Holding car-boot sales?

[clylbw]

Holding garage sales?

I am about to hold a garage sale. Are there any tips, especially about advertising and setting prices?

1. Advertising. I plan to put an ad in a local newspaper about the sale. Is there anything else I can do to tell more people about this?

2. Setting prices. What kind of prices would be expected in such a sale? For example, a good part of the items for sale are fictions whose original prices were £5 - £8. They are in fairly good conditions. What prices should I reasonably set for them?

Advice will be much appreciated. Many thanks in advance.

 

[Mr. Charts]

Good evening, Lynn,
If it is a car boot sale and there are many other vendors then advertising is not useful.
If it's a garage sale then stick some cards in the local newsagents and on lamp posts.

Don't sell electrical goods as the law frowns on that for safety reasons and you don't want to get sued by the relatives of the deceased purchaser who bought the toaster you used as a student.........

Books, I'm afraid, do not sell well. You might get 15% - 20% of the cover price if you are lucky.
If you want to get rid of onsold ones you could always give them to your local hospital.

Crockery, pots, pans, toys, ornaments, fashion jewellery sell reasonably well.
Present your goods well on a clean white table cloth with clear prices and make sure everything is nice and clean.

All the above is based on the experiences of our three children unloading their unwanted belongings.

Anything of value is best sold on Ebay.

Kindest wishes,
Richard

PS Have plenty of small change and keep smiling at the customers !

 

[peto]

Hope you have a large field and plenty of helpers to park 100s of cars!...

I think (as Mr Charts does) that you mean garage sale, but if the former pm me because I have some exp of organising these. Softback fiction should be under a £ for the best un's, and <50p for anything scruffy/old/ubscure. Expect to be made 'offers' for items and be prepared to make concessions towards them. You won't end up rich, but you can have fun!

 

[rossored]

I'd agree with Mr.C and say I think Ebay would be your best bet but horses for courses.

My dad recently had a garage sale (despite my Ebay protestations) to sell off some bits and pieces - had a lot of books advertised for 50p, 75p etc - one guy came along and offered 10p for some of the books... everyone wants a bargain, even if it's already a bargain - cheapskates!

 

[clylbw]

Many thanks to you all, especially Richard . Hope you all have had a great Labour Day.

Presumably eBay is an option, but I hesitate to go there as my previous experiences with it were less than pleasant. Sometimes it is also a bit of a nuisance, having to go to the post office. Anyway, I will think about all the options.