Garage Sales are Good!

(Page 3 of 3)

May/June 1971
by JUNE FINGULIN  
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An added tip: take along plenty of thumbtacks so you'll be sure to have something to post your notices with.

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I found it wise not to put a fixed price on anything. I always had a good idea of what I felt was fair for some of the larger items (keeping in mind what I'd have to pay someone to haul it off if I didn't sell it), but my customers didn't know this. When anyone showed even the slightest interest in an article I would try to get him to make an offer (being careful not to quote a specific price myself). I found in most cases that the offer was more than I had expected to get and I would then "reluctantly" accept it anyhow.

This psychology seemed to work almost every time. If people think they're getting a bargain they'll buy almost anything. Of course, if I wasn't willing to sell an article for the amount bid, I would simply say so.

Then there's the "free gift" technique. If I couldn't get a prospective customer to make an offer I would sometimes quote a price myself rather than risk losing his interest. If he seemed to feel my quoted price was too high I generously threw in something else I was having trouble getting rid of anyhow. It often worked.

The articles that sold easiest were furniture (especially chests of drawers and bookcases), garden implements, BarB-Q equipment, outdoor furniture and children's toys. Many folks seemed to need tools and garbage cans. There was little interest in clothing, costume jewelry, purses, shoes and other personal items.

By the end of the second weekend we had sold almost everything we intended to sell . . . and a few things we hadn't! Things like a beat-up bed frame with mismatched springs and discolored mattress. I was actually ashamed to show the old bed to anyone and I hid it . . . until a young couple with a "bouncing" three-year-old offered me $8.00 on the spot for the "trampoline".

All in all, we realized over $250 from the sale of that junk and I haven't missed a bit of it since!

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