Garage sale powered by Craigs List (and signs)

Well, the garage sale has gone very well. Lots of fun, not really all that profitable but then it was mostly aimed at getting rid of junk so we wouldn’t need to move it.

The red couch still hasn’t sold, but we have a few bites. Larry Hryb of the Xbox Live team was by here earlier to sit on it one last time. Of course he had to check out my HDTV. “Nice,” he said.

Anyway, I’ve learned a few things about Garage Sales.

First, make good signage. About six out of 10 people I asked said they came just because of the signs.

Second, advertise on Craigs’ List. Three out of 10 said they came that way. I’d also recommend Microsoft’s Expo site.

The rest came cause of the blog.

Other best practices? Furniture doesn’t sell well cause it’s hard to haul that stuff home. Best sellers? Toys, bikes, appliances, old AV equipment went fastest.

Most potential buyers just drove by in their cars, so make your best stuff easily viewable from the street. That got them to stop or turn around.

Leave room for bargaining, everyone loves to drive down your prices.

Have some free stuff. I had Channel 9 guys for the kids, that got everyone in a good mood.

Get your neighbors in on the act. That helped get people to stop cause there was more stuff to look at.

Have bags, if people’s hands are full they stop buying.

Have plenty of change.

Oh, and Patrick made about $20 selling lemonade and cookies. Not a bad way to earn some extra iTunes money.

One other thing. You might think that only geeks read Craig’s List. You’d be wrong. Almost everyone who mentioned Craigs List was a non-geek and included several senior citizens.

Maybe I should just trade the Red Couch to this guy for a paperclip!

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41 thoughts on “Garage sale powered by Craigs List (and signs)

  1. Best garage sale that I was involved in was a house up in Shoreline where the whole block got into it. Draws a lot more people. Unlike if you’re a single ‘sale and someone walks away, when there’s a group of people selling the person usually comes back after they’ve checked out everyone else.

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  2. Best garage sale that I was involved in was a house up in Shoreline where the whole block got into it. Draws a lot more people. Unlike if you’re a single ‘sale and someone walks away, when there’s a group of people selling the person usually comes back after they’ve checked out everyone else.

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  3. If in Seattle Craigslist brings 3 out of 10, here in the Bay Area it must be 8 out of 10:-) It’s the ONLY place worth advertising, other than the signs dislayed at busy corners.

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  4. If in Seattle Craigslist brings 3 out of 10, here in the Bay Area it must be 8 out of 10:-) It’s the ONLY place worth advertising, other than the signs dislayed at busy corners.

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  5. Robert:

    Thanks to you & Maryam for the water and ice. Although I hadn’t planned on using your garage sale as a rest stop on my bike ride, it sure worked out that way.

    Good luck on the move!

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  6. Robert:

    Thanks to you & Maryam for the water and ice. Although I hadn’t planned on using your garage sale as a rest stop on my bike ride, it sure worked out that way.

    Good luck on the move!

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  7. We’ve moved a lot over the years and have held a number of sales and actually, I’ve found that a lot of people do come looking for furniture.

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  8. We’ve moved a lot over the years and have held a number of sales and actually, I’ve found that a lot of people do come looking for furniture.

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  9. I have to agree with the comment on the signs. I do garage sales as somewhat of a hobby, and for the most part I just follow signs to get there. Make sure the arrows are visible from a reasonable distance (in most cases, that’s going to be at least 1/3 of an 8.5 x 11″ sign. There are a lot of signs I see where people just don’t make the arrows big enough or wide enough to actually see (Sharpie works well for signs at a short distance, not so well if people are going to be looking at it from 30 yards away.)

    Anyway, if I wasn’t busy all day today, I might have stopped by.

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  10. I have to agree with the comment on the signs. I do garage sales as somewhat of a hobby, and for the most part I just follow signs to get there. Make sure the arrows are visible from a reasonable distance (in most cases, that’s going to be at least 1/3 of an 8.5 x 11″ sign. There are a lot of signs I see where people just don’t make the arrows big enough or wide enough to actually see (Sharpie works well for signs at a short distance, not so well if people are going to be looking at it from 30 yards away.)

    Anyway, if I wasn’t busy all day today, I might have stopped by.

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  11. Scoble, did you get early-birds? We always get them. Very annoying while you are setting up. We’ve instituted a best-practice: “early-birds pay double”. I don’t want them getting an advantage over the people that know how to read.

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  12. Scoble, did you get early-birds? We always get them. Very annoying while you are setting up. We’ve instituted a best-practice: “early-birds pay double”. I don’t want them getting an advantage over the people that know how to read.

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  13. Another garage sale tip: Have an “attractor item” or two. I used to have a huge gumball machine. I never sold it, but it sat at the garage sale grabbing everyone’s attention and getting them to stop. (A stack of pennies next to it kept the kids happy too.)

    A huge red couch, needless to say, is about ideal for this. It probably got half the drive-up people there even though it didn’t sell.

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  14. Another garage sale tip: Have an “attractor item” or two. I used to have a huge gumball machine. I never sold it, but it sat at the garage sale grabbing everyone’s attention and getting them to stop. (A stack of pennies next to it kept the kids happy too.)

    A huge red couch, needless to say, is about ideal for this. It probably got half the drive-up people there even though it didn’t sell.

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  15. Maybe his next goal should be getting the couch you are about to give him to his house in Canada through a series of trades. Would be a whole story there I think eh?

    Well he got his house, but will Kipling still want him after his party? What things might happen on the couch if it arrives in time? Will it be the site of his tv show, “The Big Red Couch?”

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  16. Maybe his next goal should be getting the couch you are about to give him to his house in Canada through a series of trades. Would be a whole story there I think eh?

    Well he got his house, but will Kipling still want him after his party? What things might happen on the couch if it arrives in time? Will it be the site of his tv show, “The Big Red Couch?”

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  17. Brett: yeah, we are. I’m not willing to give it away. I’d like somewhere around $350 for it (we paid $500). I agree with Michael, though, it did attract attention.

    Dmad: we did get some early birds, yes. But we knew we would as soon as we put the signs up.

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  18. Brett: yeah, we are. I’m not willing to give it away. I’d like somewhere around $350 for it (we paid $500). I agree with Michael, though, it did attract attention.

    Dmad: we did get some early birds, yes. But we knew we would as soon as we put the signs up.

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  19. I worship Craigslist, funny how it’s become like electricity for me, never much noticed it was there, until I moved to a town where they didn’t have it. My gigs and freelance projects are seriously down, and all other For Sale and Job Ad places reek in comparison to Craigs. Tons of ordinary people use it, tho Craigs does have the freak element, but the overall upsides outweigh downsides.

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  20. I worship Craigslist, funny how it’s become like electricity for me, never much noticed it was there, until I moved to a town where they didn’t have it. My gigs and freelance projects are seriously down, and all other For Sale and Job Ad places reek in comparison to Craigs. Tons of ordinary people use it, tho Craigs does have the freak element, but the overall upsides outweigh downsides.

    Like

  21. man craigs, i am tryin to provide people with a better advertisement then craigs for garage sales,

    http://www.yardsaledb.com

    i mean, as a typical browser of garage sales, i find that CL is lacking in the quick delivery of information such as location of sale, usually i’d have to flip back and forth between maps and CL to make sure the sale is not too far. thats why i created that website but CL still dominates…..

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  22. man craigs, i am tryin to provide people with a better advertisement then craigs for garage sales,

    http://www.yardsaledb.com

    i mean, as a typical browser of garage sales, i find that CL is lacking in the quick delivery of information such as location of sale, usually i’d have to flip back and forth between maps and CL to make sure the sale is not too far. thats why i created that website but CL still dominates…..

    Like

  23. I just found some great signs online and bought them for my last sale. EVERYONE that came commented on them. They were cheap and easy to put up (everything came with them). I would definately recommend them – http://www.sassysigns.com

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  24. I just found some great signs online and bought them for my last sale. EVERYONE that came commented on them. They were cheap and easy to put up (everything came with them). I would definately recommend them – http://www.sassysigns.com

    Like

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