Top 10 Reasons Garage Sales Fail

Why do you think some people have great luck with garage sales while others flop?

I think the #1 reason is poor advertising.

Make your signs large and easy to read. Use florescent construction paper and a wide sharpie! Include the address and arrows. Be sure to put signs on the main thoroughfares surrounding your neighborhood.

Garage sale die-hards are early birds. You've got to get those signs out before 6:30 AM otherwise you might be missing some of your best customers.

Also, make sure you run an ad on Craigslist in the garage sale section. You need to have the ad up before 6:30 AM and re-post it around 8:00 AM so you'll be at the top of the list.

It could be the type of merchandise being sold too.

Pricing. Ive been to several yard sales where the people 'like' their stuff too much, and the asking price is comparable to retail. The best yard sales to go to are the ones where the people dont do it for a living, and have the intention of getting rid of it cheaply and quickly.

I think poor advertising is tops on the list. But some other reasons why they fail could be..

Poor setup (presentation)
Bad location (narrow streets, no parking)
Bad mix of products (too many smalls/bigs)
Poor quality (sometimes crap is crap)
Quirky hours (one guy locally did a yard sale from 6 a.m. to 8 a.m. on Sunday)
Bad attitude (it's a yard sale, you should expect to haggle. Don't be a jerk!)

Location. I am very picky about which areas I will go to for a garage sale. Sorry but it's true.
Pricing. It's a garage sale, price it to go. Don't tell me it's worth $100 dollars because you have seen it listed on Ebay for that much. And definitely don't print out the ad and attach it to the item.
Set up. If I drive up and see mountains of clothing, toys, etc on the ground I pretty much keep on driving.
Volume. It you only have enough stuff to fill a table or two, invite some friends to bring their stuff and make it a group effort.