When is the best time to have a garage sale? While spring and summer are wildly popular for garage sales, fall is often ignored despite decent weather and lovely scenery. Find out why fall is the time of year—and golden opportunity—to hold your garage sale in this ‘Part 2 of 3’ series …
BLOG POST BY:
Carla Gentle with Design Realign, Inc.
Maybe your drawers, closets, or garage are overflowing with things you no longer need. Or maybe it’s time to give your house a major makeover. In either case, you’ll need to get rid of the old to enjoy the new, which means it’s time for a garage sale. But when is the best time to have one? Hold it in the fall, and here is why …
FALL IS WHEN:
people are out and about in the great outdoors to enjoy the cooler temps before the colder months hit.
people go for drives to enjoy the beautiful scenery or take road trips. When the months are warmer as in the summer, people tend to go on vacations, spend time at the beach, and do a lot of activities outdoors. When fall approaches, they tend to go for more drives and take road trips. How many times have you gone for a drive and stumbled upon a garage sale sign and stopped to see what was for sale? There are certain times when people just ‘go for a drive’ in the fall and see where it leads them … garage sales is one of them.
people like me are itching to go to a garage sale in the fall because the summer rush of sales is over.
there is less competition for garage sales. Just be sure to have enough signage and either place an ad in the local paper or, better yet, place an ad on garage sale websites for FREE (like www.garagesalefinder.com).
WHAT TO DO AND WHAT TO SELL:
Plan for a fall Saturday (the most popular day for garage sales) and hope for crisp blue skies and sunshine.
Put your garage sale signs up in busy areas and prepare for people to flock to your sale and stay a bit longer than in the summer, since there aren’t as many other sales happening as in summer.
It’s all about timing, so trying to sell summer stuff is probably not a good idea. Your best bet is to think of what seasons and holidays are ahead and plan accordingly. Many people sell Christmas décor in the summer, but you would have a much greater chance selling those items in the fall.
The right clothing can be a big seller in fall. Summer dresses, sandals, and beach towels are not of interest, but thick sweaters, boots, ski jackets, hats, and gloves are a good bet.
Electric heaters, gently used or unused warm blankets, unused candles and any other items that are cozy for the winter will also do well.
MAKE IT AN EVENT
To really invite people into your garage sale, make it an event! Serve warm apple cider, hot chocolate, or even a big hearty soup to help your business boom. Don’t forget to have inviting music playing in the background. Make people really enjoy their time there and not want to leave!
WHAT’S COMING NEXT WEEK
Stay tuned to next week’s blog article which will discuss how to stage your garage sale for success. Staging isn’t just for when you are trying to sell your home. Holding a garage sale is also a process, and you can have better chances of selling your merchandise by staging your garage sale.
IN CONCLUSION
Garage sales are not just for summer. In fact, they can be most successful when held in the fall when there is less competition. Put more focus on showcasing more appropriate and seasonal fall and winter items, as well as upcoming holidays. And, don’t forget free advertising on garage sale sites and posting plenty of signs in the neighborhood. Most importantly, make your sale inviting to where people don’t want to leave!
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