If you live in a bad or poor part of town then team up with some one with a good address and have it at their house.

    Time of year is also inportant. People dont like to yardsale when it’s too hot, too cold, or pooring with rain. (Check long term 7 day forcast)

    Start Saturday morning, at daun. Not Sunday or Friday. The money comes out on Saturday morning. Regulars do not go to sales that started Friday on the assumption that the good stuff was allready striped by the dealers.

    Be ready to open and sell from dawn onwards. The people with the most cash in their pockets come first. They are keen.

    Don’t tell people to come back later, they probably will not return. You are not the only sale in town.

    Display items. Hang cloths up, not in a pile. Borrow tables.

    Price as much as you can. Be relistic, it’s a yard sale, don’t over price.

    Be ready to take resonable offers, no matter what price you put on the item.

    Understand that holding out for a better offer can work, but not after the first 3 to 4 hours starting when yard sales first start in your town. So if Yard Sales normaly start at 8am then offers and cash flow will slow down by 11am. By noon the flood will be a trickle. (Start times varies by location)

    Be ready to sell from first light. Where I live, South Florida, Yard sales start at 7 to 8 am, and some times earlyer.

    I have seen yard sales where more than $20,000 changed hands before 10am. But you have to be ready to deal fast. The money is there if you have resonable items.

    We say there are two types of yard sales. The ones where people want to make money, and the ones where people want to make space. You can do both but remember it’s not their job to pay you top dollar for your old junk. They will only part with their money if there is value there.

16. TOMAS

    July 14th, 2007 at 3:22 am

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    Great post Christine! I’m not sure if your neck of the woods has embraced Freecycle.org, but it’s another resource you might consider looking into when it comes to getting rid of items you no longer need.

17. Pril

    July 31st, 2007 at 7:25 am

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    Well I had to test your theory yes it is a waste of time. Now i’m off to test a theory if it is worth going to a high impact flee market with over 200 head counts… this will only be 1 day from 7am - about 1-2 pm — it’s was said that i will make the same amount from my garage sale.

18. Matthew Cornell

    August 25th, 2007 at 6:55 am

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    Thanks for the post - good stuff. For me the biggest plusses of a garage sale is 1) socializing locally, 2) selling locally (reduced pollution, gas use, …), and 3) just hanging out.

19. Planning and Organizing a Successful Yard Sale | Self Help Station

    March 1st, 2008 at 12:22 am

    19

    [...] you’ve gathered all your sale items, sort them into categories to group them into for your sale. This can be done either by category or price. Periodically during your sale, move items that [...]