Comments on: Operation Garage Sale: Successfully Selling Clothes

By: Gail

Gail — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 04:47:39 +0000

Tricia,
I’ve had a lot of garage sales and clothing never sells well. However, I like many of your ideas and will try them. As I read your suggestions a new idea came to my mind. I think I will try making an outfit out of pieces that I am selling and display the outfit. If I can find, say, a skirt and a blouse that go together I’ll hang them together somewhere.

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By: Shay

Shay — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 21:53:45 +0000

With the clothes you don’t sell at the garage sale even if they are not name brand clothes put them in bulk lots for sale on ebay. I buy all my sons clothes this way works out well the most i have paid is 26.89 with postage and I got 36 Items some where too big as well (my son is soooo skinny!) so I have them for furture.

good luck with the garage sale You have promted me to have my own as well! Keep up the good work!

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Lessons From My Blogroll: Why You Should Be A Fan Of Personal Finance Blogs — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 17:32:58 +0000

[...] is planning a garage sale. I need to do this! My wife and I had a sale three years ago and we mad mad [...]

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[...] Operation Garage Sale: Successfully Selling Clothes [...]

By: Cheryl

Cheryl — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 18:53:55 +0000

As for the “bag” part at the end of your sale, we did this and told everyone, everything they could reasonably fit in the bag for $1..it helped us generate more money, and people are apt to take more at that price, so there was less for us to cart off to donation center after the sale, saving gas!
Oh, and I think $1 is too high for cold drinks, 50 cents is a better deal, and you’ll still make a nice profit!

By: Marte

Marte — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 14:38:19 +0000

The previous poster that suggested the cooler full of ice with water and drinks is correct. We did this, purchased the water 24 for $3.99 on sale at Meijer, a case of soda from Costo or Sams, sold each for a $1.00 each and ran out on the first day. We also moved the coffee make out into the garage and brewed a fresh pot right before we opened and sold coffee for 50 cents a cup. Made enough on both of these ventures to pay for newspaper ads and poster board signs. Still had money left over.

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plonkee money » 111th carnival of personal finance - glastonbury edition — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 10:25:38 +0000

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By: Beverly

Beverly — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 01:16:47 +0000

Another item to sell that sells big here in Texas is to have a cooler full of ice and soft drinks and water (of course you buy those on sale) and then sell for a $1.00 each. Alot of money can be made off of drinks, especially if it is hot!!

By: Tricia

Tricia — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 01:07:58 +0000

Lynnae – great suggestion about the 1/2 off thing. Perhaps I’ll do something like that instead of a bag sale. I took inventory of my paper bag stash and I don’t have a lot available.

MoneyDummy – I laughed when I read your comment. I have seen some doozy of signs in my day. Some only 4 inches tall and written in pen no less! You actually have to stop your car to read them.

KC – None of our clothes are high-end. I think we had a Weebok outfit for our son (a hand-me-down) and that’s it. Everything else was from the dollar store, Walmart-like places or used. If we had more desirable clothes, I would probably be tempted to try eBay with them.

The Shopping Sherpa – Our St. Vinny’s is awesome. I would try so hard to get there when they were open (they have pretty limited hours) and I’d buy bags of clothing at that price if they had any in stock. Even the adult shirts are 50 cents to $1.00. Last time I went I needed to buy some exercise shorts. I bought a pair of Nike shorts in my size for $3.00 and a college brand pair for $2.00 (those were the only two in my size). We have a Goodwill as well, but their prices are quite a bit higher so I rarely go there. Even on their half-off special days, their prices are still higher than St. Vinny’s.

Out of curiousity, what part of the country are you in?

By: The Shopping Sherpa

The Shopping Sherpa — Mon, 30 Jul 2007 00:37:50 +0000

Wow! Your Vinnies sells clothes for 25 cents each?!

Ours are at least $3 for baby stuff (often about the same as if you bought them new) and adults stuff starts at $6 each (with some stuff like suits going up to $40)

I’m jealous!

By: KC

KC — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 19:07:46 +0000

E-bay is the most profitable way to sell clothes, hands down. On more than one occasion, I’ve bought a $5 dress for my daughter at a secondhand store, let her wear it for a year, and sold it for $30 on e-bay. You just have to know what brands to look for. You can make even more money if you buy high end clothes at a thrift store and sell them on e-bay.

By: MoneyDummy

MoneyDummy — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 15:09:25 +0000

Arrows. People often don’t realize that the most important part of any garage sale sign is ARROWS, followed within two blocks by ANOTHER sign with . . . ARROWS!

Addresses mean nothing. Arrows are the most effective means of re-routing garage sale traffic from whereever they were headed.

By: Lynnae

Lynnae — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 06:13:35 +0000

I had a garage sale a few years back where I hung almost all of my daughter’s clothes, and I made a killing on them.

If your garage sale is one day only, post a sign that says “everything left after noon is half price” or something like that. You’ll convince the early birds to pay full price early, and you’ll get more people later in the day, too.

By: Starving Artist

Starving Artist — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 05:12:30 +0000

I have a friend who is a garage sale queen. She make a good deal of money every year, and usually hosts the garage sale over two days. One of her rules is: she doesn’t go down on price for the first day. I think this is one of a few things that has made it a profitable venture for her. Another big thing, of course, is SIGNS. Make sure they’re big, easily readable, and in the right spots.

Have fun!