Reader comment of the week!

Reader Lynda added so many fabulous tips to my post about preparing for a garage sale that I’m highlighting her comment this week.  (A very close runner-up was a comment left by Frugal Dad about the priceless gift I gave my Mom). If you want to be featured as commenter of the week, leave a great comment in the next seven days! Here are Lynda’s tips:

• I read craigslist days before the weekend so if there’s something in particular I’m looking for, I might plan the rest of my browsing around it…I’d say post on Wednesday, and again on Friday (for Saturday sale). If you have specific items listed, it also gives interested buyers a chance to ask a question (say it’s an article of furniture, appliance, etc.)

• When in doubt, list neighborhood AND City area, not just ‘Los Angeles’, ‘Hollywood’, ‘Oakland’.

• Doesn’t hurt to specify CASH ONLY. Yes, some people show up and want to pay by check!!

• Bring out a couple of extra chairs, put a ‘not for sale’ sign on them and let people use them when they’re waiting to pay/for a friend/etc.

• Let the neighbors know about the sale and ask if they can let you keep the parking spaces open during the time of the sale…some people won’t stop if there isn’t convenient parking. To sweeten the deal, let each pick one item from a pile of a certain price….ask them to come over early, create the buzz of having people checking the goods out. You know how sales in stores work…nothing like the sense of a little competition to bring out the shopping urge…you can even ask friends to stop by and act as shills…(they may find something to buy also).

• When it comes time to cut prices, try using the $__ per bag approach….and you might let shoppers know what time the discount starts….IF they want to risk someone else buying the article they have their eye on…

• If you’re not selling children’s articles, keep your kids away….have them play inside, etc…..even well mannered kids can be distracting and confusing….that way if there ARE kids there, you know there should also be an adult to look after them…don’t see one? Ask them who they’re with, and chase them off if they’re by themselves (does not apply to teenagers with money).

• Selling DVDs or CDs? Put a rubber band around the package…enough to keep someone from slipping the disk out, but easy enough for you to open it if they want to check the condition. Or you can tape them closed, and just cut thru the tape. Selling old LPs? If the slip cover is in good condition, don’t tape it….but maybe do something to keep the vinyl inside so someone doesn’t switch records…

• If you’re going to let a child sell cookies/candy/etc for scouts/school/etc, please have their table a certain distance from the rest of the stuff so interested parties can purchase but uninterested parties won’t feel the pressure. I may be a complete stranger and will never see you again but I still don’t like to have a small smiling face asking me if I wouldn’t like to buy some _____ to benefit____. It’s pressure. Who feels good saying no?

• Provide boxes or bags for people to purchases in to make it easier for them to carry the goods around. Also means more difficult to pilfer…..when paying, unload the box/bag on a table, count out the prices so there’s no questions, then when the total is agreed on and paid, put them back in the box/bag.

• Hand held calculators are nice but you can have plain paper and just write down the prices and then total them. Give it to the customer.

• If you’re washing clothing before the sale, please don’t use a strong fabric softener….same thing if you polish wood furniture…keep odors to a minimum…even out of doors they linger.

• If you’re in charge, wear a hat or something with an identifying device, like ASK ME….

• If you’re selling large items, make certain the craigslisting says something about ‘can help load’ or ‘can’t help load’ and if it will need a truck (not the back end of a stationwagon, let them know that also.

• TRY to keep the cellphone off….it may be your yard, your garage, and your sale…but i’m the customer and I want to pay you and leave, not wait while you talk to ______ about _______. Also, if you don’t have yours, if one rings, you know you don’t have to answer.

• Do your homework before the event…check out local sales for a weekend or two…and check out thrift stores to see the going rate for items you’re thinking of selling. Good bargain hunters will already have an idea (from thrift stores) what something should cost…price it too high and if the quality is the same, they’ll wait and go back to the thrift store…where they can shop for others things…on any week day OR weekend…

• If you have things which you think are collectibles, use eBay to research going prices…use Advance Search and select the CLOSED ITEMS only option….you’ll see what they started at, and what they sold for…or didn’t sell.

• and above all: DON’T TRY TO SELL ME SOMETHING I’M NOT LOOKING AT ALREADY…this could be subheaded: why I walked away from your yard sale without buying anything….especially now, the urge to shop CAN be curbed and limited. Give shoppers a good reason to spend and a good environment…we’ll spend….and spend. Hope your sale went well Julia, love reading your blog.