Garage Sale Pros

My 4 sisters and I spent the weekend in NYC, a girls weekend.  We talked about Laura’s upcoming garage sale.  She is teaming up with one of my other sisters this weekend to throw a HUGE garage sale.  Of course being in Florida, Im looking forward to the video and pictures they promised to take.  I will have them posted on the website for everyone to view.

Anyway, we started talking about that show “Clean House” that is on the Style Network.  My sisters love that show.  I only love the end, when they show the house clean.  I find myself getting anxiety stricken when I see what a mess these people live in.   Its stressful for me to see it all, I can’t imagine what it would be like to have to go home to it everyday.  

Home should be your oasis, a place to be stress free.  Somewhere you can go to relax and enjoy peaceful times or your noisy family. 

Take one day at a time and start cleaning your home.  What you don’t use or haven’t used, it’s time to part with it.  It feels great to come home to decluttered, “Clean House”.  Just watch the show, you will see what we mean at the end…everyone is so happy with the results.  Why can’t you do that too!

If you have pictures or video of your garage sale or garage sale fundraiser, please feel free to email us.  We would love to see it.

Kateri@garagesalepros.com or laura@garagesalepros.com

Have a great day!

Thanks to my WONDERFUL husband for my Christmas present, the trip to NY!  I had a great girls weekend with my sisters.  You are definitely the best!!! 

This picture is for my sisters.  This will forever remind us of the weekend in Brooklyn.

Erin's Bike

This time of year is not big with garage sales.  I do see maybe a couple every weekend.  Although, the saturday before Thanksgiving was a huge garage sale weekend in Florida.  I had no idea that this was such a big weekend.  I’ll have to remember that for next year and plan ahead.

I saw a sign when I was out on one of my holiday shopping excursions.  There was a large organization selling space for a specific day for a large garage sale.  The space you would get to sell your items was going for $15.00 (not a large space).  I had never seen this idea before.  Its good in one respect, the organization gets all their money up front and don’t have to worry about selling.  The bad part, it limits what they can make. 

I know most people in our school garage sale fundraiser were more than happy to drop off their items for the tax write off.  The couple hours they gave to working was much better than bringing in their own stuff, standing around all day to sell it.  At least that was the feedback we received.

But, there are people that would put in the effort and only give out $15 for space.  They are getting advertising which is huge to your success.  As we said before, large multi-family garage sales bring in the traffic and this would bring it in.   The $15 you spend is less than what it would cost if you were to advertise a garage sale by yourself.

So, it can be good or bad, however you want to look at it.  As long as you look at it with all the information you need to make the decision. 

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday season and enjoying their family and friends.  Just remember, it’s not about giving the biggest and best presents.  Its about respect, caring, helping, and that is the best present you can give and receive.  They don’t cost anything but your time!

Happy Holidays!

Kate and Laura

After two years of being in Florida, I am back to work full time! 

First, I need to make a shout out to the GREAT friends I made working part time at “Twice As Nice” in Dunedin.  I loved working there with Leticia and I made friends for life.  Thank you for all your support and friendship!

So, when you are working full time, you miss out on what has become a huge trend in garage sales, the Friday morning sale.  Most people will do a Friday/Saturday garage sale.  By the time you get there Saturday morning, you are picking through what is left over.  

Keep in mind when you are mapping out your sales any Saturday morning, check to see if the ad also states the sale ran on Friday.  My plan of attack is to go to the garage sales that start on Saturday then hit the ones that were also run on Friday.  By hitting the garage sales that started on Friday last, I know they will be more than ready to make a deal if I find something I want.  They just want to get rid of it at that point.  Plus, I kind of have the attitude, if it was meant to be mine, it will still be there when I get there.

Now that I have joined the ranks of the full time worker, I will miss the Friday morning garage sales.  My strategies of mapping my morning sales have changed a bit.  I’m sure everyone has their own strategy.  I would love to hear yours. 

Thanks for reading!

Kate

Living in the northeast has its ups and downs when it comes to weather.  Winters can be frigid as we all know.  Spring, summer, and fall are seasons that can be stunning in their own ways but can bring to us several surprises. I’ve spent the summer thinking about the weather and the best time to have a garage sale.

I had a garage sale in the middle of May and it was great!  The weather was perfect and we did a Friday until 1:00 PM and Saturday until 2:00-ish (we advertised a 1:00 PM ending).

Later in July I did a one day garage sale with my sister Maria and a friend.  It was a very hot day.  We each sold some stuff but not much.  I think we may have sold as many waters and cookies as items!  I wondered then if the heat was a factor that kept people away.  I kept thinking as the morning wore on—and at times it did feel slow between little rushes of people-that I wasn’t sure I would want to be going to garage sales–getting in and out of the car and heat.

Now we’re into September and I see a lot of things I could put together to make another sale…the weather is starting to overall cool down and is mostly dry unless like yesterday, a tropical storm or worse a hurricane makes it up the east coast.

Whatever region of the world you live in–one thing you should definitely pay attention to is the weather as you plan your sale.  Look at whether or not it’s going to rain as well as the heat and humidity index also.  You can have the greatest merchandise to sell at your garage sale, however if the weather isn’t the right combination to get people out, you won’t reap the profits!

For some areas the regions are what they are—England can be quite rainy and many countries are just hot & humid all year long.  Find the best day and go for it!  In the northeast–if you have a choice, seasonally speaking, I think garage sales are better in the spring and fall—summer is my third choice! And well as we all can surmise, winter would be out of the question for the northeast—But probably not in Florida!

Have a great day and remember having a garage sale is good for you!    

Laura

We went out to some garage sales yesterday.  There was not one cloud in the sky, it was about 90 degrees and the humidity was low.  It was a beautiful day here.  I looked at my husband and said “Calm before the storm?”  There is one headed our way.  But, we have been here for two years and we have every supply you could possibly need, except for a generator.  So far we have been lucky. 

 During the height of hurricane season, there aren’t as many garage sales happening.  There were a few.  BJ, my husband, bought a fishing pole for a couple of dollars.  He was really happy about it. But, we were done garage sale-ing within 45 minutes.  I didn’t find anything I have been looking for.  I’m on the hunt for some furniture pieces for our home.  With big furniture items, it will take some time.  That’s the best part, I know I will find them and I will have fun with my family on Saturday mornings while I’m looking. 

So, as things slow down here during hurricane season, I know they will pick up again soon.  That’s one of the best parts of living in Florida, year round garage sales.  I talked to Laura in NY, and with school starting (my kids started in mid-August) she hasn’t seen any garages sales around her neighborhood.  Although they don’t normally worry about hurricanes in NY, they are getting some residuals of “Hanna”.  With rain all weekend, I guess hurricane season affects garage sales in more than just the southern states.

Thanks for reading!

Kate

(Happy Birthday Nicole and Erin!) 

Laura and I were just remembering the night before our garage sale fundraiser.  Once everything was in and we were finishing hanging the signs, we had a 2 hour preview for volunteers and families of the preschool to do their own shopping.  They had first pick of the merchandise, the baked goods, and got their tickets for the raffle.

It turned out to be a social gathering.  Laura and I had a great time talking to everyone about what was donated and how much we hoped to raise the next day.  We raised more than we originally expected.  It was a great feeling after the sale was over to give the Board Members the update on how we did and how much we made for the budget for the year.  Knowing we helped contribute to the success of the school that year was such a great feeling.

Whether you are thinking of doing a church fundraiser, or any youth program fundraiser, the feeling of accomplishment when you volunteer and are successful, is a feeling you won’t soon forget!

If you have any home or fundraising garage sale stories, don’t forget to email us.  You could be featured in our blog!

Thanks,  Kate