In this blog entry, the professional Charleston residential moving service team here at NoFLex Moving will detail the best ways to organize a garage sale before your move in order to pare down your belongings and make the packing process simpler.
Plan the Garage Sale
First, pick a date to hold the garage sale on – ideally on a weekend with good weather and no big local events planned. Before your sale, sort your belongings out, separating items that you’re willing to donate and gift, as well as what belongings you want to throw out. You can additionally pack as you sort to make packing easier. Once you’ve accumulated a good amount of items that you want to sell, move on to the next steps.
Sorting Items
Create 4 different areas for belongings- what to keep, what to sell in your garage sale, what to gift to family members or friends, and what to throw out. Be very practical about what belongings you want to keep, and decide whether it might be worth it to simply replace the item when you get to your new home. The main point of sorting through your belongings before the move is to generally lighten the load of what you will be bringing with you.
Pricing Items
Go from room to room and decide how much you want to sell your items for. Keep in consideration that most people attend garage sales looking for seriously marked down items. Be fair with your pricing, and label things competitively to make sure they sell – and don’t be afraid to negotiate or haggle with customers.
Advertising
Spread the word about your garage sale through social media, community boards, flyers on telephone poles, and online classifieds ads. On each ad include the date, time, and location of the sale – as well as a list of the types of items you’ll be selling as well as any large items that you think will entice people.
Preparing Your Space
Prepare the space where your belongings will be displayed in advance of a few days before the garage sale. Make sure that your garage, yard, or other location is clean and without debris or obstructions. Set up shelving and tables to display items in an organized way, grouping items of a similar category together.
Organizing the Items
Make sure to keep your items as well organized on the day of the sale as possible, as it can be very easy to lose objects in the hubbub of the event. We recommend labeling every pile of items with color coded stickers based on their price, or displaying signs to designate different categories or sections of your items.
Cleaning / Donation After the Sale
After the garage sale is complete, clean up your space, and deal with any items that are left over. If you haven’t sold some items, list them online or donate them to a local charity. There are many organizations that are willing to come directly to your home to pick up donations, making it easier for you to do charity and clean out your space at the same time.
