Get Ready for Garage Sale Season

The weather is finally heating up in many parts of the country that suffered a long and inclement winter and spring. A dreary spring is great for spring cleaning, of course, but are you ready to make the most of the new season — garage sale season?

Here’s hoping that you have been able to go through your home room by room to sort out some of the excess junk you’ve accumulated over the months and years. If you haven’t given that stuff away already, now’s the time to make some money off it.

To get your sale ready, get everything you want to sell in one place. There are some things that will need to be trashed, of course, but you may be surprised at what people will want to buy, says FrugalFun.com.

“Try to sell everything! What’s junk to one person is often someone else’s treasure. Even broken appliances can be sold for parts. And don’t throw out your old magazines. Stick them all in a box and sell them for a quarter apiece.”

Arrange your selling space — whether it’s the garage, driveway or yard — like a store, with tables, racks and aisles to group similar stuff. Sort items into areas: clothing, tools, kitchenwares, electronics, knickknacks, jewelry, etc.

Post bright, colorful signs around the neighborhood, and save extra grocery bags for people’s purchases. Play some background music at your sale and greet shoppers to put them at ease while they browse.

If you plan on having more than one sale this season, you won’t have to haggle on prices much. But if your goal is to clear that crop of excess stuff (#clutter) out once and for all, allow shoppers to bargain and slash prices in the sale’s final hours.

You won’t sell everything, so contact ClothingDonations.org to schedule a pickup in the days immediately following the sale. Not only will your donation of lightly used clothing and household goods help veterans, it will reduce the temptation to take any of the excess merchandise back into your home.

Garage sale season lasts from now into fall, so get ready to get rid of the junk you don’t need. Whether you stage a single sale or decide to make garage sales a regular outlet for #decluttering, you’ll be happy how streamlined your life can become — and have a few extra bucks to spend, too!