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Thou shall read these 6 commandments for successful garage sales and thou shall hear the cash register ring…

FOF “Master of Garagesaleology,” Ava Seavey shares her secrets for pricing, marketing and stocking your sale so that you walk away with maximum cash profits.

1. Everything must be labeled with a price.
“A lot of people are shy; if an item isn’t marked, they will likely walk away. Don’t be a salesperson. Be a cashier. Period. And don’t hover–it turns shoppers off.”

2. Take out an ad.
“A lot of people think they’ll just put up a sign, and people will come. Guess what? The majority of people will come from your ad. And people who come from an ad will be serious buyers. Community papers, circulars and the like are good places. There are also garage sale sites online.”

3. Lay things out properly.
“Don’t put things on the ground. A large percentage shoppers will be retired folk and they can’t always bend down to rummage on the lawn.”

4.  Make a proper sign.
“Most people write too much and the letters are too small. You could get into a car accident just trying to read that little piece of paper. I like large signs that go in the ground, with very little written on them. You want people to salivate with anticipation of coming to your sale.”

5.  Two words: Free and No
“If a customer buys something, have a table from which he or she can pick something out for free. Or advertise ‘buy two books, get one free.’ Don’t just give stuff away; there has to be some sort of catch to it.”

The other word is ‘No.’ As in, ‘No, you can’t have that $10 item for $1.’ ‘No’ needs to be said to maximize your profits. And if you say ‘no,’ a lot of times people will come back and buy it anyway. That will net you higher profits than if you let people negotiate. And most people who come to these sales do not want to haggle. It’s a common misconception that they do.”

6.  Appeal to the masses.
“You have to have items for men, women and children. A sale can’t just be all baby clothes or all purses. If a woman is shopping and she has a man with her and he’s bored, they won’t stay long. Men happen to be great garage sale shoppers, by the way. Same thing with kids’ stuff. If a kid becomes occupied looking at stuff, the mother will stay longer.  Have low-priced items, middle-priced items and expensive items. If you don’t have enough to do this, ask your friends to add some items.”

{Read the entire interview with Ava here}

Learn more about garagesaleology at www.garagesalegold.com